The Grubling's Camp
The darkness was pervasive.
None of his senses worked.
Darkness, absolute nothingness, and silence all around.
It was hard to figure out where he was and so what to do without a landmark. If he couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he couldn't smell anything, how could he figure out where he was?
It was like he was floating in mid-air, weightless, in a vacuum.
It was a strange situation. His head began to feel light and like a compass in front of a strong magnetic field, the dragon's inner compass began to rotate on itself, indicating all positions one after the other, or none of them. Feeling freefall, the dragon instinctively spread his wings to fly balanced. He could not feel that familiar feeling of the wind flowing under his wing's membrane, tickling the inside of it and ensuring he could get up in the air.
There was nothing.
The imbalance that his inner compass was experiencing also affected his flight, and suddenly one wing tilted more than the other as if it were to take a turn, with a catastrophic result. The dragon turned on himself who knows how many times and, not knowing where the ground and the sky were, he was not even able to understand how to balance the wings and tail to re-establish himself.
His instinct kicked in and he instinctively withdrew his wings bringing them directly around his body for extra protection, ready for the impact.
Suddenly his paws touched something.
It was something earthy, gravelly under his claws. He automatically unleashed his claws to get out and test the ground, to check that it was real and cling it with all his strength to this certainty inside this nothingness. He wasted no time wondering how it was possible. He was on the ground and this was already a good start. His inner compass could take a break, finally.
Very carefully the dragon touched the ground to assess that he was actually on the real ground as he could not see or hear a thing and when satisfied with his test, the dragon decided to move a paw ahead around his position as a method of exploration of the surroundings immediately close to his range.
He raised his paw and it, fortunately, touched the ground again. Now safer, the dragon ventured even ahead and he met ground again.
Now, more confident in the environment around his position, the dragon worked to explore anything beneath him to try and create a mind map of his location in the space and decide from there how to proceed.
That's until he heard something.
It was the sound of gravel, creaking under his paws.
Another sound.
It was the dripping noise of water. The noise was far and close at the same time. Or rather, there were two distinct noises now that he heard it better, both drips falling rhythmically like a sweet melody interrupting the silence with their tinkling at the clash with the ground. But there were two different rhythms, two different droplets, two different pools.
It was a pleasing sound for the dragon who could now finally orient himself even with his ears. He could hear noises; his step on real gravel that creaked at his weight underneath; the drop falling and tinkling on the floor; the sound of his continuous breathing.
It made all seem real and silence was no longer in command.
Feeling more confident, the dragon decided to advance. Each step was punctuated by the paw that he used to test the ground to make sure it was solid, the sound of gravel helped him to understand that it was real, and only then did his paw take the step with claws firmly attached to the ground for any eventuality. The same process also took place for all the other three legs and then repeatedly, followed the same process.
Time was marked only by the rhythmic drop of the droplets of water and his faint but still audible breath.
A slow process, but a safe one.
Soon the contours around him began to become more defined, showing in the dark the boundaries of things.
His sight was beginning to come back to him.
The further the dragon went ahead, the more the darkness retreated, leaving room for a well-defined environment visible all around him.
On his sides, he could see the contours of what looked like tall rough stone walls. Approaching the wall and stretching his paw to tactfully test it, the dragon felt the stones under his paw, their varied shapes as well as the noise of the claws digging inside the rock. This was real and the dragon became increasingly confident and convinced that he was inside some kind of cave.
A strange light appeared at his tunnel's end attracting his attention. It was not exactly light, it was as if the cave became more visible all of a sudden allowing the dragon to see a palm from his muzzle, gradually giving him back the view and with it the safety of walking.
Now completely sure of the environment around him and being able to walk, the dragon made his way down the only corridor inside the cave. The more the dragon went on inside it looking for the exit, the lighter the place became, making the contours of the cave more visible, forcing the hissing darkness away in the corners.
It was a cave just like many others, but how did he end up down there? That's all he could think about and what he was trying to find out.
Passing the last bend, the dragon stopped on his paws, arriving at what was supposed to be the end of the race. Only he wasn't where he expected the tunnel to lead.
In front of him was a large hall inside the cave, a room large enough to hold a fleet of adult dragons inside. It was circular in shape and the ceiling seemed carved towards the inside, creating a sort of grayish stone dome that masterfully held the hall standing, holding the weight of all the rock above it. On the opposite side of the great hall, the continuum of the corridor. Between him and the other side of the corridor was a large lake of water with such a transparent color that it took the color of the gray stones of the ceiling.
The place was strange. He didn't know why, but he felt inside his chest that this place was ancient and sacred and even if he didn't feel immediate danger, he was wary of the place. But still, he had to go the other way. And it seemed like the only available way that could take him somewhere was beyond that lake.
He took a step forward and stopped. He hit a stone that rolled into the lake with a splash and allowing the dragon to realize how close he was to the shore. Not that he was afraid of water, but he wasn't exactly sure how deep it was and what strange creatures could it hide inside. Even though outside the lake might seem so lipid that it mirrored the ceiling, that didn't mean it didn't contain dangers inside unknown to the dragon. He thought of flying, but as soon as he made to spread his wings, something inside told him it wasn't the right thing to do.
He looked down into the lake following the spot where the stone had fallen. The clear water finished flickering because of the newly sunk stone calming itself and reflecting the image of a purple dragon with golden horns, purple eyes, and a large metal collar around the neck. The dragon looked at his reflection with absolute carelessness and coldness, his purple eyes completely extinguished by all the vitality within.
"Spyro..." whispered an unexpected voice.
The purple dragon took a combat position, ready for battle against anyone down there with him.
"Spyro, the purple dragon..." continued the voice, coming from all directions all around him and inside his very head, spiritic. "What are you looking for, young dragon?"
The purple male looked around the place, trying to locate the voice, female judging by the tone of it. It seemed to come from all directions, flying and ethereal in the air, rumbling on the walls and back into an infinite loop that resolved only after a few ticking of droplets inside the lake. He couldn't locate the position of the source.
"Who are you?" he decided to ask when he didn't understand the position of the enemy.
The voice deliberately ignored his demand when it repeated. "What are you looking for, young dragon?"
"I-" the purple dragon choked on his response. That voice struck within him something that he could not fully understand. He didn't know why, but that single question froze him on the spot as if he had been waiting a long time to get that question, but he couldn't find the answer. What was he looking for? Was he looking for something?
A strange feeling broke through his being, making him visibly shudder as if he was facing a winter breeze directly coming from inside. His internal fire staggered, swaying dangerously in the wind leaving him with this feeling of internal coldness he had never felt before.
This was more than enough evidence for the dragon. He was looking for something. But he didn't know what.
A mysterious shadow passed in front of him at full speed, getting him out of his thoughts and back into a combat position to face the danger. He saw nothing, but the voice spoke again.
"Here you won't find what you're looking for, purple dragon. Not yet."
The male saw absolutely nothing inside the cave that could suggest that there was anyone else there with him. But the voice seemed so real. Had he gone crazy? He was very much hoping not, because otherwise Cynder would no longer have any use for him and that meant she would eventually replace him. That's not what he wanted.
Frustrated he growled in the darkness threatening, done with whatever was teasing him in the dark, hiding from him.
"Show yourself!" he demanded.
A sudden gust of wind struck him directly on the muzzle, delicate but decisive, carrying with it the same voice. "What do you think you would see?" asked the voice, the always neutral and ethereal voice inside his very ears.
The purple dragon growled in response. "The face of the creature I'm going to tear into pieces."
For the first time, the voice did not immediately respond. A wild wind roamed inside the cave and became even wilder, breathing on the lake's waters, moving them to the right, and to the left, creating small ripples that started from the center and reached the banks. When the first of them touched the shore at the purple dragon's claws, there in front of him a creature of draconian shape formed itself. About the size of a teenage dragon, black darkness made a dragon, the creature had as its main feature two bright white eyes burning with the same power and brightness as a thousand suns staring at him.
The purple dragon remained silent for a long time. He was certainly amazed as he had never seen something like that before. But at the same time, he became warier as this creature seemed powerful and ancient, majestic in its own way, probably very powerful. He had to be careful if he wanted to pass over this lake and get to the other side, so he kept his limbs ready and his eyes pointed at this new dark creature.
"Who are you?" he asked again.
"People call me differently depending on the species, the civilization, the culture," replied the creature without a mouth but still managed to speak into his head with an ethereal, expansive, and rumbling tone as if it was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "My name is not important, purple dragon. Names are for flesh beings. What is important is the reason why you are down here."
On its completely dark body lit up like little flames runes of a bright white color reflecting its eyes. The runes were incomprehensible to him, but they gave an even more supernatural and powerful frame to the creature as he spoke. "And here," it concluded. "You will not find what you are looking for yet."
The purple dragon had a lot of questions, but he started from the first one, as the creatures seemed so sure of it.
"Who says I'm looking for something?" he said.
"I didn't say something," the creature said, managing to sound slightly skeptical even in his neutrally cold and non-soothing voice. "It could be something or…someone."
The male dragon felt struck again as if, for the second time, this strange creature centered exactly the subject for an answer of which he did not even know the question. It was a horrible and daunting feeling and he didn't like it at all. It made him feel…exposed.
"You're wrong," he replied with confidence, rising in all his might as an adult purple dragon should possess. "I'm not looking for anything or anyone, especially from a dark creature like you," he coldly added. "The only thing I want is to surpass this lake and get out of here."
The strange creature seemed to ignore the last part of his speech.
"You're down here," it said. "And anyone in the bowels of these depths is looking for something or someone without knowing, at least apparently, who or what they're looking for. It is therefore the task of us to guide these people to discover the question and the answer, and then to guarantee the passage," it slowly turned its head towards the dark corridor at the other side of the lake that seemed to be the only way out of this place. "If the one who wants to pass is ready."
The purple dragon frowned. "Ready? Guide? Are you here to guide me? To help me?" he said. "Then you can start by telling me where here is."
He woke up in a really strange state, a fall that seemed to never end, inside the darkest and coldest, most absolute nothingness. Then he landed, walked through a dark gallery, and found this place. He did not know what this place was or how he ended up there. If this creature was there to help him, it could begin to make itself useful.
The dark creature seemed compliant in doing so. "Here is no physical place, a place with no time and no space, no laws, or civilization. A place made of nothing, everything, chaos, and order; balance. A place that everyone touches more than once during their lifetime, a place that leaves its mark on them in the real world but that is never really remembered if not for some shattered pieces. Here is the reign of the Unconscious."
"The Unconscious? You mean I'm dreaming?" he asked.
"It is much more than that, purple dragon," said the creature, still motionless and ethereal between him and his exit from this place. "A dream is only capable to scratch on the surface of the depths of the Unconscious, drawing only a small part of its existence," the creature explained. "But you have fallen completely within your most inner self, within yourself, within the borders of the Unconscious."
The purple dragon remained silent, thoughtful. Certainly, he "precipitated" and this would also explain all the strange previous events as well as explaining the presence of a being that did not exist in real life, but even if he was to believe this dark creature, there was still a question.
"Why am I here?"
"It is surely not an easy task for a flesh being to succeed and end up inside the Unconscious," explained the creature, fluctuating just above the surface of the water of the lake. "And when they do it is because, unconsciously, they realize that they are looking for something that they will never find under normal conditions. A dream only manages to scratch like a stone against the raw metal on the Unconscious cover, failing to learn anything but a small spark of information. For those who are so desperate for answers, access to the Unconscious becomes possible through the precipitation during a dream. We can feel when someone precipitated and we enter here with you to guide you in discovering yourselves."
That was easy to understand but difficult to believe. So he was into this Unconscious world, inside of himself, precipitated from a dream of his, and if he was to believe the creature he entered here from his own will as it seemed like he was looking for something or someone, but what was that?
"I don't know what I'm looking for," he said to the creature. Then he frowned. "I can't be possibly looking for something. I have everything I need."
"That's what you and your awake self think."
"Awake self. Is this another version of me?" asked the purple dragon, skeptical.
"Kind of," answered the creature. "You're not here for that, are you?"
"I don't know why I'm here," replied the purple dragon. "I don't know how I got in here, or how you did it. All I know is that I want to get out of here and that the only exit I see is right beyond you," he became more resolute in his decision to get out of that place and get it over with. "Either you get me out with the good ones, or I'll have to get through you," he threatened as his patience was growing thin and his confusion was making him more irritated by the moment.
The creature, unlike how the purple dragon was accustomed to in his life, seemed completely indifferent to his display of aggression and certainly wasn't shaking on the spot as both his allies and enemies would usually do.
"It's not the right time yet," simply replied the creature. "I'm here to help you."
"Help me?" growled the dragon. "You told me I'm not going to find what I'm looking for in here. So, what am I still doing here?"
"This only applies to one of the things you're looking for," the creature said.
The purple dragon remained silent for a moment before saying. "What do you mean?"
"You are a particular dragon, Spyro the purple dragon," said the creature. "I have never helped, in millennia, any dragon with so many questions enclosed within, no answers, and no security. Not even Malefor had had so many questions, his fate already decided for him."
The purple male was surprised by this last piece of information. "Malefor's been here?" he asked.
"Not here, of course, but yes, Malefor got his access to the Unconscious once," said the creature.
An icy feeling shot through his whole being just hearing that name. The name of the dragon that ruined his beloved one's life. Still, the information surprised him too, thinking that Malefor had found himself in the same situation, but apparently in a better situation than his own.
The creature continued. "I can feel the chaos that lurks beneath these waters." It finally moved for the first time, gently sliding its ethereal dark paw over the surface of the water, again rippling its waters. As the creature touched the waters, an explosion of emotion made its way through the purple dragon, making him lose his strength all at once and end up on the ground, eyes closed and head spinning.
"W-What…what ar-are you d-doing?" he hissed, painfully.
"Just let it go through you," said the creature's abruptly soft voice.
His thoughts traveled as fast as lightning from the sky to the ground. Each time the lightning stroke the sky, it was anticipated by a flash behind his tight-closed eyes. With each flash, he saw images, moments of his life, past and present, even things he thought he forgot. His heart beat frenetically as he felt Cynder's grip tighten on the holes she had made in the scales on his chest and his collar felt tight around his neck as he wriggled on the floor struck by visions he did not want to see:
His time in Warfang.
The fall of Warfang and the death of his friends, all of them.
His present life.
Everything he did.
Everything he is still doing.
A voice in all this rumbled inside his skull box.
"What are you looking for?"
This time he answered without any doubt or hesitation.
"What does the prophecy really mean?"
"Am I doing what is right?"
"Have I lost myself?"
The images kept flowing in front of him, the speed had increased, his head hurts, his heart too, and his eyes were starting to tear.
"I'm sorry!" he yelled when he started seeing the images of the people he killed. The people he remembered far too well, visiting him every night after he closes his eyes. They were all faceless ghosts that hunted him since that night, asking him why, why did he do what he did, and why did he kill them. But two of them had their faces recognizable.
"I'm sorry…" he pleaded. "Terrador, Flame, I-I'm so sorry…"
But they never spoke, they never asked a thing. They simply stared at him, frowning, displeased, and disgusted with him.
The voice asked again, this time louder and deeper in his mind. "What are you looking for, Spyro?"
"NO!" he yelled. "What have I become?!"
The purple dragon roared painfully, rising on his four with watery wide-open eyes, his muzzle wet with water, his vision blurred by it.
He was still in the cave. The rune creature was still there, now sitting elegantly and fluctuating over the water, staring at him with intensity in its two white holes it called eyes. The purple dragon atoned loudly, lowering his head and remaining in this position for a long time, his back curved, his eyes closed, focusing on the wild beating of his heart, the pulse in his head, and the storm of his own emotions.
He felt exhausted and…young.
He hadn't felt this way since his time with the Guardians.
"You have traveled in your unconscious, into the depths," said the ethereal voice of the black creature, less ethereal and more intimate and soft in its tone now. "Have you found what you were looking for?"
Spyro wasn't sure of what to answer, of what he saw. Still, he tried to answer through his breaths, whispering. "I-I g-guess," he said.
"Have you found your questions?" asked the creature then.
He thought so. "I-I d-did," he said.
A murmur of assent answered him. Then a brief silence, before. "They are all difficult questions to answer. But the first is the easiest," the creature explained to the dragon still cluttered in front of the lake. "The Prophecy," it said. "What is a Prophecy, Spyro?"
"I-I do-don-don't k-know," he stammered as he tried to recompose himself.
"A Prophecy is an abstract concept made by flesh beings," the creature said. "Just like Destiny."
Spyro raised his head to look at the creature, confused.
"The latter is often pointed out for anything that goes well or wrong in the lives of flesh beings, while the former is a subcategory of the second one. Either way neither exists. You created it."
Spyro began stuttering. "B-B-But I-I di- and t-the prophecy said... and I instead... and then it happ-" he could not speak, he was still completely taken by the experience that his thoughts were still disordered, just as were the new information. Inserting his muzzle into the lake of what was supposed to be his unconscious ... he was overwhelmed.
The creature seemed untouched by the dragon's difficulties but still, it tried to explain. "The prophecy spoke of a purple dragon that would defeat darkness and the dark lord and bring a millennium of peace," it recited. "But it could be any purple dragon born from here to centuries from now, not necessarily you, and your defeat of Malefor didn't mean that it's you the purple dragon of the prophecy. A prophecy does not make you the purple dragon of the prophecy as everyone convinced you. Prophecies, especially those of another time, rarely coincide with what the truth will be."
Spyro merely looked at the creature, his mind racing with this new information. What if everything they told him was always wrong? What if he believed in a lie like many others that had been trimmed to keep him at bay? What if…
A feeling of terror took over him at that thought. What if he was the Dark Master who had to be defeated? Would a purple dragon soon be born to end his and Cynder's rule? Was that the prophecy?
"Destiny, prophecies, Fate, they just excuse the flesh beings use as a justification for their fortunes and misfortunes," resumed the voice of the creature as if it could hear his thoughts. "Fate, destiny, the prophecy, they have no fault, for they regulate nothing, for they do not exist. They aren't written in stone, for it is what we decide for ourselves through our actions that write that page in our book, and that reduces the possible ways we can take from there," it explained. "This is why these concepts even exist. Our actions diminish so much the number of our future possibilities so that when we see ourselves in front of only a handful of possible different ways, we take one or the other, we blame fate, destiny, or a prophecy for not making us take the right way when we brought it down ourselves on us in the first place."
Spyro stared at the creature. He wasn't sure of what the dark creature just said, as it all went completely against everything he learned from the very beginning, that they taught him since his arrival at the first temple, and against everything he ever believed in until now. Cynder said that their kingdom was meant to be, that it was what destiny wanted, what the Ancestors themselves wanted from him and her. But according to the creature's reasoning, it was only their choices that brought them to where they were, and there was still no reasoning about the morality of what they had done. He has always been convinced that everything he did, even the worst of actions, he did for the greater good, at the behest of destiny and prophecy that he helped founding the empire. He has always believed that he was bringing that millennium-long-lasting peace that the prophecy foretold and that therefore he had now to work to keep the Empire and that peace that was his destiny to bring.
But what if that's not the case? What if they were all wrong? What was left of his actions? What was left of him?
"It is your actions that will choose the next course of events, Fallen Dragon," said the creature, now in front of him, at the edge of the shore. Spyro rose his head only to be faced with two wide and empty spheres of an unnaturally bright and burning white, frightening aesthetically, but warm internally so that he did not back down when he noticed the proximity. The voice kept rumbling in his ears, in his head, intimate, soft, wise but also severe in his judgment. "Do not blame the prophecy for what has happened, nor for what will happen. Remember that the advocate of your destiny is only you and that it will be only you who will contribute to your future. That also answers your second question."
Having said that, the figure began to withdraw, its whole body moved away from him and the shore as if it was paper that was being sucked backward. Spyro immediately felt it and he knew that it was something wrong. His vision was blurring again, and the cave around him was beginning to fade in colors and shapes, narrowing his vision more and more to the only retreating creature that, the further back it went, the more it was followed by the lake frosting from the shores following it gradually towards the center.
Whatever his experience down there was, it was ending and he knew it.
"No!" Spyro begged. "Please, we're not done yet! There's a question missing! I need to know and I need to know what's beyond this lake. I need it I can feel it!"
The creature's voice was now distant, outside of him, outside of his head, lost in the cave. The environment was fading away, the lake was almost entirely frozen and the dark tunnel behind the long-missing black figure was closing up before him as his eyelids became heavier and heavier.
He knew that he would soon lose the battle against them, but he tried as fiercely as he could to keep them open and see the distant disappearing creature until the very end.
"That tunnel could be crossed only after you have answered your last question," said the distant voice in the form of an echo in the cave. "But you are not ready for that and perhaps you will never be. Control your own destiny, Spyro the purple dragon, and maybe we will meet again."
The figure faded completely as the lake finished to freeze and, with the dragon's heavy eyelids closing hermetically, the cave's environment evaporated carried away by a gust of wind.
"Wait!"
The purple dragon woke up with a start, breathless, his right paw reaching out for it not to go away, not until he got an answer to the last question.
But he was back to reality. The black stones and purple lights of the Imperial Palace's corridor were familiar to him, as was the hardness of the reinforced wooden door his back was leaning to.
He was back where he fell asleep, in the corridor, in front of the Empress's room, as always when she wasn't in the palace.
For a small moment, he asked himself if someone might have heard him scream. That would be a problem for his reputation and he would have to clean all the guards on the floor to silence the gossip before it could even start. But he remembered that when he dismissed all the guards off the floor when he went to sleep.
About that dream he-
The purple dragon frowned. Then he remained wide-eyed, shock engraved in his muzzle.
He was starting to forget the dream.
No! He had to remember, he had to keep it with all he had as he wanted to come back and ask for more and he could do it if he didn't remember.
He had to remember, so he tried to force what he could to stay.
A dark tunnel, a cave, a tunnel, a cave, tunnel and cave, tunnel and cave and a…a…lake, of course, a lake! A tunnel, a cave, a big cave, and a lake at the center of it and…and
The purple dragon growled, smashing his paw hard on the black rock underneath.
He couldn't remember. As happens with many dreams he forgot what happened in that dream, only remembering slices of it, only remembering useless detail, but at the same time sure that there was far more important information he should be remembering.
But he couldn't!
First anger and frustration took over him, almost making him see red. He hated it, he hated when he couldn't remember something useful, especially since he felt that it was something important, something he should remember.
Then, these emotions evaporated, replaced by a feeling of uneasiness and apprehension. He felt that this dream had a much higher value, meaning, and impact on his life that was going to be important for his future.
Yet he couldn't remember it, and that made him for the first time in years, anxious, The great purple dragon, the mighty dark master, the Empress's first General, anxious. That would be something the apes and especially the Resistance would like to hear so that they could exploit it to destroy him, Cynder, and everything they have worked for.
"What would Cynder think if she happened to know about that?" he thought and he knew the answer.
Weak.
The purple dragon rose from the ground. He didn't know if the sun had already risen or not, but he wasn't going to sleep anyway. Not now, not with those feelings mixing up inside both his mind and stomach. He had to find a distraction, something that would keep him entertained from those thoughts as long as possible.
And he didn't have to look for it as he had work to do. He had to run the Empire on Cynder's behalf, he had to control the army as he has always been doing in the past 20 years. He had to deal with those filthy diplomats he hated but he couldn't kill.
He had plenty of work that he better get started.
He started down the corridor when another thought stopped him mid-way.
What about Hope? He hasn't seen him since that night when Cynder seduced him and asked him not to visit the hatchling again.
Until then he complied, but now he felt as if he had to see the little dragon, he had to make sure he was fine, he was still alive.
But Cynder said not to see him ever again…
A whisper flew in the air. It was incomprehensible, unfathomable, so low and fast that the purple dragon didn't even realize the murmur was there in the first place.
Still, it seemed enough to make the male dragon decide on his next course of action: he would perform his duties toward the Empire and its Empress. Then, at the end of the day and his duties, he may pay a visit to the young dragon.
He would make sure she never know, however. Unlike last time, he would make this meeting a secret.
The purple dragon walked down the dull-lit corridor with his plan strongly established in his head and, unlike the other few times he did something like that, he didn't feel an ounce of guilt for planning of keeping something secret from Cynder.
MDT - MDT - MDT
Sonohra was very much hoping that this would be the last night they had to walk in that abandoned-by-the-Ancestors desert. It was the third night that they spent walking in that desolate sea of nothing that surrounded them from all directions, without being able to see a thing other than the dark and distant hills of sand.
She has never been particularly interested in landscapes as she spent most of her life leaving underground encircled by rocks, but in that context, she would have given anything so that she could even have in front of her a single tree to break the boring monotony.
There has not been much to do too during those three days that they had spent in this place of torture on earth and, although she has been able to spend a few hours with the others like in old good times, those were never long enough to supplant the monotony of the night and their silent journey, or the day spent resting.
Fortunately, Licht did not give them problems as someone expected. He seemed smart enough for his age to keep his mouth shut during the days they spent resting. He was quite cooperative, intelligent, and certainly skillful with the electrical skills of his element for his age.
He wasn't a problem during their journey, but it wasn't him that worried the white dragoness.
She turned to her right seeing the red dragoness walking by her side. Her job was to keep an eye on her, as also Batch suggested, and so now she had to control the sky, the surroundings, and even one of their own that proved herself more unstable than ever. After the recent collapse experienced the previous day, she decided she would keep an eye on the red dragoness as, still curled up around her, she spoke to Phantom about the event in Blackashes's arena.
But she could see through her friend herself: the anger that had come out in droves from the red dragoness and then the sudden despair that had taken her immediately after were only the worst part of a far bigger problem her friend showed every day. Sonohra would catch her friend daydreaming or with an empty look, her emotions barely contained, a visible weight on her wings that was pushing her down. Fire walked rubbing her wings, tail, and paws on the ground and she held back from doing it completely weightless, only because otherwise she would have been the reason why someone discovered their unauthorized entry inside imperial territory.
It was evident that her friend was not well and Sonohra herself underestimated a problem that appeared right upon their return from Warfang. She had postponed it multiple times, knowing the character of her friend as she was sure she would masterfully control and hide it as she always did during her whole lifetime.
But it seemed that this time it was too much even for her. Sonohra never expected such behavior from her best friend, a total crack of her emotional barriers, making her this lost, restless, and dangerous dragoness. She wanted to talk to her, she had to talk to her, this time it was indispensable for the sake of both their group and Fire herself.
It was true, she did try once before and it didn't go well and that was the reason why she was postponing it again. Fire was broken and she needed a good place and a good time to speak to her, or she would turn her down as she did at the mole's base. But here they were in the desert, during a very dangerous mission, and in difficult conditions. She knew the fire dragoness would never open herself to her if not in a specific and well-crafted environment.
And even if she managed to speak to her, what would be her reaction? Would she break or would she get better? She didn't know for sure and considering the nature of their voyage, having to drag her hot-headed friend after another emotional breakdown would multiply their chances of being discovered and killed.
So, what to do? She was sure that with the help of the others she would manage to build the perfect and safe situation for everyone to take the subject with Fire, then perhaps she could have known the whole truth about what distressed the red dragon and then help her in every possible way she could. But again, she didn't know Fire's reaction and she wasn't inclined to risk it into a situation like the one they were about to experience.
So, for now, she decided it better to keep her tongue, limiting herself to checking her friend's behavior. The time will come for that conversation…probably.
A sudden growl followed by a lament alarmed Sonohra who came out of her thoughtful state and looked around in search of danger. This, at least, till a familiar voice from her back spoke.
"It's my stomach," complained Licht who generally slept on her back during days but was now very much awake. "I'm hungry," he said.
They were all hungry because they hadn't eaten for practically three days, and although a few pieces of meat had remained after Ahmos' incident, most were lost and they preferred to feed the puppy to avoid complaints that would then be worse for their condition afterward. Adults could resist, Batch said.
But the truth was that she was hungry too. Unfortunately, though, considering that even water was a valuable asset difficult to find in some small occasional dirty pools, the search for food had been impossible both for the journey they made at night and for the conditions of the territory that allowed very little variety of animals accessible to them during the day.
Therefore, even if it was not her stomach that grumbled, she still knew that if she had not eaten as soon as possible, her energy which was restored with a little remarried and water, would not return as before, leaving her weaker to any threat on their way.
"Soon we'll eat, Licht," she tried to reassure him without really knowing what to say or if what she was saying was remotely close to the truth. "You just have to be patient a bit more."
The hatchling groaned but she felt him resting his head again on her back. "How much longer?" he asked.
"Soon."
Another voice at her side complained just soon after. "Ohh, what would I give for a piece of meat, a piece of fish, a piece of…something, everything!"
"Shut up, Ahmos," responded the serious voice of Kohle. "You don't hear Licht complaining about that, do you? He's more grown-up than you are."
"Actually, Licht has just complained about the same thing," she intervened trying not to let out her concern for their situation. "I don't know if they made a deal to complain at the same time," she continued sarcastically to try and cut the dramatic situation. "But I can't say they're not right this time."
Sonohra stared at her red friend at her side who merely nodded to her, her eyes as empty as always nowadays.
"We will find food soon," said Kohle, sounding sure about that matter.
"How do you know?" asked Ahmos.
"Batch said so," simply replied the black dragon.
Their guide had, in fact, moved forward by himself. He didn't explain why, he just recommended keeping up behind him and that he would return soon enough. She didn't pay too much attention to it, as she was trying to understand what to do with Fire, but apparently, Kohle thought that this advance of the Blackashes' guard leader meant something useful, probably food.
His opinion was good as hers at this point. They just needed to wait and see what the electric dragon would say when he returned.
As she waited for that, the dragoness swallowed her annoyance and returned to her task of controlling the environment, in search of any real danger. Not that the need for food was not real, but they still had time before they felt its effects, while a possible external threat could easily become a much closer threat in a matter of seconds.
The usual expanse of dark blue nothingness was what she found herself in front of. At least that's until she saw it:
A whitish color broke the blue/black monotony of the horizon, effectively separating the earth from the sky. Then, as this color rose to the sky obscuring the stars, it became more and more orange. But it couldn't be already dawn, not enough time had passed since they exited their hiding place. The night was still at its peak and the moon followed above them their journey confirmed it quite realistically.
So it could only be artificial lights that made this effect.
Lights in the distance.
Many lights.
A city or something.
She was about to warn the others of her discovery when she noticed it: a dark figure coming their direction from the place where all those lights were.
"Get down!" she hissed, trying to be as loud as it was necessary, not more.
"What is that?" asked Ahmos, sounding nervous.
"Don't know, but it's coming that way," replied Kohle.
Fire said nothing.
"Stay down and keep quiet," said Sonohra to the others, the exact words Batch said as he left from going in advance alone.
Whatever it was, it couldn't be any good because it came from an area apparently off-limits and in the hands of imperial control. It certainly could not be a rebel base, but more certainly it was an imperial base of some kind of thing from which they must stay far away, going around it.
Was it possible? Would the night give them enough cover for it or would it betray them with its light? Only Batch could know how to move from here. But Batch wasn't there now, right?
And it was when she suspected it.
That figure was coming from the illuminated area. It didn't seem like an ape or a grubling in shape, not even a dreadwing. It was a dragon shape and he seemed in a hurry, something a patrol would not do or would do but in the opposite direction had they been discovered.
It only meant that the figure was…
"It's Batch," said Fire, speaking for the first time in ages.
It was him and the proof was the electric dragon himself appearing in front of them some seconds later so that they could finally take that breath they didn't even know they were holding. Or, at least, that was what the white dragoness thought they could easily do before their guide opened his mouth to report what he saw.
"There is a camp, one or two kilometers ahead of us," he said.
"A-A c-camp?" stammered Ahmos.
"Yes," nodded Batch. "But not every imperial camp," he added, gloomy. "It's a camp full of grublings."
MDT - MDT - MDT
"A Grubling's camp?! In the middle of the desert?!" exclaimed Sonohra, surprised that they could be in such a place. She knew that those monsters were slimy enough to live almost everywhere, but she certainly didn't expect to find them even in a desert.
"They're not exactly in the middle of the desert," replied Fire, not watching her directly, but rather looking at something in front of her.
Sonohra frowned and she was about to ask what she meant when she turned and got the answer herself.
A tall mountain, tall enough to touch the sky and dark enough to be confused with the night stood out in front of them. It was possible to see it in the dark only because of the lights that the camps all around its base used to illuminate the night. The stars upon the place were nowhere to be found, and the weather up there was cloudy and stormy as confirmed by the flashes into the clouds that lit the sky repeatedly the dark figures inside of them, revolving all around that place like crows, all the while down there the squealing of the creatures haunting the camp was the only noise that broke the silence of an otherwise quiet and dark night.
It looked like the entrance to the underworld.
"My Ancestors…" was all that the white dragoness was able to whisper at the sight.
The group soon reunited in a raised, hidden position close to the camps. Beneath them a large encampment formed by a pile of tents dangerously close to the fires that served to light the area. An inner part of the camp, the central one, seemed more fortified than the rest, surrounded by a square of a kind of woodcut and a few watchtowers at the four corners of the square. Luckily, in the air around the camp, not even a dreadwing was spinning for extra control.
"They have to be pretty sure that no one will come this way with them here standing guard," commented Sonohra.
"On the contrary, they hope that someone will pass exactly from here," replied Batch at her side.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean every corner leading to the mountain is guarded by a camp exactly as this one," he explained. "The Mountain is surrounded by thousands of those little things who can't wait to dip their sword or stick in an enemy's body, whether it is rebellious or imperial. They can't wait for someone to show up here to pass without authorization to satisfy their thirst for blood."
"Then why not put more guards, like other dreadwings to scour the ground from the sky?" she asked, confused by such a wrong tactical move.
Batch turned to face her, his eyes shining from the orange light coming from below."Because it's more fun for them when they don't know where the rat is…"
The only way to the Mountain was through that camp, no matter what.Batch ordered them to spread into groups and pass inside the camp without being noticed. He had also recommended various routes to choose that he considered safer and said that, however risky, it was important for them to find something to drink and eat inside the camp. They were betting a lot on the Grublings that, being vile creatures and certainly not honorable, were also careless enough to let two dragons at a time pass, getting food and water without even noticing it. They were quite arrogant creatures and that was precisely why Batch did not seem to be too afraid for the success of their mission.
At least that's until he took Sonohra aside to talk to her while Phantom and Kohle went first, for those at the time were the dragons with more confidence from their leader to get to the other side quickly without any kind of problem. For added security, Licht had gone with the purple dragon under direct advice from their guide and the white dragoness imagined that the motivation would turn out soon enough.
"I'll pair you with Fire right after the first two have had enough time to get to the other side," he said.
She imagined that. Fire's condition was her responsibility, even according to Phantom, because she was her best and closest friend that's why he took Licht away from her because she needed her full attention on her red friend. They all knew she was the only one who could do it because Fire wouldn't listen to anyone else.
And it was for this precise reason that Sonohra now found herself walking crouched, hiding between one tent and another, having to look out for herself and Fire. She stopped behind a tent and, trying not to throw up at the smell coming from inside, she looked at the four turrets of the wooden fortified square where the guards seemed asleep. That was good for them, but it didn't mean less danger as they could wake up at any time or other vile creatures on the ground could find her or her friend. They had to watch out for those too.
She moved again, trying to gather a few drops of water and pieces of food here and there, all while keeping an eye on her right where, in the mutual visual distance, was Fire who had an empty side covered by her who was there in the middle, leaving to herself her personal search for food, water and not to be discovered. All under the watchful gaze of the white female who was supposed to be her guard for the rest of the trip.
Sonohra found herself sighing about the situation, although she knew she had to do it for both the group's and her best friend's sake.
Shaking her head, the white dragon came out of yet another hiding place after making sure the guards weren't looking her way. She stepped forward as fast as possible, silently, and looking nervously at her surroundings but especially on the right, where Fire was also watching over her.
Golden eyes stared into the yellow electric ones as they looked at each other, a silent conversation between the two dragoness. The former asked a question and the latter nodded.
That speechless answer must have been enough for the red female, as with a nod of her own started walking again, and Sonohra advanced too.
Well, that was the only good thing about it. Fire cared about her and she was also making sure that the white female kept up with her, in a way it diminished the workload that she had to do. Fire seemed in her right mind that night and she was doing exactly what Sonohra was doing for Fire. They were cooperating as a squad would do, as they often did at the base, and if they kept going like this, they would be out of that smelly trap in a matter of minutes.
Of course, Sonohra still had her job to do as Fire seemed fine now, but no one could know if or when the red female would snap again. For this reason, her attention to her friend remained high, even when she stopped to drink at the watering can. It was a little dirty, but she had had worse in the desert. While satisfying her thirst partially so as not to risk becoming weighed down, she kept an eye on Fire at the other side who was doing the same.
Everything seemed to go well until, almost towards the end of their way through the camp, Sonohra came into contact with a perfume that caught her nose. Her stomach grumbled in response. She was hungry. And not just any hunger, but that hunger that was brought from two days of undaunted walking during the night in the desert and a troubled rest with an empty stomach and dry tongue during the day.
She hadn't found any food just yet and Batch suggested finding some during their sneaky mission. She guessed that outside that camp and at the Mountain she would not get any luckier about finding food, therefore guided by her stomach and thinking that she would not do any harm if she had for a moment deviated from her path to get some food, Sonohra moved beyond the view range of the red dragoness fading to the left between a pile of crumpled curtains.
She soon found herself near a tent that, not dissimilar to others, had the odd characteristic of having a very good smell coming from the inside. So good that it had teased her stomach, currently in heavy deficit.
Making sure that there was no one around, Sonohra stuck her head inside the tent and found herself in front of what was a strange prey impaled on a piece of wood. She did not recognize it because of how they had torn it to pieces and put it on fire, but it smelled no less tasty to both her sight and belly. Without even securing a second time the safety behind her action, the dragoness came forward and began to eat everything she could pick up, aiming to fill her belly as much as possible because, in their current condition, it was difficult to know when she would eat again.
Her hunger made her even less attentive than usual to her surroundings though, as she was so focused on eating that she almost lost the noise of approaching steps. Whoever it was, the creature was not even too careful not to be heard, all too audible on the scraping sand, but certainly cushioned by the constitution of the sand itself. Even if the owner was to be more cautious, the noise of its armor was quite obvious evidence of its approach.
But Sonohra was too busy to hear even that.
The noise stopped and silence was sovereign for a long time, interrupted first by a grunt of confusion, then by a roar of indignant anger.
The roar awakened Sonohra from her feracious state and, even before she could mentally curse herself for her stupidity, she let go of everything she was doing and taken from her senses of survival again, she walked out of the tent without making any noise and hid behind the nearest tent.
She paused for a moment. She had been discovered, she knew it, her stupidity made sure of it. Her heart beat fast in her throat, her dirty mouth dripping with dried blood, her eyes wide open in fear, prepared and alert, her claws unsealed as she waited for anyone to come forward to face her.
Surely that roar would awake the guards on the towers. Or worse, it could have called for backup, and now because of her stupidity, they were all screwed. She was the one that had to keep an eye out for the dangerous dragoness of the group, and she ended up being the dangerous dragoness herself. Batch trusted her to be responsible for two, she and Fire and...
Fire!
Oh, Ancestors! She lost sight of the red female when she diverted from the path following her hunger and only now did she realize that she stopped too much eating driven by her hunger. Fire would have noticed by now and she would be surely worried for her.
And an unstable Fire worry was the beginning of a recipe for disaster.
She growled subtly at herself, her paws itching for the fight that wasn't coming. No one was coming, no other roars cried in the night, and the camp seemed as silent as it was before. Sonohra came out of her hiding spot to assess the situation. What she found was not exactly what she had expected:
Two grublings were arguing with each other, bragging in their incomprehensible language. One looked angry as he pointed to the floor right in front of the tent where a buck was overturned, dripping some red liquid. The other looked defensive but, at a better glance, she could say it was satisfied with what it did. The two started beating each other and no one in the tends close by seemed to care. It had to be something habitual around here.
Sonohra let out a silent sigh of relief. Whatever those two ugly things were discussing about, they most likely hadn't seen her, otherwise, they would have called for help and the camp would all be awake and chasing after the intruder.
She was fine. Everything was fine. That was very close and she got lucky, but she managed not to put the group in danger, so now she could come back to her mission.
Fire.
Whispering another curse at her stupidity, Sonohra gave one last look at the vile creatures that were now whining at each other. She made sure they didn't see her as she vanished again between the tents, with her belly full of food as well as concern for her friend she has left behind. She took back the way she came from, hoping that Fire hadn't done anything stupid just as she just did.
MDT - MDT - MDT
Fire was worried.
Extremely worried.
She needed to calm down. Everything would be fine. She would solve everything. Nothing could go wrong, why would it anyway? After everything they've been through, didn't they deserve some respite?
The thought did not reassure her at all. It put her even more on the ropes considering that not much had gone well for them lately, then there was no reason why this would go any different.
Calm down and breathe. Calm down and breathe.
She stopped at the edge of a tent, leaning against it suddenly very tired from her ever-tense muscles. She hid her golden spheres under her eyelids for a second, breathing deeply and trying to put it all back together.
Everything would be fine. If she kept her composure, nothing could go wrong.
Right?
She opened her eyes: two golden spheres soaked in worry and anxiety looked around to make sure no one was seeing her without her knowing it. She found nothing out of the ordinary, but it wasn't what the golden spheres were looking for.
No, it wasn't that.
The two golden spheres were desperately looking for even one recognizable hallmark of her friend's location. Some white scale, a lighting-tipped tail, a movement in the shadows, anything.
But there was nothing there and Fire's concern was growing by the second. Where was Sonohra?
For a single moment, she had looked away from her friend, from checking over her. A single moment, she had used to lower herself and take a bite of what looked like meat left on a now-extinguished fire by some grumbling. But when she raised her head again, her friend was no longer in sight. She started looking for her, but she wasn't finding her friend anywhere.
A flash of concern snapped right through her heart and her whole being. But it's been normal for her lately, so she didn't pay it too much attention as she tried to suppress it. It was not a strange thing that the two of them would get off for a moment from the other's view. They were in a place full of very close tents, looking for food and water, and often they did not find what they were looking for directly in front of them, making them have to get out of the trajectory for a few seconds and so out of view for the other.
So Fire stopped and waited for her. She knew that somewhere beyond that tent in the distance was Sonohra finding food or water. She was so sure that she could bet that if she peered with her head from her hiding place, she would meet two electric yellow eyes confirming her well-being. Then, only then, they could go ahead with their mission, and Fire's heart would stop beating so fast in her chest.
But she became immensely concerned when, after more than a minute, nothing appeared where her friend was supposed to appear. Not a shadow, not a wing, a snout, or a tail. Nothing at all.
And it was there and then that her concern almost took control of her all over again. She wanted to shout the name of the white dragoness, calling her wherever she was, but she knew that in doing so she would condemn not only her but the whole group as well. She wanted to burn all these damn tents to ashes, to get a better view of what was on the other side and maybe find Sonohra eating or drinking like she hoped she was doing, but that way would also lead to their discovery and endangering the group.
She knew about her current emotional condition, even though she hadn't fully accepted it, let alone admit it to others. She knew what she had done, what she was capable of doing, and the damage she could do out here if she didn't control herself properly. She knew why Sonohra was walking with her in the middle of the camp, and not on the opposite edge like Phantom and Kohle had done before them, causing her friend to be in an even more precarious position just so she could keep an eye on her.
She knew all this. And it was only this that helped her keep calm enough to make her way slowly and without being seen through the tents, invading the central area assigned to Sonohra with the hope of finding her, safe.
But she didn't know where to go. Back or forth? Was she ahead of the red one's current position when she moved out of her sight, or she came back? Or again, did she move even further to the left because she found something or was still in the center of the camp?
Was she in danger? Was she okay?
All these questions, without a clear answer, left the young fire dragoness completely confused and immobilized about what to do next. She couldn't figure out what to do, or where to go. She felt completely useless, she felt completely out of place like when she was just a hatchling and her mother would ground her in her room for something she felt she hadn't done wrong.
But this was different. Unlike any other moment of her life when her dominant emotions were anger and hate, this time only fear, anxiety and distress swirled within.
What if Sonohra has been captured?
A stroke of pure terror struck her more deeply than she thought possible. What if she was being tortured? Because of her? What would she do then? She had to save her! But how?
Her paws began to tremble beneath her own body's weight, her tail moving jerky, her breathing fast, her eyes barred while the two golden spheres reflected in them exactly the crisis that currently found itself within her soul. She was hyperventilating and she risked going off on her own without being able to control it, just as the same internal fire that made her unstable her whole life was illuminating her outer flakes making it a weak intermittent light that could soon become much more visible if it had not calmed down soon.
She was a time bomb ready to explode.
She had to save her! She couldn't lose her! She couldn't lose any of her friends, they were all she had left after what she had done!
The light was getting more intense. The internal flames of the dragoness grew and cracked to the rhythm of their owner's despair.
She has to do something! It's all her fault!
Her claws dug into the ground. Her muscles were prepared. Her fire was ready.
She would raze the entire camp to the ground, kill every single grubling on her way, scour every part of that desert to find her, and bring her to safety, should it be the last thing she did in this life!
If it is still possible to save her...
Fire couldn't hold all that energy anymore. She had to free it before she explodes. She had to do something and she was about to when, suddenly before her, appeared a familiar face.
She initially did not recognize her, pulling back from the possible enemy but, at the same time, it cut off her concentration and her connection to the inner flame which, abruptly, died out like a fire suffocated by a discharge of water, turning her off completely, her scales first.
In front of her were two worrying electric familiar yellow eyes.
It took a while to recognize the owner of them. Despair had tarnished her eyes making her almost blind but, with some time and some words from the creature before her, she soon managed to identify her for who she was.
"S-So-Sonohra?"
"Shhh, breath," the other dragoness said.
"I-I-" she tried.
"Just breath," she pressed.
She did as she was told closing her eyes and concentrating on her o breathing process. In and out, in and out. One, two, three, ten times all the while she knew her friend would cover her back in case of problems. In and out, in and out. She was feeling better already, more relaxed, more stable on her paws, and more stable on the inside.
"That's it, you've got this," complimented Sonohra, one of her paws resting on her shoulder that she didn't even feel until then.
Fire felt ashamed.
"Sonohra, I-I-I'm s-sorry, I didn't-" she tried when she found her voice again but she was interrupted.
"I'm the one who's sorry," Sonohra stopped her, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have moved away from your sight. I realize now that I've worried you uselessly."
Fire could sense the rest of her friend's statement. "Risking you damn dangerous time bomb exploding."
That was true, though as it was true that she wasn't a little hatchling anymore, someone that needed to see an adult in her range and be controlled by an adult figure all the time. She was just an adult dragoness who was emotionally broken and risked blowing up in the middle of an enemy camp, putting everyone's lives at stake, again.
Surely not like a hatchling.
"Far worse…"
"Did you find something to eat?" Sonohra asked, changing argument for both sakes. "Because if you need I've-"
"I ate," Fire said, definitely, steadily, trying to pass through her voice that she was all right now.
Sonohra looked at her for a long moment, silent and studying. Then she nodded. "Ok," she said. "Let's go then, the exit is near and I bet Batch and Ahmos are right behind us."
Sonohra started before stopping again as if she had second thoughts. She turned, giving her another worried look. It seemed her friend needed confirmation, again. "Are you sure you're all right?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Fire nodded, trying to convince herself and her friend both. "Just go ahead, I'm fine."
Or was she?
Hello there! Been a long time, hasn't it?
First, I just wanted to apologize to you all for not having kept my promise when I said I was going to try and publish a chapter or two in September. I've tried, but I was busy.
Second, I apologize also for the "coldness" of the last chapters, without a note or anything after two months of nothing. I wasn't home yet and where I was the internet connection was discontinuous. But I promised you that I was going to start publishing again by September 30 so I asked my father home to upload the chapters I had already uploaded on the doc manager. (A difficult task as we're not English spokesmen as you may have got from the story, and my father knows no language if not our own so I had to guide him through the settings he couldn't even read or understand. Infuriating and funny at the same time!)
Anyway, now we are a few chapters off before the second act's end and so entering the third and final one (finally someone would say). From now on I should be able to keep up as always with uploads on the weekends (hoping the chapters of the third act will be cooperative…)
That's it, just needed to say that. Thank you for your patience and, as always, take care.
Cya!