Thanks for being patient everyone. I took a break from this story to work on other things, but I'm back with an extra long chapter this time. It is a bit darker though, (wow darker then literally dying and being kidnapped?) yeah, in a way...

I don't really have much else to say this time. Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites!

Disclaimer: Few curse words

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The below warning has spoilers, so skip it unless you are easily triggered by dark themes/situations. But if you have triggers, probably want to check it.

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(TW / Abusive parenting, threatening suicide, prob some other things I don't know the name of.)

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Thank you, enjoy the chapter my friends.

Chapter 12

"Magic/Memories"

Cynder stared at me in confusion, and I felt my body tense up. Was telling her the right decision? What if she doesn't believe me? No she would believe me… but the real question is would she trust the voice. She leaned down closer to look me in my eyes, shaking me out of my thoughts with her voice to look at her, "Hey, Gale… What was that you just said honey? What is it?"

I stopped again, I could just say I had been sleep talking. What if it was just a dream after all? Did the voice have anything against me saying anything to her? My head was filled with uncertainty and I grunted in anger, placing a paw to my forehead. "Gale!" Cynder said loudly, using a paw to gently make me look at her, "You're… scaring me." She said worriedly. Spyro stirred awake from next to her, leaning in to listen to us groggily.

"If you think you know anything so that we can help you, I promise we'll do our best." She said with a short smile.

I felt Kenra press his muzzle against the back of my head, and he seemed very tired still, "Everything okay?"

"Tell them," the voice said very quietly from inside my head.

I sighed and nodded, "I entered a realm in my sleep. It's a lot like the library, but instead of a library it's just a platform with…" I sighed, "it's not important what it looks like. This voice talks to me when I'm there, I've heard her before. They tried to warn me once, when I was sleeping right before I got kidnapped…" I stopped to gauge their reactions.

Spyro now seemed full awake, leaning in with wide eyes in interest. Cynder was worried but nodded, using a gentle smile to encourage me to continue. Kenra barely understood half of what I said, but was trying his best.

"This time they told me why. The general idea is… that my soul is locked, the anti-magic on the island negated the lock allowing me to take in energy… But now I can't, and I have a small amount of magic that is fading, that's where my color is going… but apparently the Guardians can help?.." I put my paws to my head, "I-I know it's all so crazy, I can barely keep track of it all… but please, I barely trust myself…

I felt a muzzle on each side of my own as Spyro and Cynder comforted me, "Hey, hey we believe you." Spyro said gently.

Cynder hummed, "I'm actually so glad it's something simple like that. I was worried for you…"

Simple? This sounded like an absolutely convoluted fantasy plot to me! I laughed in relief, "Wait, simple? Really?"

Cynder nodded, "As long as we get you there today it should be very simple. Though now I'm curious…"

She inspected my body, looking around in interest. "W-What?" I asked.

She smiled, "I wonder what your real color is… with all of your mana."

I hadn't thought of that. If I wasn't taking in mana, and now I was fading in color to white, would my color be more vibrant? Or the same? Kenra groaned in frustration. "Understanding is hard. But have little time, right?" He said urgently.

"We heal fast. I worried Gale." He said hugging around my neck, I leaned into his embrace.

Cynder cooed causing me to blush, then nodded. "You're very correct Kenra. Let's eat very quick and go right away."

He nodded, satisfied with that answer. I begrudgingly allowed Cynder to carry me downstairs, as Spyro went to wake up their daughter. "Cynder I can walk…" I said with a small whine.

She smirked, "No you aren't. You need to conserve energy."

I sighed, she placed me at their dining table, on an elevated pillow, and Kenra hopped right up next to me. I watched Cynder disappear into the kitchen as she glanced at me wearily, "It'll be just a few minutes." She told us.

I stared quietly at the table in front of me, my thoughts swarming my head like crazy. I couldn't seem to focus as hard, though I couldn't tell if it was the confusion, the being sick, or the losing my magic that was causing it. I could feel Kenra staring at me, a glance over and sure enough, he was unashamedly staring at me. He blinked a few times and turned his head, "S-Sorry…" he muttered.

I shook my head with a sigh, "It's fine."

"You be okay soon." He said with a smile, which I returned in comfort.

I heard a quick rush of paw steps and felt a small wing cover my back, and jump up in between me and Kenra. "Morning!" Kaali said looking between the both of us eagerly.

Kenra, still seemingly off put by some of her actions, raised his brow and backed himself away a bit. I nodded back in surprise, "Y-Yes, good morning."

Spyro chuckled from behind us, "Kaali didn't I say not to surprise them?"

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, as she sat down next to me. She kept looking at me and my scales, even putting her paw on me, "Are you okay Gale? You look sicker than last night…" she asked worriedly.

I smiled, "I'll be fine…"

Cynder walked in, glancing at me with a bit of a worried look, she looked towards the other three. "Are some quick sandwiches alright? We really should be getting Gale to the… doctor." She decided on saying, noticing Kaali was here.

They all nodded, and Spyro approached her. "I can do this, if you'd like to feed him and get going." He said quietly. "I can tell you're forcing yourself to be calm."

She nodded slowly with a sigh, a bit of relief showing on her face. "See you in a bit." She said, and nuzzled him. Spyro nodded at her quick decision.

Coming over and scooping me into one of her forearms I looked up in confusion, she looked down sympathetically, "I'm… sorry Gale. I feel too worried to think about food."

Kenra stood up, intending to follow. But Cynder shook her head, "Sorry Kenra, you'll see him in a bit." She told him.

She smiled and walked towards the door, I protested, "Cynder… I could've waited. You don't need to rush out the door."

She seemed to hum at my response, as we got out of the house she started shaking a bottle, then offered it to me with her other forearm. I grunted and pushed it away, "Why should I eat if you haven't? Let's just have breakfast with everyone else Cynder." I said with a bit of annoyance.

She sighed, turning her head away, "This is more important for now, we're going…"

I huffed, "And can you stop carrying me already? I have legs and…"

She interrupted me, "You cannot fly. You are a very small hatchling, Gale." A bit of exasperation came from her voice.

"I'm not a hatchling." I said, crossing my forearms.

"Please Gale just take the bottle so we can go to the guardians…" she pleaded.

"No," I said with a turn of my head.

She growled, and I felt what little boldness I had left in my body leave me. She raised her voice a bit, "Gale, take the bottle."

I looked wearily, "Why is it so important that I-"

"Either you drink it yourself or I feed it to you, but young one, you will be drinking it one way or another!" She said forcefully.

I growled, "Why do you always act like you're the boss of me!?" I yelled back.

She growled back harder, making my face fearful, she brought her maw right up in front of mine. "I am your guardian until further notice, hatchling! And I'm sorry that I can't help but care. Can't you see that I love you?!" She said the last part with a huff and a couple tears. Than she retracted her growl in a quick look of regret, whether from growling at me or saying the words… I didn't know.

My voice froze, and she turned away from me. I didn't know how to respond to that. She loved me? Did she understand what she had just said? I slowly reached out and took the bottle from her other paw, she gave me a small smile, "You don't mean that… They didn't mean it either."

I didn't say anything else, choosing to keep to myself and keep my emotions from showing. "'They'?" She said quietly, a hurtful look on her face, she brought me closer to her muzzle, "Gale… What do you mean? I-I promise… I'm not lying." She said trying to get me to look at her.

I mumbled a small response, "Who cares, people break promises anyway."

I couldn't tell if she had heard me or not. What felt like an eternity of silence passed, and she spoke, "You're so pale…" She said quietly, with a defeated look. She sighed and left me to myself for the moment. As she tucked me into the pouch and took flight. The flight wasn't very long, but it was very quiet. I didn't even know why I had acted so childishly in the first place. But at the same time I was in a sour mood due to old memories.

As we flew towards the temple, which was up the mountain behind their house, I was supremely impressed. It looked almost brand new, I would describe the way it looked to be a tiered pyramid on the front, with a domed tip. With almost a large school looking building coming off on both sides. And I could see some fields off on it's left that even had some dragons training there from what I could tell. It didn't seem quite modern, but made out of some smooth light brown material. With brick layered paths along the outside.

We landed and Cynder turned around, "It's very beautiful up here," she said quietly.

She gave me a wide view of the city, it looked much grander and more impressive in the daytime. I'd give it that. Especially the absolute array of colors from different dragon, either flying around or walking through the streets. And not just dragon's either. Cat people, mole people, llama people? I think…

I nodded, "It's super cool…" I told her, looking up with a short smirk. She returned a grin at that.

We turned back around and entered the place, the doors were so big! Like I would be the size of a doorknob to this thing. It honestly almost reminded me of an aircraft hanger or something, but it was just a regular double wide door. The inside was made of some smooth almost marble like material, and the floor was tiled with an intricate design. There weren't many others walking about the halls, a few gave some passing smiles or weary glances to Cynder, but she didn't seem to mind.

We continued walking forward, a squared courtlike area with a beautiful garden in the middle. There were no doors to this area, it really reminded me of some Chinese or at the very least Asian architecture. On the other side of the garden was another longer hallway, with a massive etched door, that looked like it weighed a ton. A bunch of symbols were carved and painted into it, I guess the elements of the guardians? Cynder stopped before the door, taking in a deep breath, but before she knocked I asked, "What are the symbols?"

She seemed shaken out of her thoughts, "Hmm? Oh!" She said with a giggle, sitting herself in a position I could easily see them, "These four are the main elements us dragons have. There's fire, ice, lightning, and earth." She said pointing to them respectively.

She hadn't pointed to all of them though, and I waited eagerly, "What are the others?"

She nodded, "The four dark elements. Shadow, wind, poison, and fear." She said pointing, getting a intrigued hum from me, she sighed "Not just anybody has these… They used to exclusively belong to me but… ever since the war, that's changed. You see, now these four elements are being born to unsuspecting parents." She gave a small laugh. And paused for a little while.

I looked up and tilted my head, "So new dark element dragons are being born? That's cool, I think."

She nodded, "Also, some dragons who already have an element have been changing to these newer ones. Usually brought about by emotions, such as traumatic experiences making the dragon develop fear. Or being lonely making them acquire shadow. It's very strange and we're still studying all of it."

I stared in awe, the elements... I knew they would be cool, but It was finally sinking in that I was in a magical world. Suddenly the door opened rather loudly, and a grey and orange dragon a bit larger than Cynder stepped through. Nearly running us over. I yelped in surprise, Cynder jumped, and the poor grey dragon yelled briefly. After a few seconds of heavy breathing from us all, Cynder lowered her defensive posture, "Oh, hello Solaran." She said to him with a small bow.

The dragon cleared his throat and bowed back, "Happy to see you have returned safely, with your little friend no less." He said looking at me and smiling welcomingly.

Cynder nodded as she pulled me from the pouch, "Hey!" I started, "It's warm in there…"

She giggled, and Solaran smirked, "So this is that outworlder we've heard of. He's very cute compared to what I expected." He said with a chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I said loudly, feeling like I was shouting at a giant. "I'm not cute, buddy." I said trying to hide a blush.

He shrugged, "Sorry, would you prefer handsome than?" He said with a small laugh, trying to defuse my anger, "He sounds like a dragonling more than a hatchling." He said to Cynder.

Cynder nodded her face falling a bit, "He's losing his magic-soul, Solaran…"

His face contorted in understanding and worry, "My apologies, I assumed you were here for a visit not… that." He said, shaking his head. "Come, we can't very well let that happen can we?"

Cynder carried me in her mouth into the room, following behind Solaran. Three very large dragons seemed already intrigued. Probably due to the yells they had heard, "What's wrong Solaran? Greetings Cynder." The big green one said.

The yellow one Seemed to notice me, "You found him? Amazing! What's his-"

Solaran interrupted before he could start, "Yes, they found him. But he needs our help." Solaran moved away from us, to sit up on his large pillow. A big fire symbol displayed below his spot. So these were the regular elemental guardians than… A large pool was sitting in the middle of the room below their seats.

The blue one hummed, "I wasn't quite prepared for this today. Why should we help him?"

Cynder made a low growl but stopped as she lowered me onto a sitting pillow in the middle of the room. All four of the guardians analyzed me from up above. I felt tinier than I think I ever have in that moment. Terrador smiled warmly, "Hello little one. May you tell us your name?" He asked gently.

I didn't realize my nervousness, as I accidentally stuttered, "I-It's Gale, Sir." Cynder nudged me with her muzzle reassuringly.

He nodded, "Gale? Nice to meet you. Please, call me Terrador. And my companions here…" he said gesturing to them all expectantly.

"Cyril," the blue one started, "You may refer to me as such, I suppose." He said while eyeing me oddly.

The yellow one perked up, "Ah yes! I am Volteer! Nice to meet you! Tell me, has your world the same electrical currents in the atmosphere as ours? I've been conducting research in-"

"Solaran," The grey one said with a friendly nod, realizing the lightning guardian wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Yes yes," Cyril started, "Now, what is this about needing our help? We have much business today." He said with a sigh, "Volteer quiet!" He yelled over to the side. Where the sheepish lightning guardian stopped his rambling.

Cynder rolled her eyes but started, "He's losing his magic-soul. Please help him." She said simply.

Terrador hummed, "I suspected as much. His scales are duller than Cyril's comedy." He said with an annoyed protest in the background.

I awaited an answer as he continued to think to himself, eventually letting out a sigh. "We can help him, but I'm sure you know what we may need." He said looking towards Cynder.

She widened her eyes a moment, "Not quite… What do we need to do?"

Terrador nodded, "He needs someone to supply him with the magic needed to fill his soul. The thing is… it will take from your permanent magic reserves…"

Cynder stood still for a second, I half expected her to shake her head. To yell out that she wouldn't do something like that. Or to simply leave me to the guardians to figure out. My tail curled inward around myself and I lowered my head. "I-It's okay Cynder-"

"Of course I will! Is that really all there is to it? You made it sound so scary…" she leaned down and nuzzled the back of my head.

My head shot up afterwards and I looked back at her in awe. She gave me a raised eyebrow, as Cyril hummed unconvinced, "That's a very dangerous thing to commit to Cynder. When you have a child born to you, they are imbued with a portion of the magic from both parents, due to being able to absorb their mother's magic over a long period of time. But giving your magic to a dragon born of someone else? Well, he might end up taking all of it and leaving you a hollow shell of a dragon. You just don't know."

I stuttered in agreeance with the ice guardian, "C-Cynder that's a terrible idea then! It's okay if I lose my magic, I-I never had any in the first place!"

"Oh hush," she said, giving me an eye roll, "There's no way I'm letting you lose your magic just because I wanted to save my own scales! Plus, I can just keep training until I regain the magic I lost." She said sternly with concern. She leaned downward to look me in my eyes, "When will you understand we care about you Gale?" She asked quietly.

I shook my head, averting my gaze and choosing not to answer her, "It's not worth it, just forget about it."

She stared worriedly still, "Are you… calling yourself… not worth it?" She asked.

Thankfully Terrador interrupted, "If you are serious Cynder, then we will assist you."

Solaran cleared his throat, "Excuse me, but, where is Spyro? He could help you supply young Gale with his magic as well as yours."

Cyril huffed, "Absolutely not! We will not let the purple dragon of all dragons, potentially have his entire soul taken by this… this whelp!" Cynder gently gripped me with her front forearms protectively.

"Uhm, Cyril," Volteer attempted to interject.

Cyril continued on, "In fact, he said it himself. He just isn't worth any of the potential risks! Just let his reserve run out." Cynder's grip became tense, but not uncomfortable, and her wings spread themselves outward.

Terrador growled, "Cyril please end this foolish-"

Cyril growled back looking over at Terrador, "Foolish? Foolish!? What's foolish is daring to bring this creature here in the first place. We should've taken my advice before and ended the thing!"

"W-Wait what? Cynder?" I asked quietly, feeling myself shake a little bit. Cynder pulled me closer to herself, soothingly rubbing my back.

"Cyril!" Volteer shouted at him.

"What, Volteer?!" Cyril asked enraged.

Volteer only pointed down at me and Cynder, Cyril followed his gaze and the look of fear upon the ice guardian's face was staggering. I looked up as well, and realized why he was so fearful. Cynder's entire body was covered in a thick shadow like mist, and her eyes had red energy flowing out of the sides. She was giving Cyril the most intense glare of hatred I'd ever seen. She leaned over me protectively and a deep rumbling growl released, "If you so much as touch my hatchling, I will mount your head on my wall Cyril!" She yelled.

Terrador nodded and stood up, looking to the other guardians, "Of course Cynder. None of us will harm him I assure you." He said smiling at her nervously.

Cyril huffed, turning away from us. Volteer nodded eagerly, and Solaran smiled, "You know I'll never harm him Cynder." Solaran said.

Cynder gently began to let the shadow dissipate, and the red energy disappeared. I looked up and back at her, "Cynder are you alright?"

She closed her wings around me so that they couldn't hear or see, and she leaned down to nuzzle me. "Yes sweetie. We're going to trust them, not Cyril, but the rest of them. But if they put you in pain at any point just tell me. Okay?" She asked gently. I hoped that they wouldn't do anything, because of what wrath she may unleash on them.

"Cynder were you going to… to kill me at first?" I asked, slightly scared of the idea.

She widened her eyes, bringing both paws down to place under my chin, "No! No, no no… We were never going to hurt you honey I promise. Cyril suggested it before we went to find you. Both me and Spyro adamantly refused, as well as the other guardians."

"Why did you call me your… hatchling?" I asked quietly, looking at her with curiosity. I had assumed it was just an instinctual thing, since she already had a child. That she only said it because her instincts made her act in a protective way to any hatchlings she may be around.

But then I thought about a little bit earlier, when she tried to convince me she actually... loved me. I felt a twinge of emotion, remembering that. I think it was a small feeling of hopefulness. But as soon as it appeared I erased it from my mind. She would soon probably pawn me off to the guardians, once I was safe in her mind. And her instincts would die out and allow her to reason with herself.

Cynder had stuttered a few times, not really knowing what to say. "Gale…" she started, "It's-"

I waved my paw through the air a bit, rather quickly, "S-Sorry Cynder, it was just a stupid question, I know. Dragoness instincts are very strong I assume." I gave a short laugh, "Don't worry about it." I said, with a blank expression then turning back around, waiting for her to open her wings again.

I heard almost a whimper like sound from behind me, and I felt my heart pang with sadness for a moment. Cynder quickly began speaking again: "N-No! Gale that's not-"

Cyril began calling out rather loudly, "You know, our duties are supposed to be over right around now. It would be nice if we could get this over with."

Cynder unfurled her wings, looking up with a growl. And her shadowy form and red energy came back almost worse than before, "I'm sorry that I'm trying to console the hatchling that you threatened. Maybe if you hadn't been so rude this wouldn't have happened?!" She yelled.

Cyril pulled back, scared by her once again. And Terrador stood up, "Alright! Cynder has a point here, Cyril. I hereby order you to keep your mouth shut, unless I explicitly tell you to speak. Understand?" He said glaring at the ice guardian.

Cyril gulped and nodded. But Cynder clearly wasn't having it, "No! Please let him continue… I'd love to hear the rest of his little ideas!" The mist got darker and her eyes were no longer visible other than the red energy.

A look of fear passed over most of the guardians, until we heard the door open rather abruptly. I turned, and Spyro had come running in quickly, he looked around, taking stock of the situation. He ran over to me and Cynder, wrapping us both in his wings quickly. "Spyro-... stop!" Cynder struggled from his wings a bit.

He hummed, "It's okay Cynder! It's alright, what happened?" He said soothingly. He took a quick glance down at me, to see if I was alright.

"That damned ice guardian!" She shouted, "He keeps threatening Gale, and… acting like such a-" she growled stopping her words.

"Honey it's just Cyril, you know how he is…" Spyro tried to calm her.

Cynder started faltering, "Yes I know but… he threatened him again and… Gale's already been through so much I-I can't-" She started crying, and I felt a bit guilty. Though I knew it wasn't my fault.

Spyro sighed,a look of understanding on his features. He hugged Cynder tighter, "It's okay, Gale is okay. Nobody will hurt him again alright? We're both here."

Cynder let a few tears lose as the shadows and red energy dissipated. She returned his hug, pulling me into it as well. I felt slightly out of place. Spyro released us, but kept one wing on Cynder's back. Turning to look over the other guardians. Cyril looked a little worried for himself, and the other three guardians looked ashamed of what he had caused.

Spyro looked at all four of them, finally speaking in a voice that sounded deeper and more commanding. "I do not know how this meeting has gotten to this point. However I do know that I will not tolerate my mate and ward being threatened."

Solaran nodded, a bit of worry on his features, "Spyro, I assure you. Us three we're trying to get Cyril to stop the whole time."

Spyro nodded with a thankful smile, "I understand, thank you." His gaze shifted to a glare at the ice guardian, "Now my real issue, is that Gale is currently losing his magic-soul. But that time is being spent bickering like children instead of helping him."

Terrador nodded, "Yes, of course Spyro." He cleared his throat, "We had just informed Cynder about the need for a conduit. We need magic siphoned into Gale from someone else."

Spyro nodded, and Cynder stepped forward, "Yes, I already agreed to do it. Let's do it already."

"Now hold on," Spyro started with a chuckle, "I'll do half as well."

I looked between the two, in absolute disbelief. They were going to sacrifice some of their magic for me? Weren't they incredibly important? I couldn't let them do it. "No!" I said loudly. Spyro and Cynder looked down at me in surprise, and I shook my head, "It's not worth it guys. I'm literally just a good for nothing hatchling! A dumb human in a dragon body, I promise it's not worth it."

They both shook their heads, and Spyro stepped forward, "We know the dangers Gale… But we're doing it for you, okay?" He said with a smile.

I shook my head repeatedly, "I've… I've only been a problem… since day one! And everyone keeps getting hurt in my stead! Just let me take responsibility for my own actions, let my magic run out…"

Spyro and Cynder looked at each other worriedly, and Cynder leaned down slowly, "Gale you aren't a problem… None of this is your fault. You've been hurt worse by all of this than any of us." She said gently, reaching out with a paw.

Spyro nodded leaning down as well, "It'll be fine buddy-"

I flinched and backed away from him, he looked at me in worried confusion and I grit my teeth, "Don't tell me it'll be fine, it's never just fine." I said angrily. Spyro recoiled a bit.

"I told myself it was fine and then I died. Rena told me it was fine and then the village burned down. Kenra said it'd be fine and he got hurt… because of me! Then you two said it'd be fine, and I got kidnapped! And now you're telling me it'll just be fine again? A-And I'm supposed to believe that?" My breathing was quick, I felt claustrophobic, like the world was closing in around me. Cynder was clearly holding back the urge to approach me.

"W-What? Are you going to say it's fine, and then I end up getting you two hurt too? What's next? I burn down the city!? Why do I even need magic! I-I never needed it before! Nothing makes any damn sense here, I-I just want it all to stop!" I yelled, loudly with a shaky voice. The chamber echoing with my voice.

I heard tears hitting the marble floor I was staring at, it took me a second to realize they were mine. It was dead silent, and I glanced up. The guardians, Spyro and Cynder. All I saw was pity on their faces, that I was such a sad creature… That I was yelling about nonsense in a chamber made for important matters. Was I really supposed to believe I was of any importance to deserve being here? My tears started coming out as streams.

I saw Cynder begin crying again, "Gale…" she said sadly, "Gale I'm so sorry little one, we can help you-" she attempted to edge closer to me. But I flinched and backed away more. Making her wince.

Spyro lowered his head towards the floor, "If we were faster… none of this would've…" he paused and his voice shuddered slightly, "Gale please forgive us… give us another chance to keep you safe."

My breathing didn't lower at all, even though I felt I had released a lot of emotions. So much that my vision was getting darker, and I put a paw to my chest, Cynder grunted, "Gale honey, calm down! You're breathing too fast!" She said, beginning to ignore my attempts at staying away.

I whined, "It's… I-It's not fine." my head was getting dizzy and my vision was blurry, "Stay away… don't... do it…" I couldn't say much else as my vision faded and so did my consciousness.

"Spyro, catch him!" Cynder gasped.

Spyro was quick, using minor amounts of dragon time to catch Gale's falling body. He sighed in relief, gently handing him to Cynder, she inspected him quickly, "oh no… no no…" she said worriedly.

Terrador shook out of his stupor and stood up, "Hurry he must be running out of time. Solaran, are you ready to start?" He nodded in response.

Cynder rushed over, placing the hatchling at the base of the pool. His tail going into the pool to establish a connection. She curled around the hatchling protectively. "Hurry up!" She yelled desperately.

"Okay okay!" Solaran said defensively.

Solaran began breathing very slowly, until he neither heard or saw anything else. He felt the life force, and the magic of everyone around him, everyone in the city. And he isolated his vision on the hatchling. The pool began glowing a faint purple, and a white aura enveloped the hatchlings form.

Terrador nodded at the two, who were anxiously waiting. Immediately they both dipped their own tails into the pool, and both felt a pull of energy. As if they'd been using their magic reserves, but yet they were getting weaker than normal. The white energy enveloped the hatchling completely, nobody could tell if it was working or not.

A minute passed, and the two were fine, and worried for the young hatchling. After a few minutes, they began to feel the effects of the magic drain, enough to fatigue them. "Is it working?" Terrador asked Solaran, who was concentrating still.

His concentration wavered, but he nodded, "Yes I… he's absorbed enough to fill a regular hatchling's reserve… hundreds of times over." Cyril began shifting annoyed and anxiously, but Terrador glanced a quick look of disapproval.

Spyro and Cynder were laying down against each other next to the pool, breathing heavily. A few moments later, a golden glow and aura covered the hatchling, then returned to white. And the connection finally snapped, they breathed a sigh of happiness. The white aura still covering his body, "Powerful little guy…" Spyro huffed with a laugh.

Cynder giggled exhaustedly, "That was a considerable amount more than the magic drain Kaali gave us."

The white aura slowly faded, and the sight of the hatchling left the two in shock. His previous tan colored scales were now replaced with a light gray color, and his underbelly was a lighter cyan, with a faded shade of white. He had a small mane, and small tufts of fur, coming out the front of his legs and forearms. Each patch of fur colored a darker gray, with occasional white hairs. His horns had remained the exact same as before, however.

They all took a few moments to take in the sight, Solaran breathing a sigh of relief. Cynder after a moment of inspecting him and hearing him breath soundly, gave a wide smile. Pulling the hatchling closer to her crest, covering him with a wing. "He's… he's okay." She said happily.

Spyro draped his wing over her and nuzzled into her, "Finally," he said with a chuckle. The four guardians couldn't help but smile a bit, even Cyril looked relieved.

A loud cracking sound rang out, scaring them all out of their thoughts. The pool of visions began to shift, and the energy seeped back up almost like a hand grasping out, attaching itself to the hatchling's body once again. "What's going on?" Cynder asked worriedly.

The guardians all looked to Solaran who was also just as confused, he shook his head, "It's… It's trying to show us memories. But I didn't tell it too…" They all watched in hesitation, as the pool shifted into Gale's memories. Spyro attempted to reach out and sever the connection, but a force would not allow him, making him recoil in mild pain.

Why was it always like this? Just when I had begun to feel hopeful again, I-I can't be trusted! I'm always making everything worse than it needs to. My memories flooded in, no… I didn't want to see these again!

The earliest memories of my parents. Their faces were not much more than a simple blurred existence by now. I still remembered my mother's caring golden eyes, and her dark brown hair. Nothing else. My father even more so. "There's my little boy!" The distant distorted voice of my mother said.

"Isn't he adorable honey? Oh I love him so much!" She said again, to a chuckling man.

"Of course!"

The memory shifted again, to when I was a bit older. My parents had surprised me that day, on my sixth birthday. It was a bicycle, I had been asking for one for months! "Thank you!" I shouted, running into their arms.

"No problem sweetie, we love you!" She said.

"What are these wheels on the back?" I asked confused.

My dad chuckled, "First we start with the training wheels, keeps ya safe!"

My mom giggled, "We know you think your brother is super cool with his motorcycle, but baby steps alright?"

My mind froze as I heard my brother again. Yet the memories continued on against my will.

The dream shifted again, half a year later or so. It was a rather large shift in tone, a dark cloudy day, and the middle of a field… I-I knew this day…

"We are gathered here today, to celebrate a life… Taken from us too soon, only sixteen, we pray that he-"

The pastor droned on and on, but I stood at the foot of my older brother's grave. An emotionless expression on my face, my mother and father embraced with each other and crying. I hadn't shed a tear yet, I loved my brother, I was… too shocked to feel anything. He had died in a motorcycle accident.

The only thing that brought me out of the trance staring at his grave, was my older sister, living on her own at the time and much older. She took my hand, giving me the smallest hint of a smile through her tears. She was the only one I remember trying to comfort me. Why hadn't-... why hadn't my parents tried?

No stop, please… make the memories stop I don't… I don't want this… please.

A few months later, the memory of sitting at the table at home. Unable to figure out my math problems. My parents were in the living room, they had been drinking a bit but… surely they could help better? I called out, "Mom! I need help with math!"

Nothing came as an answer, I waited anxiously, trying to figure it out myself. Before grunting in annoyance and shouting a bit louder, "Mom can I get some help plea-"

"Shut up!" I heard her scream back at me. I jumped in my seat, feeling myself shiver.

"Figure it out! What are we spending money on you for if you aren't learning!" Dad said.

I merely picked up my homework, and crept up the stairs quietly. I didn't finish the work, or make a sound all the rest of that night.

Please… stop…

It shifted again, a year later, I biked home from school that day, the same bike from my birthday. Letting it fall to the side I opened the door to my house. The unwavering feeling of dread I got, from opening that door. I walked in, my parents were where they always were, knocked out drunk in the living room. I attempted to sneak past to the staircase to my room, tripping over a can of beer. That unceremoniously crashed against the wall, making a loud shattering sound. I remember falling and my hand getting caught in the shattered glass.

I sat there crying for a minute, but my breath froze as a shadow loomed over me. My mother, her face darkened, clearly drunk. Looked enraged down at me, she pulled me up aggressively on the arm I had just injured. "Well? Are you going to clean it or cry!?" She yelled.

I flinched at her and cowered, pulling my arm away and gripping my hand in pain. It was bleeding profusely, lacerated in multiple spots. "I-I'm sorry mom… I'll clean it-"

She grunted angrily, "Whatever," she said, returning to her spot on the couch.

I cleaned it as quietly as possible. Unable to figure out what to do, I merely wrapped my arm and hand in old shirts, to stop the bleeding.

Why... is this happening? I could barely hear something in the remnants of my mind, shouting, "I'm trying, please!" But then the memory shifted again, to a day I remembered all too well. Or maybe not enough, and I had been thankful for that until this point.

I was playing outside, with some kids in the neighborhood. We were throwing baseballs back and forth, when one kid I warned not to throw to hard did just that. I heard a shattering sound as it crashed through my living room's window. And I stared in shock and horror. The kid's behind me quickly dropping everything and running off. Leaving me to stand alone as my front door opened, I gulped.

My father stood there, baseball in hand. The look of fury I had grown to know all too well, but somehow worse. "You brat! We leave you alone for one minute and you do something stupid!" He marched towards me as I lowered myself and shook. He grabbed and yanked my arm towards the house.

I began screaming and crying, "D-Dad I'm sorry! No please, please no… dad!" I hiccuped out.

He slammed the front door shut, and I heard my mother from the couch, "Why couldn't you have been hit by a car instead? Such a waste compared to him..." She said nonchalantly.

My heart dropped even more. My brother had been a straight A student with offers from very high quality colleges. And I? Well, I was failing in school at every possible opportunity.

I winced as my father looked down at me, "Someday, you'll learn." He said as he brought his arm backwards. Bringing it down towards me.

I could almost feel the pain, from the memories themselves. The sight of what happened and the memory… I… maybe they were right? After all, what have I done at all? I was a brat, to everyone around me. I was a failure! And I still haven't learned...

The memory shifted to another graveyard, another year later. Two graves In front of me, "We are gathered, for the loss of two amazing parents-"

I had stared there, nearly lifeless at the sight of the graves. My sister held my hand, looking down at the graves in anger. After their death they had found out the living conditions and… I laughed.

I asked myself, "Whatever happened to loving me, huh?" I said, laughing more.

The pastor stopped talking once he called them "amazing parents," because I had just been laughing too hard. Like it was the funniest joke I'd ever heard in my life! I was crying, but laughing!

I heard murmurs in the crowd, "Poor dear, first his brother, then his parents?"

"That kid needs help…"

"A bit rude, did they teach manors?"

The bits of murmurs I heard only fueled my manic laughter even more. So much so that my sister picked me up and walked away from the graves, we didn't return for the rest of the ceremony. Neither me or my sister cared enough.

My sister had found out about everything. Especially when I flinched at the smallest touch. When she took me in with her, she had put me in therapy immediately.

Those memories, I thought they left, but they were never gone. Those memories were still there huh? My mind was blank remembering them. I almost wanted to laugh along with myself in the memory.

The memories began reflecting on the pool, at first they started out sweet and nice. With the guardians only occasionally commenting on intrigue of the world from the hatchling's memory.

The memory from his brother's funeral saddened the whole room. Cynder looking down at him in sadness, "Is that why he clings to Kenra?" She asked quietly. Only Spyro had heard.

The homework memory, they watched in intrigue as he tried to understand. When he called for help Cynder couldn't help but giggle, as Volteer spoke up, "Oh, that's an interesting one-"

The confusion from the whole room as he called out again, and they all jumped at the loud scream that yelled back to him. Cynder's heart sank, 'He just needed a bit of help, though…' she thought angrily.

"Figure it out! What are we spending money on you for if you aren't learning!"

Spyro released a growl, then reminded himself it was a memory, "Does he even care about him?" He asked angrily. The room had no answers for him.

The next memory played, they watched in nervousness, noticing the fear in his mind from opening the door. When he tripped, Cynder gasped and her wings went rigid with a shiver seeing him fall into the glass. His crying making her whine in annoyance at being unable to comfort him.

The shadow loomed, pulling him up and yelling, and Cynder briefly returned to her shadowy form, "Your child just got injured you- you…" she growled. Spyro gently placed a wing over her, as he attempted to sever the connection with the pool again, getting another painful shock. The guardians were all too enamored to say anything.

The baseball memory, when the ball went through the windows Cynder was already on her paws, standing rigid with fear for him. His father came out, and she bristled with anger, as he yanked him into the house while the child cried in fear. Cynder dug her claws into the floor.

The insults they threw at him did not make any sense, though Cynder knew she was not a fan. Then when his father's fist had been drawback, and he… Spyro growled loudly as Cynder returned to full shadow, "How dare he?!" She yelled.

The graveyard, and the laughing, the laughing sent a shiver down Cynder's spine. 'Was this child actually this broken? He always seemed to be so well held together still!' Than she heard it, "Whatever happened to loving me huh?"

Suddenly everything made sense in Cynder's mind. The reason he had doubted her when she said she loved him. The reason he said that people told lies. She began to tear up, he had no trust in the fact that they really cared for him. She shivered in disgust at the memories, wanting so badly to hold the hatchling in her paws. He was clearing breathing heavily in his unaware state, he needed her right now and she couldn't help him.

It shocked the whole room as the memories began from the beginning again, and panic rushed over Cynder's mind. "Why is it starting again?" She said hurriedly.

The hatchling was clearly not enthused either as he began to whimper and squirm in his sleep. Cynder looked all around at the guardians, "Are you doing this? Stop it!" She yelled.

They all shook their heads defensively, as Cynder attempted all she could to get through the barrier. All the while the memories continued to flood into his mind, flashing with more speed as it went on. The hatchling crying in fear. "Spyro?" Cynder asked hopefully.

He shook his head and grunted, "I can't get this damn thing to let me through!" He said whilst a claw was reflected by the barrier once again.

The hopelessness in the entire room became deafening to the pool repeating horrible memory after memory from Gale's mind. Eventually reducing Cynder to a sobbing mess, as she felt sick to her stomach. She didn't understand why the pool was seemingly acting on its own, or why it was torturing her ward. Only that the sounds of pain and fear from within the barrier brought a shiver to her spine each time.

She resolved, after hearing the hatchling call out her name pleadingly, "Cynder?" The sound of his voice forced action into her sadness.

She stood up once again, returning to a sitting position in front of the hatchling. And began begging him to wake up, to snap out of whatever this was. "Gale… Gale honey I know you're strong. Please wake up!"

Spyro watched her, and joined in helping her. "You can get past this buddy, we're here for you okay?" At once the memories slowed down some, each time they'd say something. Cynder grew more and more hopeful, pleading for him to come back from his state.

After a few minutes of this, the memories slowed down as a light blue aura surrounded his body. Releasing a shockwave out of his body. The barrier receded and the pool of visions returned to normal. Cynder immediately pulled him towards herself, nuzzling his face. "Oh thank the gods…" she said.

His eyes eventually blinked open. They were both cyan, and had a golden almost glowing color speckled in them. They were absolutely beautiful to her, she just had wished they weren't so full of fear and terror.

My memories were flashing through my mind so fast, all my repressed memories I never wanted to see again. The feeling of hopelessness washed over me, but this time I couldn't just pretend to feel nothing. I cried, and pleaded for a way out. Every thought in my mind was devoted to trying not to remember, but it didn't matter.

"Just dissapear already,"

The voice of them would not go away. I had been lucky enough to forget most of these before, but… I just… I wanted to agree with some of what they said…

"Dinner is whatever you scrounge, I'm done paying for you!"

"If you get one more F, you might not want to return that night!"

"I would trade you for your brother, with no hesitation."

Yes, that's how it always was. Forever living in the shadow of my deceased brother. I was almost ashamed to admit that I had grown a sick hatred for my brother. Of course I had loved him dearly when he was alive but… maybe… m-maybe I am just a pathetic monster…

Of course my therapist had told me it wasn't my fault, that I loved my brother but it was the thing that brought me all my pain… I would often stay up at night, begging something for forgiveness.

"You will never be as great as he was."

"I hate you."

Why? What did I do to deserve that?

"Go away,"

"I hate you!"

"Just get rid of him!"

Stop! I began shaking my head violently, tears streaming down my face. It didn't do anything anyway, they were memories, not a screen I was forced to watch. Wasn't I just with Spyro and Cynder beforehand? Were they doing this to me? "Cynder?" I called out. It had no effect whatsoever.

"Gale!- ...you're strong… please-... -ke up…"

My thoughts slowed, was that her voice?

"You can… past this bud-... we're here… okay?"

And Spyro, we're they… actually there? Were they waiting for me outside of this horrible place? Why would they be waiting for me... But, if they were there, maybe Kenra was? No that was ridiculous, probably just more taunting from this horrible nightmare. Was I even alive anymore? Maybe I'm dying and my life is flashing in my eyes?

"No not quite."

The same voice from my odd dreams with the tree? Was it doing this to me the whole ti-

"No, we would never."

"Gale, you must wake up."

Easier said then done! But... I had to try, at least.

"We will help."

I began thinking of positive things to outweigh the memories, and the occasional word I could hear from Spyro and Cynder helped immensely. The memories slowed more and more, the two's voices being clearer every time. Until finally, I felt the cyan glow envelop my body, and the memories slowly dissipated, freeing me from my terror.

My eyes blinked open slowly, my body felt way more energized than it had ever been in this world. I felt… powerful. It was an amazing feeling, had they actually sacrificed their power..?

I looked up into Cynder's eyes. She was crying and holding on to me protectively, "Cynder?" I asked slowly.

She nodded quickly, nuzzling and licking my face gently. I recoiled a bit, "W-What's going on? What happened?"

She sighed, "I'm… not sure… you-" she avoided my gaze as she stopped herself from speaking.

Spyro moved forwards, "You passed out, so we went ahead with the magic process."

He attempted to put a paw to my back, but I felt fear worm it's way up my spine, and my breath froze as I recoiled downward. It was purely because of those memories, they made me remember all these horrible things. Their faces weren't as shocked by my actions as I had expected them to be, and Spyro was quick to lower himself to my level, "I would never harm you little one." He said quietly.

Cynder nodded, "Gale… You never told us you were… Have we been making you uncomfortable this whole time? We had no idea about what they did…"

My body froze and I stared up at Cynder in confused anger, "What who did, Cynder?"

She seemed shocked by my tone, but hummed, "Those horrible parents. They didn't seem to-"

"How do you know about that!?" I yelled angrily, standing up and backing away in fear.

Cynder and Spyro looked to each other, and Spyro seemed to bow his head apologetically. "After we returned the magic to you, the pool seemed to act on its own. It showed us your… your memories from back then."

My head was on fire, the exact same memories I had been reliving? Please tell me it wasn't the same ones, what a disaster. "What… did you see." I said coldly with almost no emotion

Cynder stuttered carefully, attempting to inch closer to me, "We saw a lot, Gale… I-I'm so sorry. But, we can help you! Me and Spyro-"

"No, you won't. I don't need help."

She closed her mouth, and a gaze of hopefulness shifted to one of sadness and worry. "Gale I've been abused before… I-I understand how it feels, if you want to let us help." I looked away for a moment, and she attempted to slowly put a paw on me. I swatted her paw away aggressively and growled.

"Don't you dare touch me!"

I watched a few tears fall from her face. Spyro shifted uncomfortably, "Gale we only wish to help…" he said. The guardians in the back were muttering amongst themselves, I couldn't be bothered with this right now. Especially since my paw had been a different color, what did I look like now?

"Where's Kenra?" I asked.

Spyro shook his head, "We need to talk, Gale. Kenra is fine, but you aren't-"

I glared at him, "And who decided that?! You?" He recoiled and took a step back, "I trusted you… I know it's stupid of me, but I really did. And now you've… completely ruined that!"

Spyro shook his head, "Gale I-I-... We didn't-"

"You're both always doing this, and what's in it for you then? You pretend to care, then something happens and you 'save' me, right? Well jokes on you because I don't need saving this time, I've already had plenty of time to heal!"

Cynder shook at my yells, I assumed she was just a very good actor. Even though her voice did sound broken and sad to me, "We promise, at the bottom of our hearts we didn't subject you to that on purpose! Honey we love you… We just want you to feel safe." Her voice cracked a few times, but I felt my blood boil.

"Ah yes you 'love me', of course. Of course! I should've seen that one coming!" I started.

Cynder quickly rose to her feet, "Y-Yes! I know you... I know you don't believe us-"

"I don't, Cynder."

She nodded very slowly, looking at the ground. "Gale Y-You can hate me, for the rest of your life. But by the gods I will make sure you are protected, do you understand me?" She started to cry more and more, my anger wavered for a moment.

She stepped forward, "And you may not believe it. But as long as you live, I will do my best to love you. Whether you like it or not." She said confidently.

I shook my head and backed away, letting out a small laugh, "Well, I've already died once! So maybe I can just…" I threw a claw up as a sick joke.

Cynder yelped, grabbing my paws with her own quickly. "Don't you dare! You know what I meant…"

I rolled my eyes, wrestling my arms away from her, "And I also know it's just instinc-"

She growled, "And if my instincts are telling me to love my own hatchling then so be it! That's what a mother is for."

I laughed nervously, I didn't know exactly how dragons work, but I didn't know their instincts could trick them so hard. I groaned, "Kaali is somewhere outside, sorry to be a disappointment. I'm good at that." I turned and walked away.

"Gale? Hatchling, I'm talking about yo-"

I didn't hear the rest, I had walked out of the room. And much to my own surprise, it had been quite easy. I began walking through the temple. Avoiding anybody I could, I had no plans just that I needed to get away from them, to disappear.

/

/

Alright, well Gale's backstory is out in the open now.

No, I didn't forget Kaali and Kenra...

By the way, I promise I don't hate Cyril. I'm sorry, he just seems like the kind of dragon to clash a lot with Cynder. He won't be such a downer for the whole story, he's still a good dragon. (or is he? *gasp*)

That was a fun chapter for me to write, (even though it probably shouldn't have been...)

I hope you guys stick around for the rest, I appreciate all the support, really.

-Fiygon