I'm back! I'd like to thank everyone who asked how soon the next chapter would be coming out, hearing your interest means a lot to me and was a big motivator. This chapter has been slower than usual because I've written and will be releasing the chapter that comes after it next week (or perhaps the week after), the two chapters go together and I wanted to work on them both before publishing them.

For this chapter I have a song, something that Flare might sing to Imperia:
In Circles, from the soundtrack of the game Transistor. It's haunting and beautiful, and it fits incredibly well for this chapter and the next. The link is below, or at least as much of it as the site lets me post.

watch?v=cGMWL8cOeAU

Thankyou everyone for your patience! I hope you enjoy the results!

Cynder watched the moles and dragons working together; busy repairing the damage done by Malefor and Hope in their fight.

They worked fast; Cynder and Flare had spent perhaps an hour walking and talking, but within that hour a system had already been set up.

Moles were organising rubble into piles, while other moles were writing and drawing up plans to show the earth dragons exactly where their magic was needed.

Earth dragons among the crowd were busy turning shattered rubble into usable stone, or pushing walls back upright. Terrador had put his trainee Seizo to work, the bespectacled young earth drake looked very much at home as he tallied up the number of houses damaged and the amount of stones needed to fix them all.

Terrador himself had already flattened out the main crater left when Malefor and Hope's convexity blasts had touched; the rock and dirt that had been within the initial sphere of light was missing, as if it had been completely vaporised, leaving a shallow burned hole in the ground, the bottom filled with fine black ash, almost a hundred meters across and several metres deep in the middle; however even as Cynder and Flare arrived they saw Terrador was slowly making the ground there bulge upwards, removing the damage completely.

"They're making it all disappear." Cynder said. "It won't even look like anything happened by tomorrow."

Flare tilted her head. "All of the evidence of what happened here? Yes, they're making it all disappear. They're very efficient at it. Does it bother you?"

Cynder shrugged and didn't reply.

"Do you know why we want to make it disappear?" Flare asked.

Cynder looked at the fire dragoness, wondering if she was being tested; Flare's gaze was not judgemental, she was simply curious to hear Cynder's thoughts.

Cynder thought over the question for a few moments; trying to put her thoughts into words before she eventually answered. "We don't like being reminded of our failures. It's easier to pretend bad things never happened."

Flare nodded. "Even when we can, and should, learn from them."

"So you agree?"

Flare nodded. "I think it's one of the forces which drive this. Getting Cyril to admit it would be like drawing blood from a stone, but I have little doubt that he would want the damage repaired in order to remove all evidence that anything went wrong here. But I think that, while you are right, you have raised an even more fundamental question: why do we not like being reminded of our failures?"

"If you ask 'why' enough times eventually everything stops making sense. Imperia and I have played that game before:
'why do sheep go feral?'
'because they have a desire to survive'
'well why do they have a desire to survive?'
'because the sheep with a stronger will to live have more babies who also have a stronger will to live'
'why does a stronger will to live cause more baby sheep?'
it just goes on and on and usually ends with 'where did everything come from?' and none of the answers I've heard to that particular question have ever satisfied me."

Flare laughed slightly. "It's a great deal of fun to answer those 'why' questions. All of the young fire drakes Imperia teaches come to me for advanced tutoring eventually, and they're all insufferably curious. Minus the insufferable part of course! I love questions."

Cynder smiled. "Well that's good. Otherwise I can imagine you'd have gone insane by now. I don't like mindless questions much personally. They make me want to hit something."

"Mindless ones, no. But ones where the asker actually wants to hear a real answer are always fine by me."

Cynder shrugged, remaining silent once again as she considered Flare's new question. Flare didn't seem put out by Cynder only responding to every second thing she said; something that Cynder respected about her. Finally she replied, although she wasn't confident in her answer.

"I guess… because it makes us feel bad?"

Flare nodded. "That's what I believe. And that is why it is so important that we remove the damage. It is another way of protecting the citizens of Warfang."

"I don't quite get it. Are you saying that just by seeing a big crater people will be hurt? Sure it's not nice to look at but it's not like it would injure anyone. Or are you more worried that a roof will collapse on someone or what?"

"The former. Seeing the crater might not cause direct hurt, but what it does cause is fear; and fear harms the city of Warfang as a whole. The mood of the public is a resource, you see; as solid as the bricks we are making to rebuild these walls. Cleanliness, order, the feeling of being listened to and respected are what cause the mood to rise, along with a feeling of trust in strong protectors. If any of those factors are taken away then the mood starts to fall, we start to bleed our most valuable asset."

Cynder frowned. "It just seems weird to me. All of this stuff. Money, mood, trade deals and peace treaties. Public popularity I've learned about the hard way, but I don't know if the others are important."

"You've never needed to learn it. You've spent your life with nobody to depend upon except yourself. There is nothing wrong with that." Flare said warmly. "I'm only telling you because I want to. If you're not interested then I'll stop."

"No I am interested. I want to spend more time here in the city. You can keep telling me about mood and stuff."

"Well a high mood is what keeps our community together. When times are tough or the city is in danger will the citizens of Warfang work together as one, or scatter to the four winds? Will the population of the city grow, or will everybody leave and seek new lives elsewhere? That is the power of the mood. Another example is that of war: a war is not about killing all of your enemies, a war can be won without a single enemy casualty. A war ends when the mood of one side has been destroyed, when their will to fight is gone and they will break apart under pressure instead of becoming stronger."

"I guess that does make sense." Cynder nodded, thinking it over.

"Most of my time as a guardian isn't spent fighting or protecting, but organising and keeping things in working order. Our job is to keep the mood strong. Maintaining the unity and the belief in our system."

Cynder sat down as they reached the edge of the impact crater, choosing a spot which was close enough to watch, but comfortably out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the rebuilding effort.

Flare sat down next to the black dragoness, observing the crowd. She could tell that Cynder was considering a lot of things, she wondered what was going through her mind. She didn't have to wonder for long.

"Flare? Why are you really telling me all of this? You think I need to know it for some reason, don't you?"

Flare considered playing innocent. Her inner Imperia naturally put a response to the front of her mind 'why no, it's because you were just asking, Cynder dear'. But she bit the words back. She had been slightly nudging Cynder towards this conversation, and she did have her reasons for doing so.

Best to just come clean, she didn't have any sinister plans, after all.

"Because, while I don't want to alarm you, there is a very real possibility that Imperia will be stripped of her guardian status over this. I have been trying to gauge whether you could join the guardians not as a representative for poison dragons, but as Imperia's replacement wind guardian."

"I knew you were hiding something from me! It's going to be Cyril calling for her resignation isn't it?" Cynder growled slightly. "And right after Imperia was defending his actions."

"It may not be just Cyril. No traitor to the guardians has ever remained among their ranks; and while this is certainly a unique case, we may have little choice in the matter."

"You and Volteer can vote to have her stay." Cynder argued.

Flare looked pained. "I have not decided that yet…"

Cynder stared at the fire dragoness. "Really? Isn't she your mate? Why would you do that to her?"

"I need to be impartial. I must do what's best for all of Warfang, I can't afford to let my attachments cloud my judgement."

"But this means so much to her. Wind guardianship has been her whole life!"

"I know… It hurts me to imagine taking it away from her. There will be a wind guardian, have no doubt about that, but I can't allow her to keep the position just because I love her."

"One more reason why I couldn't and wouldn't be a guardian." Cynder said, annoyed. She respected Flare's reasoning, but it was not something she herself could ever accept. "I follow my heart, no matter what others think. So there goes your replacement option." She shrugged. "Sorry about that."

"Well… there is another replacement option. Altia."

"Oh great…" Cynder muttered. "An even worse Cyril on the council. How can Altia and Imperia share blood and yet be so totally different?"

"She's not that bad…" Flare said.

"Yes she is."

Flare couldn't help but smile slightly. "Okay maybe she is. But her intentions are pure."

"I don't have very much good to say about her; but she'd be a more proper guardian than me. I'll give her that much. Seriously though, Imperia is the best choice by far. We've got to keep her."

"I suppose you're right. Just because I want to believe something doesn't mean that it's wrong."

Cynder didn't reply. The pair of them sat in silence for a few seconds, before finally the black dragoness spoke again.

"Just a warning Flare: I've been manipulated for all of my life, and I've had enough of it. I have been getting better and better at spotting it, and the next person who tries to trick me into doing something… I can and will beat to within an inch of their life. But because I like you I'll let it slide."

Flare stared at the black dragoness in surprise. Cynder's returned gaze was calm, but with a very real hint of danger. There were still raw wounds in her past, many of which had been freshly torn open again by Imperia's betrayal. Despite being a relatively innocent victim of circumstance, and despite her gradual improvement, Cynder was by no means a harmless individual.

"My apologies Cynder."

Cynder sighed. "It's fine. When is the trial going to happen?"

"We are expecting the search parties we sent out looking for Dark Spyro back tonight. It's unlikely that they will have found anything, considering that he came to Warfang after all. The silver lining there is that none of them should have been held up; and we can expect them all to be back by the deadline. Depending on how the cleanup effort goes we might be able to hold the trial tomorrow. I will need to talk to Terrador and the other guardians to find out if that's possible."

Cynder nodded. "I see. I think I need to talk to some others."

Flare looked at her curiously and nodded. "Okay, good luck."

"You too. And thanks for keeping me company, I appreciated it."

Cynder knew that Seizo was busy at work; unfortunately that meant she couldn't talk to him. She wanted to, though. He was about her age, and he too was being lined up towards being a guardian dragon.

Cynder was far from convinced by the idea of becoming a guardian, but she was thinking it over; she needed to know more about what would be expected of her; and she would rather find out more from a dragon of her own age. She knew Imperia was quite childish and fun, and she didn't seem to need to sacrifice too much of her playfulness or her independence in order to keep the job. Then again she might not be keeping the job after all.

While she was musing she suddenly remembered that there was someone else she could talk to; Cyria; Cyrils apprentice.

Cynder had fought Cyria before, she had been one of the dragonesses that had challenged her over Spyro, and she had also been the first to apologise for doing so. The ice dragoness was young and quite talented, as well as a good sport.

Talking to Cyria might be just what she needed to find out more about being a guardian. She didn't really want it to happen; but if she reached a point where she couldn't stand by and watch then she wanted to know what she would need to do.

Cynder's trail of thought took her towards Ember's house, the pink dragoness was Cyrias friend, and if anyone knew where to find the young ice dragoness then it would surely be Ember.

"Cynder!"

Before she had even made it to Ember's street the familiar voice called out; and familiar pattering paws racing to catch her. The black dragoness smiled and turned. "Hey Ember! I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay too!" Ember skidded to a stop beside her; her heart tipped tail swishing. She looked down at Cynder with a relieved look. "Dark Spyro attacked! I was so worried for you."

Cynder considered filling Ember in on the details about why exactly Hope had come after her, and what they had talked about and done; but she suspected that if she did then Ember would never be able to stop talking about it. Maybe later she would tell Ember more.

"Dark Spyro attacked, but I'm fine. Ember, do you know where Cyria might be? I'd like to talk to her about something."

"Of course." Ember nodded immediately. "I saw her only a minute ago; she was checking to make sure all of the stragglers in the Warfang Underground were okay."

"Is she busy?"

"Not really, it's just a patrolling job. Why do you want to talk to her?"

"Well… Imperia and Flare have both come to me asking me about taking on an official position as a guardian dragon."

"Really!?" Ember stared at Cynder with awe. "That would be amazing! Did you say yes? What guardian would you be? Fear?"

"I said no; but the real answer is that I'm going to think about it."

"You said no?" Ember looked shocked. "But it's being a guardian! It's amazing! You'd be the youngest ever!"

"Which is why I'm going to think about it. I only said no on the outside."

Ember giggled slightly. "Why am I not surprised? Seriously though, will you? It's amazing!"

"Seriously I'll think about it." Cynder repeated with a good natured scowl. "And I might end up as the wind guardian. According to Flare Imperia might be about to lose her job in the trial; which will probably be tomorrow."

"Really?" Ember regained her shocked stare. "Wow… I sure hope she doesn't. Not that you wouldn't be an amazing wind guardian of course!" She hastily added with a smile.

Cynder shrugged. "Well I'm going to avoid taking the job if at all possible. The responsibility of saving the world is fine, it felt like I had no choice the first time, and the rest of the time I've just been doing what made sense in the moment. But walking into a responsibility like this one? No thanks. Not to mention the idea of having to work with Cyril every day without hitting him. I don't think I can do it. That's why I want to talk to Cyria though."

"Of course! Follow me!" Ember spun around and started to lead Cynder through the city. Before long the streets were looking familiar and the pair of them were standing before a massive door, the entrance to the underground tunnels of Warfang.

"Hey Ember, did Spyro ever make it into the contest to become a guardian?"

Ember tilted her head as they walked through the door into the shade; trying to think. "Not as far as I knowwwww… Terrador and Cyril already have apprentices. Volteer is new to the job so he's not going to retire, and Spyro declined to compete against Flare to be fire guardian. He goes to lots of their meetings though; and everyone listens to him when he says something." She sighed dreamily.

Cynder smiled to herself at Ember's actions; walking beside her quietly. The cavern was even larger than she imagined, Cynder wondered if the whole mountain might be hollow below Warfang. They were quiet and lightly dusty, but it wasn't too bad.

Looking ahead she spotted a pale blue scaled dragoness sitting at the top of a large pillar. She sped up slightly, then took to the air; wings spread and rising rapidly to the height of the other girl.

There was not quite enough space on the pillar for Cynder to land, but the wind wrapped around her and held her aloft comfortably.

Cyria had been looking down from her high vantage point, scanning the rest of the tunnels for moles or dragons. The dark shape of Cynder caught her eye and she waved.

"Hello! I'm glad to see you again Cynder." The ice dragoness sat up a bit straighter. "How are you? Is everything alright?"

Cynder nodded and smiled, hovering next to her. "I'm fine. Things could be a lot better, but we're all still okay and that's what matters."

Cyria returned the smile, relaxing slightly. "Do you want me to come down? There isn't much room up here."

"Yes, sure." Cynder nodded. The ice dragoness stood up, spreading her wings and floating down to join up with Ember. Cynder hovered on her way down beside her. "Cyria I'd like to talk to you about being an apprentice guardian."

"Really?" Cyria looked at her curiously, Ember stepped up next to them as they landed. Cyria's eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to gauge the significance of what Cynder had just told her. "What about it? Does Imperia want an apprentice?"

"Not exactly. Flare and Imperia have both suggested I could be a guardian for my elements, and Flare has also told me that if Imperia isn't allowed to keep her position then I'd be one of the candidates to replace her. I wanted to know more from you about what that would mean and weather there's anything I can do to make sure Imperia doesn't lose her job."

"I see!" Cyria nodded. "So you've accepted the position?"

"She's thinking about it." Ember piped up. "I think she should but that's just me."

"Well you're certainly capable." Cyria said. She flicked her wings and started to recite a list. "Being a guardian is about being a pillar of the community. There is no single allotment of jobs which you need to do as a guardian; but it is your duty to do something. Cyril takes an active role in managing trade deals and keeping the city running; Terrador trains the warfang military, he is the captain of the guard and in his spare time he works as a builder. Volteer manages the library; Imperia and Flare are both schoolteachers. Imperia tends to organise events, and Flare has done a lot of work growing the gardens around Warfang."

Cynder tilted her head. She had no idea Terrador did construction work, but she supposed it made sense.

"They need to be ready to respond to emergencies of all kinds at all hours, a guardian must never object to being woken up at midnight even over something small. Everybody in the city needs to be sure they can call upon the guardians."

"I hate that already." Cynder said, smiling to show she wasn't being completely serious.

Cyria nodded. "I'm not keen on it myself. What if I want to have a bath or something? Anyway Guardians do have a number of tasks which every guardian needs to complete: Firstly between them all they need to organise at least one private meeting a week which at least four guardians attend, second they need to organise at least one publicly open meeting a week which at least three guardians attend, third they need to take an apprentice at least forty years before they intend to retire, and mentor that apprentice for fifty years even if they do retire before the apprenticeship is due to be completed."

As Cyria spoke her voice became more and more cadenced, she was repeating something that she had clearly memorised.

"Fourthly if the guardian is the highest ranked dragon in their element then they need to teach other high level dragons; and if they are not the highest ranked dragon in their element then they need to seek regular training at least once per week from that dragon in order to become so. In fact it's been a law that the highest ranked dragon must teach the lower ranked dragons all of their powers ever since Warfang lost the Comet Dash."

"Wait a minute." Cynder said. "Warfang lost the comet dash? What, like behind a couch? It's a fancy way to headbutt somebody with explosions. You can't just lose it."

"There was a time period around a thousand years ago where no Warfang dragon knew the comet dash for almost a hundred years. The last dragon who knew it had died in a war. The fire guardian at the time had to beg the Old Fire dragons to teach it to us again. Ever since then it's been a legal requirement that the dragons who know the most advanced techniques have to pass them down to their apprentices and chronicle them in the library."

"Neat. Are there wind techniques in there?" Cynder asked curiously.

"Most definitely." Cyria nodded. "Now where was I?"

She paused for a moment, then nodded.

"If the guardian is the highest ranked blah blah blah… Oh yes: Finally they need to take a vital role in promoting the wellbeing of the public and at all times behave with honour, existing as a paragon of the virtues with which a true dragon lives his life… that last bit was something Cyril made me recite about nine thousand times. Sorry."

"Well I'm not sold on the idea; but I do feel a bit better knowing all that stuff." Cynder admitted. "So… if I just went around using poison magic to cure people and make medicine…?"

"That would qualify as being a 'paragon of virtue' in the community." Cyria said confidently. "Just so long as you didn't poison anyone or hit someone when they come into your house and wake you up at midnight to find their pet bird."

"Oooh you're really testing my limits now. Hitting everyone who annoys me is one of my primary habits." Cynder laughed. "Being a guardian doesn't sound too bad. Hard, but not boring. Maybe someday I'll actually want the job. Right now I'd definitely prefer to see Imperia keep it though."

"Right!" Cyria nodded. "Don't let Flare scare you too much about that. I'm not the sort of girl who takes bets, but I would still give you odds of about seventy percent that Imperia keeps her job."

Cynder sighed. "I've been worrying over nothing? Typical…" She grumbled in annoyance.

"Not nothing. Cyril and Altia would both want Imperia out of the job. I worry that Flare might decide that Altia is a more appropriate choice. Imperia is absolutely loved by the population of Warfang, everyone knows and admires her, but while I am semi-confident in the outcome I'd expect the vote to be kind of close."

Cynder groaned slightly. "So how do we stop her losing the job?"

Cyria shrugged slightly. "During the trial everyone will get a chance to speak their opinion. If you speak up at that time then you could sway the room into voting that she stays."

"As in, with a speech?" Cynder made a face. "I don't know if I can manage that. I hate talking and being persuasive."

Ember and Cyria glanced at each other. "Well… you do have a lot of passion." Ember offered.

"And charisma too." Cyria added.

"Why do I feel like you're struggling to come up with things to make me feel better?" Cynder raised an eyebrow at them. They both glanced down at their paws and shrugged. Cynder sighed. "Exactly. I just don't have the gift that Imperia has. I'm not good at persuading."

"You said that the trial might be tomorrow, right? You'll need a good night sleep."

"Might as well rest up before I flail around and try and probably fail to help my friend tomorrow."

"Well just be honest." Ember said with a smile. "Maybe you'll surprise yourself."

Cyril sighed wearily, resting his head on his desk next to the stack of completed paperwork he had just finished. Cyril never let a stack of unfinished work remain under his care, he went out of his way to do it all as quickly as possible.

He was just mentally congratulating himself on how well he had done, taking part in saving the city while still being the most organized of the guardians, when he felt a wet patch under his jaw and realised that he'd laid his head down on the inkwell and tipped it over. With a rapid tap of his claw he froze the puddle solid, stopping it before it spread onto anything important.

Muttering in annoyance Cyril scraped frozen ink off his chin and threw the frozen mess into the bin.

"Need any help?"

Cyril turned, seeing Flare was standing just outside his door, her tail spinning slowly behind her. He shook his head. "No, I have everything in order." He covered the remaining stain on his desk with his pile of finished paperwork. "Ahem, can I help you?"

Flare nodded. "I'd like us to schedule Imperia's trial for tomorrow."

"I think that would be ideal." Cyril nodded.

"Really?" Flare tilted her head. "I was kind of expecting a brush off and comment that we had more important things to deal with."

Cyril indicated the stack of paperwork on his desk. "Half of these are things that Imperia would handle if she wasn't locked up. The sooner her job is refilled the happier I'll be, besides it will do everyone good to see that our justice system is still working as normal and this violence is a strictly one time event. The trial is to be a one day affair if possible, but with that condition you have my full support."

"You know that's strictly against policy. We're not supposed to have a trial which is decided in a single day."

"And yet you were already planning for a one day trial weren't you? I know you too well Flare."

The fire dragoness sighed. "We just don't have the time, Dark Spyro could be back a week or a month from now, or he could be back tomorrow. I've already checked with Terrador and he is willing if I organise it; he expects his cleanup work will take at least until evening. I haven't asked Volteer, but I know his schedule and he has nothing planned tomorrow."

"Best to ask him anyway." Cyril commented. "Remember that too much familiarity-"

"Gets in the way of effective management as often as it enables it. He may be my mate, but he's still my professional colleage." Flare finished. "I was going to ask him."

Cyril bowed his head slightly. "I believe you. Would you care to give me some idea of what type of trial you'd like us to hold?"

"We'll hold the trial tomorrow at midday; everyone will be able to attend."

"Ballot voting or a simple show of hands?" Cyril asked.

"Show of hands. Less paperwork that way." Flare laughed as she saw Cyril's relieved expression. "Firstly we present the facts as objectively as possible; then Imperia gets a chance to speak in her defence. All four of us get a chance to express our opinion on the matter and explain why we intend to vote the way we do. Then the public get a chance to object or suggest alternatives; then we vote, with the crowd getting a vote equal to three of ours."

Cyril tapped his claws on the desk. "Not ideal. Typically we've given the public five votes broken down according to the percentage of voters. That way a unanimous decision of the guardians can be outweighed by an eighty percent majority of the citizens. In future we might have to change that to six votes to reflect a fifth guardian with a fifth vote, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. However your solution does fit in adequately well for a one day trial."

"Do you feel that we've stacked the odds in favour of Imperia being let off lightly?" Flare asked. "This is a trial in the court of public opinion; and we are dealing with Imperia. Public opinion is her home territory."

Cyril looked at her for a long moment, gazing deeply into the fire guardian's green eyes. He shook his head. "If three of us vote against Imperia then there would need to be a seventy five percent majority for her to be let off. It is certainly possible, and if we saw such overwhelming support we would be wise to take her back; but I do think the vote will be closer than that."

He sighed and scratched his head with a claw.

"Although we are letting her speak in her own defence… She does know how to charm a crowd."

"We've ordered the proceedings so that she has to speak before the rest of us. After that we can send her out of the room so her allure will have time to fade."

Cyril chuckled slightly. "You're being very careful to make sure this is objective aren't you? I respect that."

Flare sighed. "I'm really seeing how being in a relationship with a fellow guardian is a conflict of interests right about now."

"Don't be too harsh on yourself. You've made me rethink what I used to believe was possible, that mates could be together on the council at all. Before you I would not have believed it. You're doing an excellent job in a difficult situation. I admire it."

"Really?" Flare blinked at him, rather taken by surprise. She gave Cyril a grateful smile. "So this trial layout has your approval?"

Cyril nodded. "I'll set up the paperwork and contact potential witnesses. Probably not going to be a long task that one."

"I'll check with Volteer. If you don't hear back from me then he's agreed to this and I'll be out informing everyone that the trial will be going ahead tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" Cyril asked.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Flare confirmed, walking to the door. "And by the way you have a big black smudge on your cheek."

Cyril scowled and wiped off the remaining ink. By the time he looked up Flare had gone.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review!

Next time we decide the fate of Imperia...

Thanks again,

-4Dragons