This is a sad chapter. Sad songs are subjective, and I leave the choice to you as to what song you play while reading.
I will, however, make a recommendation. Waiting Between Worlds (instrumental), by Zack Hemsey. I'll include a note suggesting when to start it.
The gates to Shattershelf, or what remained of them, were wide open. A lone fire dragoness walked through them towards the army of Warfang.
Asha watched as a familiar large, green, earth dragon came out to meet her. Terrador reminded her of her brother, Magmar, a great deal. Both of them were good leaders with a military disposition and extraordinary physical and mental strength. She shook her head to clear thoughts of the fire king away; she had to deal with this in a detached and logical manner.
The battlefield was a ruin, above it a dark storm growled sullenly. Lightning threatened overhead, the electric dragon Volteer was still up there somewhere. Asha had seen what he could do, and she had no desire to experience it firsthand.
The ground was blackened and torn by the elemental attacks that had been used on it. The remains of orcs, the siege weapons and the Shattershelf dividing walls were scattered randomly around the battlefield. The lashing downpour the Warfang dragons had summoned had eased off to a light rain and the ground was wet.
Asha held back a shiver as she walked further out into the bleak landscape. Scraps of red mist left over from the fear attack used by the black dragoness were still hanging around even now. The wisps were not dangerous, but they were still unsettling.
Terrador bowed to Asha as she approached.
"We've come to aid you in defence of your city, it's unfortunate that we couldn't inform you that we were coming, but I can swear that we have no ill will towards you and pose no threat."
"I thank you for coming. I would like to exchange pleasantries, Terrador, but I have to explain our position to you. It's complicated at the moment, and this is far from a good situation."
Terrador nodded.
"Very well. Please explain."
"I am acting commander of Shattershelf following the death of my brother. Shattershelf has no quarrel with Warfang, but before his death the fire king attempted to break our truce."
"Attempted?" Terrador caught the word and looked at Asha, waiting for her to explain what she meant.
"As ruler of Shattershelf and the fire dragons as a whole I am willing to surrender to Warfang once again with fair terms. But I must inform you that before his... timely… death, reportedly at the hands of the dragoness Cynder, Magmar personally murdered at least two of the dragons who came here under the peace treaty."
Terrador made no visible reaction, but after a moment he bowed his head. Asha had no way of telling for certain what Terrador was thinking, but she instinctively sensed that this news pained him a great deal.
"That's unfortunate. I am willing to trust your word that Magmar is now dead and that the ill will between our cities died with him, I do not want a war any more then you do."
Terrador was struggling to resist his urge to charge straight into the city and find out for himself what had happened; Asha saw it in his eyes.
"For the time being I have given orders that all Warfang dragons are to be allowed into the city and to go where they will, without guards. Under no circumstance is any Warfang dragon to be harmed."
"That… is a very unusual command." Terrador was surprised.
Depending on how literally the fire dragons would take Asha's orders she could quite possibly have just handed control of the entire city over to them with a few words. If the Warfang dragons chose to walk into Shattershelf in force then the guards would have been specifically ordered not to stop them.
Terrador was a wise leader, and he would never willingly have done what Asha had.
"I had no time to make any orders more suitable, and I could not risk any incidents that might cause this situation to get beyond our control. I hope that we can make this right, and I shall start by apologising for your losses."
"The fire guardian Flare, my colleague, would be a great help in dealing with this problem. Unless… unless she was one of the dragons who has died."
"She has not been confirmed dead, but we also don't know where she is. Again I'm sorry that the situation has ended up like this. I don't know if you'll know the dead dragons personally, but I can tell you that Cynder is still alive."
Terrador nodded, looking grave. He glanced back at the Warfang dragons and a slender, silvery dragoness came forward.
"Lady Asha, this is Imperia, the first wind guardian of Warfang."
"We've met." Asha bowed to her. "Shall I explain what has happened?"
"There is no need, I heard you." Imperia offered her a wary smile; she too hid her concern well, but Asha could still read it in her pose and eyes. "Terrador and I have reached an agreement. I'm to come with you to Shattershelf alone for now; no other Warfang dragons will enter your city unless it's necessary."
Asha looked over at Terrador, the earth dragon sighed.
"I can't stop her from going, she'll go into the city no matter what I say, and so I felt it might be wiser to officially sanction her choice. She'll want to see Cynder, and I'd also like a Warfang dragon to confirm that Magmar is dead personally."
"Very well." Asha nodded.
"However she won't enter the city alone. I will come as well, if that is acceptable to you."
Asha nodded again. "Thank you for your understanding of our situation."
The three dragons started to walk back to Shattershelf. Imperia lightly skipped onto and then over Terrador's back to walk beside Asha.
"Is Cynder alright? The attack she used must have taken a lot of her energy."
"As far as I could tell she was healthy, but she had minor injuries and was suffering emotional stress."
"Imperia please, this is a bad time, I asked you to come along, try to behave respectfully."
Asha looked over at Terrador as Imperia fixed her eyes on the gateway and went silent.
"I can understand Imperia's concern for Cynder." She looked to Imperia. "She'll be in the main ward; I can have a dragon guide you there as soon as we get inside."
Imperia nodded in gratitude.
Imperia trusted Asha's word, she believed that Cynder was okay.
It was Flare who she was most worried for now.
The three of them walked through the doors. Terrador looked around; fire dragons that had clearly been fighting recently were watching them with wary but hopeful eyes. He observed the destroyed buildings and the remains of still more orcs.
They walked over some rubble from a building that had been destroyed; Terrador noted the walls and ceiling of the cavern, seeing deliberately made fault lines and hidden traps in the rock. Shattershelf had many defences.
Asha called a fire dragon over to take Imperia to the ward where Cynder had been sent.
Suddenly Imperia shrieked and flew from their side straight towards a dragoness who had just limped into the room.
Her usual strange walk had been replaced by a much more mundane and painful one, but she was still spinning her beautiful tail gracefully as she moved.
"Flare!" Imperia wrapped herself around the fire dragoness and hugged her tightly. "Flare, you're ok! I was so worried!"
"I'm not exactly okay, but there are guards who'll be feeling worse in Magmar's throne room."
Asha came over. "How many guards?"
Flare smiled slightly. "Six."
"Well, I'm very glad you're not dead. I'll have the guards retrieved now." Asha turned to Terrador, leaving the two dragonesses alone for a moment.
Imperia closed her eyes and held the fire dragon close. Flare rested her head on Imperia's back and breathed in her scent deeply. Imperia's back was quite comfortable.
"Lavender, I love your smell. I have missed you so much."
"I've missed you too." Imperia kissed Flare's scales.
"I smell a lot of Volteer on you. Did you really miss me?" Flare teased. Imperia teased right back at her.
"I smell Magmar on you. You truly did do everything you could to secure an alliance with his city, didn't you? I admire your… dedication."
Flare stiffened.
"Shut up. Nothing happened and you know that perfectly well; he tried to kill me, that's why you can smell his scent."
"I know, and I'm very glad he didn't succeed." Imperia and Flare kissed.
After a few seconds Imperia and Flare heard Terrador call for them politely. They separated, but both dragonesses were smiling.
Asha and Terrador seemed to have reached some sort of agreement, Terrador turned to Flare.
"We're going to the main meeting chamber now; it's on the way to the ward where Cynder is. Ember, Flame and Feyer will be there as well."
"Actually… Cynder's there." Flare pointed, naturally she was right. Cynder was walking towards them and she looked dreadful.
She was wounded, she looked sick and weak. But it wasn't these things that caught the attention of the other dragons, Cynder looked heartbroken. Imperia immediately saw that something was very wrong. Spyro had been taken, but that wasn't all that had happened.
Imperia knew Cynder very well, and she would have expected the black dragoness to respond to Spyro's defeat and abduction with energy and a determination to do something. But the black dragoness who walked towards them now simply looked shattered.
"Cynder!" Imperia flew straight to her, gathering Cynder to her and putting her wings over her gently. Cynder folded into Imperia's hug and cried. Imperia spoke softly and soothingly to her. "Oh Cynder, my poor girl…" Imperia kissed Cynder's forehead. "It's ok… you're ok now."
"Sp-spyro's gone!"
"I know, I know he is. We'll get him back, I promise you Cynder. We'll get him back."
"Raze is dead… Feyer is dead… Ember is dying!"
Flare looked shocked. "Raze? Ember? What happened to Ember?"
Imperia didn't have a response for Cynder; she just rocked the black dragoness gently, allowing her to cry. She kissed Cynder's head again.
Flare looked at Asha. "Dragons died? Who… Where?"
Asha flinched slightly. "The fight happened in the main meeting chamber, just up there. I must warn you, it's not a pleasant scene."
Asha, Terrador, Flare, Imperia and Cynder walked into the Shattershelf meeting chamber together. The first dragon they saw was Magmar.
Even in death the fire king was intimidating. He looked as if he had died in agony, fighting to survive against an enemy he could never defeat. Asha shed a tear looking at him. Flare too looked saddened.
"I told you and Spyro that this was how dragons like Magmar met their end. No matter how good at succeeding they are, they can't help but burn themselves out in time. But I had not expected anything like this."
She bowed her head respectfully to the dead dragon.
"I wish things had turned out differently. He may have been our enemy, but he was an extraordinary dragon."
Asha shook away her tears. She wanted to hate her brother, that would be so much easier, but she couldn't. He had done what he thought was right. And if he had have succeeded; if he had killed Cynder and the Warfang dragons before going on to kill Malefor and Spyro, then she would have considered it the right thing to do just as he had done. But history was written by the victors, and her brother had finally lost.
Imperia looked on quietly, not wanting to disturb the others. As she glanced around she saw the remains of a fire dragon she recognised.
It took her a moment to place his name. Raze, that was it. He was a nice guy, not really special at all, but nice.
His skull had been crushed.
Imperia was going to walk over to him when she spotted the last of the dead dragons. The dragon was small, but no small dragons had gone with Flare to Shattershelf.
"Flare…"
Flare looked around at Imperia's soft call. She saw Imperia standing over a little crushed body. The sight almost made her heart stop.
"Spark."
If you wish to play a sad song, then play it now.
Cynder had almost forgotten that the little red dragon had died. How could she have forgotten?
Simple, she'd put him from her mind. She hadn't had the time to think about him until now.
Cynder felt physical pain in her chest as she remembered that Imperia had been Spark's teacher as well as hers. She wished she'd been thinking, she should have warned the wind dragoness.
Imperia didn't even seem to realise what Flare meant.
"Who was this?"
"Imperia… I'm so sorry." Flare began to cry. "It's Spark."
Imperia had never seen Flare cry; she looked unsure now, even afraid.
"It can't be. Spark is in Warfang in bed, he's sick from eating some mushrooms. Nadder and Stratos told me so."
"His friends must have faked it for him so he could sneak away. Imperia, I had no idea… I'm… I'm so sorry."
Imperia shook her head.
"Spark isn't… he can't be…"
Flare went to Imperia's side and put her paw on that of the wind dragoness.
"He can't be… dead. He can't be." Imperia shook her head. "Not Spark."
Cynder watched Imperia, a horrible hollow feeling in her chest. She was sure could have saved him. There must have been time; she must have had a chance that she hadn't taken.
She saw his death again in her mind, feeling it burn its way in.
She saw that little smirk he'd had when he called Magmar's attention, he'd always seemed to have that smirk. Cynder remembered looking up at it after the little red dragon had interrupted her kissing Spyro.
She went to Imperia and held her, trying to offer some small comfort, like Imperia had done for her. Imperia put her wings around Cynder and Flare, she was trembling.
"He fought Magmar when Ember was in danger." She spoke softly, closing her eyes so she didn't have to look at the crumpled form of Spark or the pain in Imperia's bright eyes.
"Of course he did." Imperia sobbed slightly.
"He and Ember fought Magmar off, Spark hit him twice with a comet dash before…"
Before Magmar had struck him, knocking him into the pillar and leaving him winded and helpless. Before Spark had staggered back to his feet and Magmar had admitted he admired the young dragons skill. And she remembered Spark's grin at those words, his reply.
Cynder began to cry again.
"His… his last thoughts were of you two."
She felt Imperia tense, but she couldn't bear to open her eyes.
Flare made a sad little sound, her tail curled around to touch Cynder's.
"He hit Magmar with a comet dash before he was wounded. Magmar admired his strength and Spark said… he said…" Cynder wasn't able to continue.
Her mind was trapped in that scene, Spark and Magmar were frozen in position, as if waiting for her to say those words aloud and make everything real.
"Please tell me." Imperia whispered.
"He smirked, like he does." Cynder took a deep breath. "He said 'I learned from… from the best teachers in Warfang.'"
Magmar's voice blazed across Cynder's mind.
"That's a shame for them"
Magmar's body coiled around.
His tail came down.
Spark died.
Imperia began to cry.
The next morning found Cynder sitting beside Ember's bed.
The pink dragoness was still alive, but barely. She hadn't regained consciousness and her heartbeat was very faint.
The wound Ember had suffered would have killed anything but a dragon in minutes, but dragons were extraordinarily tough. However the healers had been forced to cauterise the wound to prevent Ember from bleeding to death and now it would not heal.
Ember had been moved to a private room, there was nothing else that could be done for her.
Cynder rested a paw on Ember's side, feeling the slightest motion of her breathing.
"Ember…"
Cynder wasn't sure what to say. There wasn't really anything to say, the pink dragoness wouldn't hear her anyway.
Cynder blinked away tears.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for a lot of things… I… I won't list them, ok? You can probably just remember most of them. But… I have to say sorry for how I treated your apology. You tried to make thigs up between us and I wouldn't let you."
There was no stopping the tears now; they fell on the pink dragoness's bed sheets in a little U pattern.
"You saved me from Magmar. It's my fault that you're like this and I don't even know why you did it. I didn't deserve that after what I did."
Cynder rested her paw on Ember's side, feeling the tiniest motion of breathing.
"Ember please please be able to hear me. Please… don't die on me now, Ember. I…"
Cynder choked, her voice cracking from emotion.
"You can forget about our challenge, forget about the end of our fight. You don't have to give up on Spyro anymore. Just… Please…"
Cynder buried her face against Ember's side.
"Don't die!"
There was no response. Cynder had always known that there wouldn't be, but she had managed to keep a tiny flicker of hope and now her hopes were crushed.
She lay still until she could bear to speak again.
"I… I don't know if that means anything… but I-I want to make this up to you… somehow."
Cynder raised her head and looked down at the still dragoness through blurry eyes.
There was a gentle knock on the door. Cynder looked around.
"Yes?"
Suna stepped into the room. He looked unsure if he was welcome.
"Hey Cynder, is Ember ok?"
"No… They say she won't survive."
"Oh."
Saying it out loud hurt Cynder, she turned away from Suna to hide her tears. After a few seconds the fire dragon walked over to her and sat beside her.
"And are you ok? I know you're not, but I want to help you."
Cynder snorted in laughter, but nothing was funny.
"Why are you here? If this is about a date then it's a very bad time."
"I know; this isn't about that. Spyro's your mate and he's in trouble, you have to get him back and if you want my help… Well… I want to help you, if I can."
Cynder didn't respond.
"You're not alone Cynder." Suna started to leave. "And Spyro needs you, you can't give up."
"Suna."
The fire dragon looked back. Cynder smiled faintly.
"Thank you."
Suna nodded and smiled in return.
"Any time." He walked out, closing the door behind him.
Cynder sat quietly for several minutes, watching Ember's breathing. The pink dragoness looked strangely peaceful, she looked happier while she was dying then she had never looked while she knew Cynder was around.
The black dragoness felt a surge of guilt. Cynder felt tears coming again and determinedly looked away from Ember at the wall, willing herself not to cry.
Somebody knocked on the door. Cynder assumed it would be Imperia, but she realised it wasn't when the familiar voice spoke. It was a male dragon's voice, not Imperia's soft one.
"May I come in?"
Cynder nodded silently, and then remembered that the visitor wouldn't know she had done so.
"Yes. You may."
She looked back at Ember as the door opened. After a few seconds the dragon spoke again from beside her. He had a rich, deep voice, but it wasn't Terrador as she had first assumed.
"This was never part of the plan."
Cynder looked up from the pink dragoness, and found she was sitting beside Malefor.
This chapter may not have been enjoyable to read, but I hope that you feel it was worth it.
I cried while writing this.
I would appreciate reviews.
-4Dragons