Chapter 38

The Fall
Part IV: Cynder
~

The song for this chapter is This Broken Soul, from the Legend of Spyro soundtrack. It's the saddest song I know, and that means exactly what you think it means.
I'm sorry.

Imperia stood still, she was reared up on her hind legs, looking down at Spyro quietly, moving didn't seem that important anymore.

She reached down to her belly and grasped the crossguard of the spear with her forepaws, holding it. It had gone through her body at an angle, entering her underbody just below the ribs; the tip of the blade was now emerging from her back, just below her shoulders, between her wings.

The wound was serious, possibly fatal.

"Imperia. Imperia I didn't mean it." Spyro looked at her with pure horror.

Imperia gazed back at him, her mouth parted but saying nothing.

"Oh no…" Spyro whispered in shock. "No…"

Imperia tilted her head slightly; blood was welling up out of her wound and streaming down her body. Red and silver were a lovely combination together, she'd always said so…

"Imperia look at me! Stay with me!" Spyro shook her desperately. "It's a serious wound I-" His voice was cut off as his eyes flashed white. "He's... he's not gone." Spyro looked at her with panic. "Imperia I can't hold him back for long. I'm so sorry." He was beginning to cry.

Imperia spoke softly but clearly, a faint smile appearing on her face. "It's ok Spyro… Don't you dare blame yourself for this. And I… I will never blame you either." She leaned forwards and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Don't give up…"

A single tear fell from Spyro's shining purple eye, but even as it rolled down his snout and dropped his eyes became yellow once more.

Dark Spyro looked at what he had done, Spyro's emotions were making him weak; Spyro wanted to help the silver dragoness, but he crushed those feelings away in annoyance.

He grasped the spear, making Imperia whimper in pain as the metal shifted in her body. He tugged and she stumbled forwards, she was holding the crossguard and keeping the blade pinned inside her.

He simply could not bring himself to rip it out. He'd cry.

Dark Spyro's eyes flicked to Cynder, the black dragoness was looking at him with horrified sadness, and even fear. This hurt more than anything, Dark Spyro couldn't tolerate being around this sort of emotional pain. He needed time to think, time to make sense of this.

He released the spear and ran to the side of the platform, launching himself off it and racing away into the storm.

Imperia remained, swaying and watching until Spyro disappeared from sight. Then she sagged, the weight of the spear overcame her weak attempt at standing and she fell on her back.

"Imperia!" Cynder screamed, she ran forwards, but was stopped by the snake band against her neck. Imperia rolled onto her side and looked at Cynder.

"Allow me… to get that off you."

She began to crawl towards Cynder, but she was too weak. Cynder used wind, wrapping it around the older dragoness and guiding her forwards. Imperia left a trail of blood. Cynder spoke urgently. "Imperia, you need help. I need to get you to a healer or something!"

Imperia giggled faintly. "The Dragonslayer can't be healed that easily. Just… let me help you." She dipped a claw in the blood running down her belly, her own blood, and reached up towards Cynder's snake charm.

Cynder sobbed, lowering her head so Imperia could reach the band. The silver dragoness sighed in relief; she made a small symbol on the charm and channelled a flicker of magic into it. The snake came alive; slithering against Cynder scales it unwound itself and dropped to the ground before curling its body up in a circle.

"There…"

Cynder rushed to Imperia's side, urgently checking the wound. Imperia whimpered in pain, but Cynder didn't let that stop her from trying to help. "What can I do?"

"Just… forgive me. Cynder, I'm so sorry for how much I hurt you. I never meant for you to feel that pain."

"Stop talking like that! You know this castle, there has to be something that'll help you! Tell me what it is!"

Tears filled Cynder's eyes, and she saw that Imperia was crying too. The silver dragoness shook her head faintly. "Please say you can forgive me. I'm begging you."

"Shut up! I won't forgive you until you're well again!" Cynder shook Imperia forcefully, making her cry out in pain.

Cynder stopped immediately so as not to hurt her; horrible feelings of helplessness were rushing through her and she began to sob. She wracked her brain for options, seizing on increasingly desperate ideas.

"You can survive! You have to! I… I'll use poison to slow your body down, you can hang on long enough that Malefor can heal you with purple light!"

This was hypothetically a good idea, but Cynder had never actually used such magic on a living target, and she was more likely to kill Imperia by accident then she was to help her. The only thing she could do was put Imperia into a painless, temporary, sleep. And even that had risk while Imperia was so weak.

Imperia giggled faintly. "I hoped that you two could… be friends. That's why I did everything… for a happy ending."

"And a happy ending needs to have you!"

Cynder shouted at the silver dragoness, Imperia opened her mouth, but couldn't reply. Cynder spoke on, her voice breaking with sadness and anger.

"Stop it! You're not allowed to die! I'm not allowing you to die!"

"Malefor… can't heal this wound. I can't…" Imperia looked at Cynder, sudden fear in her eyes. "Say you can forgive me. If… if I die then I need to hear it!"

Cynder shook her head, weeping freely now. "I won't let you die! Stop talking about it!"

"Cynder please…" Imperia was begging softly. "I want to live… but… if I can't." The silver dragoness looked up at Cynder, the fear in her eyes was now plain. She was desperate to hear those words, and terrified that she wouldn't.

"Don't even say it! You have to live!"

Imperia shook her head. Fear became hopelessness, Imperia looked defeated and unbearably sad.

Cynder felt like she was in a nightmare. This couldn't be happening. Why did things have to go so wrong? Imperia couldn't die, it just wouldn't be fair.

The silver dragoness's lips twitched slightly in a smile as some thought occurred to her, Cynder barely heard the words that she spoke. "I love you. I'm so proud of you, Cynder… and I'll do anything… to be with you again."

Cynder was speechless; there was nothing she could say in that moment. She was only able to listen and watch.

Imperia laughed faintly, she reached up and lightly brushed tears off Cynder's snout. She gently rested her soft paw on Cynder's muzzle. There was blood on her paw, drops of it were wet against Cynder's nose. "Those were such nice last words! I could hardly hope for better."

Cynder was snapped out of her trance by that, and her mind was screaming with horror. "Stop it! You're not dying! Imperia please don't die!"

She threw herself around the neck of the older dragoness, cradling Imperia's upper body in her forelegs. She kept talking, pleading with Imperia, threatening her, telling her that she would be alright, ordering her not to die.

The silver dragoness didn't reply, her paw fell to rest on the ground, and eventually Cynder understood that there was nobody there to hear her.

Imperia was dead.

Cynder jerked her head away from Imperia's still form, tears blurred her sight. She saw silver and red, and there was no movement. She couldn't sense the other dragoness's wind magic, or the motion of her breath. Her pulse, when Cynder desperately checked it, was gone.

Cynder screamed, anger sadness and helplessness were filling her up. The world around her seemed to be standing still, as if everything was waiting for her to give up.

Cynder again threw herself on Imperia, but her desperation had gone, leaving her hollow and empty.

She could barely even cry anymore, all of her tears had gone.

Cynder lifted Imperia's wing gently, she moved closer to the silver dragoness, wrapping her paws around Imperia's slim waist. She rested the wing on her back, as Imperia had so often done for her in the past.

With her eyes closed Cynder could almost believe that Imperia had put her wing there by choice, as she always did. With her eyes closed Cynder could almost believe that the tears on her cheeks had been shed for her own loneliness, as she had once cried, and that Imperia was here to comfort her. She could almost believe that the wet liquid her underbelly was resting in was not blood.

But there was no comfort. The feeling of warm comfort that had once gone with that soft cuddle was as empty as Imperia herself was.

Cynder, snug in Imperia's soft embrace, had never felt more alone.

She held tighter, her underbody was sticky with still warm blood, and the cold haft of the spear pressed against her ribs, but she kept nuzzling herself closer to Imperia, hoping that somehow she could make the feelings go away.

Imperia did nothing in response; she didn't lean against Cynder, or give the black dragoness a squeeze. She didn't make some playful silly comment, she didn't purr or make a happy sound.

She was gone.

A fresh wave of tears took her, Cynder sobbed into Imperia's wing, stroking and petting the silver dragoness's scales for what could be the final time.

"I… I do forgive you."

Cynder said the words far too late for them to be heard. Guilt crashed through her, but the words were flowing out of her and she didn't know where they were coming from but she knew that it was the most important thing it the world that she had to say them right then.

"Imperia, I'm so sorry. I… I should have said that I did. I-I should have said it."

She could barely continue to speak.

"It's too late; I can see that it is. But… but I do forgive you. You did what you thought was right, and that's… that's exactly what I'd expect from you. You were wrong about one thing, though. You should have known that without you a happy ending c-couldn't be properly happy."

It hurt too much; Cynder took a few deep breaths before she could continue.

"Imperia, I don't know if I can do this, I don't think that I can save Spyro without knowing that you're there. I… I need you. I forgive you for what you did, and I love you too. Now, always and forever."

Her speech finished, Cynder lay her head down right next to Imperia's; her body went limp. She couldn't move to lift Imperia's wing from her back, she didn't want to go anywhere or do anything.

Cynder closed her eyes; she surrendered herself to her feelings.

This time the black dragoness lost her will to fight. This time Cynder decided to give up and just let the world win.

I cried so much.

-4Dragons