Imperia paced back and forth; she'd given her speech and left the trial hardly ten minutes ago, but it already felt like it had been hours. Her pacing got progressively faster each time she completed a circuit, using wind magic to speed herself up without even really noticing that she was going so. Before long she was little more than a nervous blur, a silver streak vibrating around the room.

Flare hadn't insisted that she go back into her cell, instead she was in one of the training rooms of the Dragon Temple, probably wearing a scorch mark into the floor, to go along with the several hundred other scorch marks which decorated the stone of the room from missed fireballs and thunderbolts.

She slowed down, doing some hops, skips and dance steps. She hadn't danced in weeks, she missed it…

There was no scorch mark on the floor from her pawsteps; she doubted it was actually possible to do it, but it was an entertaining thought at least. She hopped onto the wall, walking backwards for a few moments and reminding herself to calm down and breathe.

She wondered how long the trial would go. There could be hours of discussion, or hardly any. The votes might only need to be counted once, or there might need to be multiple re-votes.

A sudden noise reached her ears and she skidded to a stop, nervously listening closer. Somebody was calling out. She quickly recognised the voice as Cynder, and she sounded excited.

"Imperia! Where are you!? You won! You won!"

The silver dragoness whirled around and dashed to the door. "Cynder!" She threw the door open even as Cynder rounded the end of the corridor and bounded towards her.

"Imperia you won!" She jumped at Imperia, a full force tackle of enthusiasm.

Imperia was driven back several steps by the impact, she wrapped her paws around Cynder, spinning them around once before placing her back down and hugging her tightly.

Cynder grinned up at her, and Imperia could hardly remember a time she'd seen the black dragoness looking so happy; it warmed her heart to see. "Imperia you won!" She said again.

Imperia nodded mutely, a delighted smile on her own face making it hard to speak. A massive surge of relief rushed through her. Finally she managed to reply. "Well of course. I had your support, after all."

Cynder laughed and gave her a tight squeeze. She'd physically felt Imperia's muscles soften as she'd released the tension and fear she'd built up; so the laid back response didn't fool her for a moment. Imperia had been stressed. "You sure did. I spoke to everyone in Warfang."

Imperia leaned back, her neck bending to stare down at Cynder. "No way. You really did that?"

Cynder nodded. "I stood and talked to everyone. It's kind of a blur, I said something about you being really kind and good. I think it went ok."

"Oh Cynder, that's amazing! Well done!" Imperia hugged her again. "I'm so proud of you."

Cynder nodded, still grinning in satisfaction. "They let me go and tell you. Or they knew they couldn't stop me even if they tried so they'd better give me permission. You get your guardianship back, and I don't have to replace you. You do have to do all of the hot water though."

"I have to 'do' all the hot water?" Imperia frowned as she tried to figure out what that meant. "Oh, you mean inscribe my heating magic on plumbing pipes?"

"Yep. For the whole city." Cynder confirmed. "Every single building."

Imperia swallowed. "Oh dear… That is not going to be fun. Do you have any idea how many pipes that means?"

"I have no idea." Cynder said with a laugh. "It doesn't matter to me. You got to stay as the wind guardian."

"You're right." Imperia nodded in agreement. "That's all that matters. Cynder I'm so grateful to you. Thankyou so much."

Cynder nodded, grinning. "I'm glad we got at least one thing sorted out today. Even though I've forgiven you I am still going to hold this over you forever. You know that right?"

Imperia smiled, setting Cynder back down on the floor and half stepping back for a moment, then changing her mind and rushing in for a second hug. "Cynder, seriously… thankyou so much…"

"Imperia it's ok. You're welcome." Cynder patted Imperia's head. "You don't have to get heartfelt with me."

"Yes I do." Imperia said into Cynder's shoulder. She hugged tighter.

"Fine a moderate bit of heartfelt never hurt anyone…" Cynder admitted. She let some softness into her voice. "I was glad to help you Imperia; and you're totally forgiven. I love you, ok?"

There was a whimper from the silver dragoness and the hug got even tighter.

"Owww ok I take that as agreement, if you break my ribs I'm never doing a heartfelt moment with you again."

Imperia let go and Cynder rubbed her chest slightly. Imperia put a light kiss on her cheek and then glanced away blushing. "I love you too, and sorry about the squeezing hug… Heehee…"

"Nobody said that being a hero was easy on your ribcage. Still the hugs make it all worth it."

"Nyaww, really?"

"Yes. But don't tell anyone else that I tolerate them. The last thing I need right now is random hugging. Those with permission to hug are those who already know they have it. Speaking of owing hugs, I'm not the only one who supported you. You'd actually be super supri-"

"No Cynder; don't tell me. I'm not supposed to know unless people tell me for themselves. I will definitely be generous with the hugs when I find out though."

"Flare didn't vote for you to stay." Cynder told her.

Imperia bit her lip slightly. "You're not really supposed to tell me that; but I can understand why you'd want to talk about it."

"She's like your wife or something now isn't she? I know you two are super close. And then she tried to get you fired. She threw you to the wolves."

"Girlfriend. She's my girlfriend. Although I suppose they're similar enough. She has every right to stop standing beside me; especially after this… I broke her trust, and I broke the trust of everyone. If they didn't want me back I wouldn't blame them. Not that I'm ungrateful they did want be back though of course."

"I don't get it; but if you're fine with it then I guess I am." Cynder shrugged.

"I'll go to Flare and talk it over. Maybe I'll cook her dinner tonight."

"Cook? You don't cook." Cynder snorted. "You'd poison her."

Imperia laughed. "It's hard to deny that. Still I know she'd appreciate the effort."

"If you wanted Flare poisoned you could just tell me. It'd be a lot easier and harder to trace." She grinned playfully.

"I'll keep that in mind." Imperia giggled.

"Although maybe you shouldn't go to me. I like Flare too much to poison. Even after she treated you that way. I must be going soft."

"Letting people live when they insult your friends is super soft. I thought you were tougher than that." Imperia teased, smiling warmly.

"Nobody insults my friend but me." Cynder said in agreement.

"You can insult me as much as you like. I love getting insulted." Imperia purred.

"You're weird."

"Mmm… see? I loved that."

Cynder laughed slightly. "You're seriously weird. Do you think we should do something to celebrate? Hugs are celebration, but I feel like we should go out for a drink or something."

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"No. It's not even night. It is literally barely past morning."

"Aww… Dates can happen at lunchtime."

"Do you want to go out for a drink or not?"

"Heehee, of course I do. I'll treat you."

"Good, because I don't know if I have any money." Cynder laughed. "It'll be nice to relax a little bit. Just for one day though."

Volteer frowned when he noticed the door to his office was slightly open. But nearly everyone was at Imperia's trial; and he had come straight here.

If he had been asked to guess who was in his office before he entered he would have certainly gotten it right; but he was still surprised when he opened the door and saw Malefor sitting at his desk and reading his notes.

Volteer's office would more appropriately be called a laboratory. The room was huge and filled with desks and beakers and plants; a scientific workshop which was heavily out of place among the rest of the Dragon Temple; but which suited Volteer perfectly.

"Ahem, those could be confidential." Volteer said with a frown.

Malefor blinked at him, seeming confused for a moment, then glanced down at the notes. "Of course. My apologies. It's one of your scientific reports, it caught my eye. I wouldn't normally have been so presumptive as to go through your things but it was on the top of the desk."

The purple dragon gently placed the paper back down and hurriedly stepped away from the desk.

"Again, I apologise."

Volteer walked over, glancing at the piece of paper. It was indeed one of his scientific reports; and he wouldn't have willingly admitted it but he was extremely proud of it's quality. "Hmm, if you wish to read that one I can allow it. It's not confidential."

"The entropic property of magical crystals hardly seemed like sensitive information." Malefor chuckled slightly. His eyes flicked constantly to the report, and Volteer suddenly realised that the purple dragon really really wanted to finish reading it. He felt a sudden surge of liking for Malefor; and a sort of understanding passed between them.

"Sensitive, no; but most certainly it is interesting. Did you have any thoughts on the matter? I would be glad to have your input."

Volteer turned around to hide his smile as he saw Malefor immediately settle back in and continue to devour the information.

"I expect I will do once I've finished it. I know some ancient mana crystals hidden away for thousands of years, if they're still untouched then you might learn from studying them." Malefor said as he turned a page. "I like your office by the way. Don't think I didn't notice your test tubes are all full of water though. What kind of experiments are you really doing? The water is just for show I'd presume."

"Oh no the water is my real experiments. I hope you didn't touch them." Volteer said, circling his room and making sure that everything was in the right place.

"Really? What kind of experiment?"

"Ah, well!"

Volteer cleared his throat.

"Basically water always boils at one hundred degrees, correct?"

"Well not always, but usually." Malefor agreed.

"Indeed! The higher up a mountain you go it becomes somewhat easier to boil water. It boils at around ninety degrees if you go especially high. A small change, but an interesting one. However I recently learned that you can also change the boiling temperature of water by using magic on it!"

Malefor frowned. "Interesting. Magic does have many unusual properties. Did the temperature go higher or lower?"

"Ahh, good question. Would you care to guess what happened when Imperia dipped her tail in water and focused for a few minutes?"

"Hmm… It boiled more easily?"

"Correct! It boiled at ninety six degrees."

"A tiny change." Malefor looked a bit disappointed.

"The change depends on the dragon. Spyro changed the boiling temperature to ninety degrees. I would very much like to get a water sample from yourself."

"Hmm… I wonder if I would make a larger change."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. The largest change I have yet observed came from Flare. All the way down to seventy degrees!"

Malefor turned another page in the report, but he looked up at Volteer in curiosity. "Really? That is most impressive… Does it have to do with power level? Element? How is the water being effected? Some kind of vibration, radiation?"

"No. I've tested both of those and they're quite impossible. For instance, if it was magical vibrations causing the change then what would happen if an ice dragon dipped her tail in the water?"

"Well vibrations cause heat… so the water would boil more easily just like with Imperia and Flare. There is no such thing as a negative vibration."

"Indeed there is no such thing as a negative vibration. So why does an ice dragon instead make water require more heat to boil?"

"You've got me. What does magic do to water that makes it change?" Malefor thought it over.

"Erm… well… I have theories."

Malefor chuckled. "Perhaps we can work on this together in the future. I would look forwards to it. Based on how impeccable your notes are I imagine it would be a pleasure."

Volteer nodded eagerly. "I would love to work with you!"

Malefor turned to the last page of Volteers notes, taking several seconds to read over it before finally placing it down.

"Magical crystals never lose their energy?"

"Indeed. They seem to gain energy with age, I've been looking for some sort of power source, but there really doesn't seem to be one. It's simply self perpetuating magic."

"That has a lot of implications about the nature and origin of magic. It shouldn't be possible for something to come from nothing."

"And yet that is apparently what it does. It's interesting isn't it?"

"Fascinating." Malefor agreed.

There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two of them. Malefor read the conclusion of Volteer's report again before glancing up at the other dragon.

"So what happened with Imperia's trial?"

"Ah! Yes, she was judged kindly. She gets to keep her job. Cynder is telling her now, I'm sure she'll be over the moon with joy."

"Wonderful!" Malefor smiled. "It certainly means a lot to her, I know that for sure. I'm glad."

"I'm glad. She's a good guardian."

"Volteer, can I ask a question?"

"Sure."

"Is Imperia… erm…"

"Yes. She's interested in you."

Malefor glanced away, controlling his slight blush as best he could. "Well I certainly wasn't going to ask a question as direct as that."

Volteer chuckled. "No, but it's what you wanted to know right?"

"I was going to ask if Imperia's behaviour around me could be considered… normal."

"Is Imperia normal?" Volteer laughed at the question, grinning.

Malefor, who had been busy pondering how quickly Volteer had told him Imperia was, apparently, interested in him, frowned at how hard Volteer was laughing. His question had been a serious one and Volteer was finding something quite funny about it that he didn't get.

"Oh yes, it's fairly normal for her. She's a very unusual girl; although in the best possible way. A lot of her young female students and friends follow her style to differing amounts."

"Ah… Well that is… reassuring I suppose."

"She behaves around lots of people the way she behaves around you. But that doesn't mean she's not interested in you. I wouldn't ever tell you what she was thinking with certainty, even if I knew it myself; but just in case you've somehow missed the signs I'm definitely going to confirm she's interested."

"It's hard to tell what is a sign and what is not. Everything looks like a sign. I counted over a thousand signs just from my dream communication with Imperia alone before stopping counting." Malefor admitted. "What are your feelings on this matter? I understand you two are close."

Volteer smiled. "Well… I have a lot of feelings about it. They're mostly good though. A bit of my disapproval has never stopped her anyway. She's not above falling for a bad boy, but her heart is in the right place and she never lets herself get lost. But I do approve of you; pending further consideration."

Malefor nodded. "It feels strange to ask you for… approval. Thank you for not making this too awkward, and more importantly thank you for approving of me." He frowned, the words feeling slightly uncomfortable as he spoke. "I'd forgotten how awkward it could be to interact with someone."

Volteer chuckled. "It's hard to not be the dark lord, I'm sure."

Malefor nodded again. "Yes. Yes it is. I'm not used to being put in a position where I must answer to someone else. Although around Imperia it's easier; it's one of the things I particularly like about her."

"Awkwardness just slides off her. She never seems to let it stick for more than a few seconds, if at all." Volteer agreed. "It makes me a bit jealous."

"She's unique."

"She certainly is; although I think everyone could stand to learn a few things from her."

"I've learned more from her than I expected." Malefor admitted. "I thought I'd managed to kill my ability to feel during my time in convexity. It turned out not only had I failed to do so, but that I was wrong to even try it."

"On behalf of the world I'm very glad about that. I'm sure you can imagine how dangerous you would be, even freed from the influence of the Dark Master, if you had no emotional interest in anything in the world."

Malefor hesitated slightly. "Hmm… You're not wrong. I would perhaps… go too far."

Volteer frowned. "Is something bothering you?"

"Well yes." Malefor nodded.

Volteer waited a few moments for Malefor to explain more; turning away and poking around in a pile of papers on one of his multiple desktops. He was just starting to think that he wouldn't get anything else when Malefor finally continued.

"When I was consumed by the Dark Master I had a lot of time to think; time to wonder…"

His voice was heavy with memory.

"…and I suppose it was natural to look for someone to blame, some meaning to it all. Some all powerful force which might be responsible for all of the evil in the world."

Volteer turned around to look at Malefor in curiosity. The purple dragon's eyes were distant and thoughtful.

"Hmm… It has been so long since I swore vengeance on the Ancestors, on those supposed gods who have been oppressing dragonkind and keeping us divided and filled with fear. Year after year… vengeance was the only thing that kept me sane. I've thought of endless reasons why my cause is just. Perhaps it still is…"

"Vengeance… on the ancestors?" Volteer mused. It was a large concept to grasp, the more he thought about it the more new aspects of the problem he discovered. "You're talking about fighting gods. Not just that, but fighting gods who you believe are malevolent. What if you came up against a god of death? What if you lost a fight with a death god? What if you won!? No matter if you won or lost… there is certainly such a thing as going too far." His voice rose slightly, but he calmed himself.

"Exactly." Malefor nodded. "I did not reach my choice lightly, and I would not change my mind lightly either… but I find myself no longer as sure of my path as I once was. It is time to think and re-evaluate my position rather than make a critical mistake."

The lightning guardian remained silent; he could practically see the gears turning in Malefor's mind. It was a familiar sight; one that he always enjoyed creating in his students, while also being one that he always regretted seeing on the faces of Imperia or Flare.

A look of genuine self doubt, a look of feeling lost.

Sometimes that look belonged to someone on the brink of brilliant insight; sometimes instead it was the look of someone who would eventually accept an easy path and never become un-lost.

"I need to think about this." Malefor said softly.

"Good luck." Volteer replied.

"I was very interested with how you voted."

Terrador turned around as he heard the voice behind him. It was a young drake's voice, and very familiar. He noticed a hint of accusation in the tone of whoever had spoken.

He turned, smiling apologetically to Seizo. His apprentice was frowning at him from behind the large golden spectacles that he always wore. The effect was slightly comical, it made his eyes look huge. He hoped Seizo would practice his accusing glare in front of a mirror sometime if he wanted to use it again in the future.

"Ah, Seizo. I'm glad you asked me about that. I know that you're somewhat of a fan of Imperia, I noticed you in the crowd among those who voted for her to stay."

"I want to work with her." Seizo nodded. "Someday I'm looking forwards to being a fellow guardian with her. And she's always been very sweet to me without ever talking down to me either. And maybe flirted with me… a fair bit. But she does that to everyone."

"You want to know why I voted differently to how you would have?"

"Yeah…" Seizo nodded. "I know it's not my place to judge you or anything, but your reasoning didn't really satisfy me. Sure Imperia isn't predictable, sometimes not even reliable; but she's always tactical and respectful of what others are doing. Not every piece on life's game board moves the way you tell them to, but that doesn't mean they should be taken off the board."

"On the contrary it's exactly your place to judge me. Someday you will be taking my job, and it is only proper that you make informed decisions about what you would learn from me and what you would prefer to change."

"So why did you vote against her?"

"I'm afraid I don't have very much more to offer you. I've been a military minded dragon for most of my life; and there is a vital rule that invariably comes into effect during a battle: Cohesion is more effective than brilliance. A troop of dragons all working in unison towards a common goal, each one knowing their place; will be far more likely to achieve that goal than a group of brilliant tacticians who all see better opportunities and try to take advantage of them. The group becomes a mob, uncoordinated and scattered; picked off one by one. The troop becomes an army, a force that cannot be stopped even in their wrongness."

Seizo frowned. "I'd probably be in the second group. Would a whole group of me really lose a war like that?"

"Of you? No. I think after your first few defeats you would establish a chain of command if enough copies of you survived. A group who failed to establish a chain of command would indeed lose almost any war you care to imagine. The same weakness played out among the ape and dragon races during the war of the Dark Master. The apes all served the Dark Master, playing their parts in a greater plan with selflessness. We dragons preferred to take our own paths. Four to defend the Temple and the eggs. Fire dragons defending their desert, Ice dragons defending their mountains. Divided we responded, and divided we fell."

"I suppose I do see the point." Seizo nodded. "Imperia is certainly the type who takes her own path."

"She's qualified. She even deserves the position to a certain extent, as much as anybody can deserve anything. But she needs a hundred more years to mature. At least that is how I feel about it."

He sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Maybe I'm the one who needs to mature."

"You're very wise I think." Seizo said. "I definitely think I have a lot to live up to. Nobody is immune to being wrong though. If you're wrong, that is."

"I hope I am wrong. I don't want you to inherit a broken team of guardians."

Seizo nodded thoughtfully.

"Ah, don't listen to me too much. We're not living in a war anymore. At least I hope not. This will be the first time in nearly thirty years we haven't been at war. In times of peace perhaps Imperia will be a much better leader than I give her credit for. I'm sure Imperia will be celebrating somewhere. Go on. Enjoy yourself."

"I should finish off the rebuilding effort after the Dark Spyro incident…"

Terrador chuckled. "No. Not today. Everyone deserves a chance to relax. For now at least everything is right with the world."

"You really think so?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to take an afternoon off then?"

"No." Terrador admitted. "And neither will the guards, or Flare, or Cyril. None of the guardians will truly rest easy until Spyro has been brought back, not even Imperia. But we remain vigilant so that others don't have to. I will celebrate after we save Sypro. I promise."

"Uncle. What."

Cyril raised an eyebrow at the young ice dragoness standing in front of him. "That's no way to address a guardian, let alone how an apprentice should address the master."

"I know, but you voted for Imperia to stay. I honestly don't know what else to say to it. I can't believe it."

"Cyria; you'll be the new ice guardian someday; surely you can understand why I'd vote for Imperia to stay?"

"I can understand why I would vote for Imperia to stay, but for you? Not really. No."

Cyril continued walking, letting Cyria fall into step just behind him. "We're not so different. I'm deeply cautious about changes; but I recognise a good idea when I see one. I pushed hard for checks and balances on Imperia joining the guardians not because I don't like her, although my personal suspicions about her did play a part. I pushed back against her to ensure that she only got the position once she'd earned it. Once she did earn it I had no quarrel with her, and as you can tell I even somewhat approve of her."

"You hate dealing with her. She ignores all of the rules. She has no dignity."

"She does indeed ignore the rules and have no dignity; but it only seems to make her more effective. She's a force of nature, when you point her at something she does it. While her methods are unpredictable her motives are very reliable. I would rather have her close."

"You never seemed to show any of that. You've ranted about how useless she is more than once."

Cyril laughed slightly. "She can be useless and I reserve the right to rant about it. She's not useless in every regard though. She can always entertain the city guards or be trusted to host a party at the very least; and her teaching abilities can't be dismissed. But more importantly she's resourceful and brave and invaluable to have on your side."

"Maybe you just like to rant." Cyria commented.

Cyril inclined his head. "And you're obligated to listen to me in case I choose to add a pearl of wisdom into it. Words without action mean nothing. Intent means everything. As a guardian you will need to look below shallow distractions and find the true force which drives events. Imperia is full of shallow distractions from her looks to her moods, but the true force which drives her is aligned with that which drives me."

"Understood." Cyria bowed.

"But also you should not look too deeply into events. Too much paranoia will stop you from ever acting, or lead you to self destructive behaviour."

"That's the opposite of what you just said, but okay." Cyria nodded.

"Hmph. You're a good student. You'll figure it out."

"You're a troublesome teacher."

"I'll allow that this time. Next time you're insubordinate I will make you do fifty rounds of target practice."

"Welcome back to normal. I was worried for a minute there." Cyria smiled slightly.

Cyril nodded. "I'm not the best teacher in the world. I'm too grumpy to be a proper teacher, I've never been good at it. I can teach you about ice, and I can try and teach you to be a disciplined and moral dragon; but all of the things which I miss are things that your other teachers will help you learn."

"Know what you're good at; and then hire experts to do the other things for you."

"Precisely. I'm good at magic and politics; not teaching. It takes a superior mind to correctly admit to not being the best at something. The same goes for why I tolerate Imperia."

Cyria listened patiently. Whenever Cyril droned on like this she had developed a highly refined ability to tune out all the things she'd heard before and absorb the new information; all while daydreaming about art and crafts projects; which was her current favourite thing to do in her spare time. Up until recently it had been juggling, but she'd gotten good enough to juggle four balls at once and had decided it was time to move on. She changed hobbies a lot, actually...

"With that being said there is no question that I am by a significant margin the strongest ice element dragon in the city; while imparting my knowledge in a clear and efficient manner is not always something which I am talented in doing I am nevertheless playing a significant role in your learning."

Cyria nodded politely.

"You're a good student. I look forwards to the eventual day when you take over from me; although unlike Terrador who is at least somewhat looking forwards to his retirement I have full intentions to continue working for the foreseeable future. It will be reassuring to know that you are ready to take my place eventually."

"Understood."

"Were you just here to express how shocked you were about my vote?" Cyril asked.

Cyria nodded. "Yes, pretty much."

"Hmph… Well consider your message received. I've got no lesson scheduled to teach you today; but think over what we've discussed anyway. You are dismissed."

A Typical Imperia Celebration would have involved a whole room full of people. There would be music, there would be food. Imperia didn't typically drink, but there would still be alcohol. Loud talking, singing of mixed quality; potentially some kissing, and of course lots of dancing.

An Imperia and Cynder Celebration was a much more peaceful affair in comparison although kissing and dancing were left open as possibilities. The pair of them spent a little while in a nice restaurant, talking and eating a large lunch.

Imperia insisted that they have something expensive.

Cynder refused to eat anything except the cheapest thing on the menu.

A playful, but at the same time weirdly serious, followed.

Imperia won the argument and demanded that Cynder eat the most expensive thing; and then spent the next ten minutes getting Cynder to stop pouting by telling her funny stories and asking for her opinion about different things.

The food was delicious; Cynder was not convinced that she liked lobster but it was certainly a very impressive freaky looking animal when served on a platter. Imperia attempted to explain that the idea was to crack the shell of the lobster and then peel it off to get at the meat inside. Cynder tried it that way a few times to humour her; but eventually decided to just crunch through the shell and eat the whole thing. For some reason Imperia found that hilarious; but Cynder's mouth was tough and with a bit of chewing she was able to make it work.

The entire rest of the meal she spent picking shards of lobster shell out from between her teeth. The meat was nice and the sauce was fantastic; but the effort it required was rather unreasonable. She swore to Imperia that she would never eat the most expensive thing on any menu ever again, which the silver dragoness reluctantly accepted.

Imperia complained a lot about being forced to design heating magic for the entire city's water supply; although it was clear that she wasn't really upset about having to do it. That line of conversation brought her to talking about the moles who had designed the water pipes and the city as a whole, and how well it had all been built and the attention to detail that the moles had shown.

After lunch the two of them flew together to the top of the Dragon Temple, the highest point in the city.

Cynder had wondered briefly when she'd first seen the building weather she was allowed up here, but had put the thought out of her mind. She was quite pleased to learn that Imperia had also had the same thought.

The wind whipped around them softly; like most mountaintops there was no protection from the elements on the temple roof. Imperia and Cynder didn't mind at all, their magic made the wind respectful to them; it wouldn't buffet them like it did other dragons, instead it parted and played around them. There were dragon statues on the corner, and the roof had a circular flat platform at the top where the two dragonesses touched down.

"How long has it been since you practiced your wind?" Imperia asked.

"Well, does fighting for my life nearly every day for the last week count?"

Imperia laughed. "Oh goodness yes. Learning to use magic on instinct with speed and effectiveness is the best kind of practice. However life is about much more than fighting…"

"I suppose it is." Cynder agreed. "Don't worry. I really enjoy doing your wind meditation thing, and this is a really nice spot to do it. I am good at more than just fighting."

Cynder sat down on the very edge of the rooftop; gathering magic inside her and closing her eyes; feeling it surge and flow through her body.

The silver dragoness sat down next to her and together they breathed out; infusing their breaths with magic and simply watching them; feeling the wind catch the air and absorb it into the flow.

Even with their eyes closed the magic remained bright, visible against the rest of the wind; like putting a drop of ink into a stream of water. It shone like a beacon, letting them feel exactly where it was and where it was going.

They each felt every twist and rush of the wind as it carried the magic out over the city; some parts whirling upwards; and others dropping down and almost seeming to bounce off the buildings below. She followed it for as far as her senses reached before breathing in again and releasing a new breath. Imperia matched her; synchronising their breathing.

After several breaths and a few minutes Cynder spoke, eyes still closed.

"Flare showed me her way of relaxing while you were busy being in jail."

Imperia laughed at the jail comment but smiled softly at the thought of Flare. "I'm glad about that. She made you dance on leaves?"

"Yes. And crush some of them too. They go crunch."

"Clearly I'm not the only one who thinks you need to relax more." Imperia teased.

Cynder opened her eyes lazily, turning to Imperia. "I relax plenty. Besides too much relaxation makes you let down your guard."

She wrapped her tail around Imperia's waist and knocked her off the roof.

The silver dragoness yelped as she was suddenly pushed forwards, the flat platform vanishing beneath her paws to be replaced by smooth sloping tiles. Her balance was already too far gone and she began to tumble only to catch herself with wind magic right before her shoulder hit the roof.

"Cynder! That was mean!"

"Oh come on I knew you could catch yourself. Besides we've both done it to each other before. You should have been ready for it."

"Yes, but I only do it to you because I wanted to test your reflexes! You don't need to test mine, I'm me. I know I have quick reactions."

Cynder laughed. "Not quick enough to stay on the roof. You looked very silly there for a moment."

Imperia walked back up the sloping surface as easily as she would a flat floor. "I never look silly. Even when I fall I'm graceful about it."

"You keep telling yourself that."

"Thankyou, I will." Imperia huffed playfully. "And you know it's true."

"It was a very graceful way to fall off a roof." Cynder agreed. "But that doesn't mean I won't laugh."

"Speaking of grace how is your dancing coming along? I've had nobody to dance with because I was in a cell."

"Well I could have danced with Spyro; but I doubt I'd have been able to teach him the basics."

"You wouldn't have needed to. I've been teaching Spyro how to dance as well."

"Is there anyone you haven't danced with?" Cynder asked, rolling her eyes.

"Not really. It's honestly no exaggeration to say I've danced with the whole city."

Cynder looked at her with disbelief. "I was joking… Are you joking?"

"Not really. I've lived here for sixty years, everyone knows me. There are two hundred and thirty something dragons in the city, six hundred and eighty nine moles, they keep a constant population count, and about eighty permanent citizens from cheetah and wolf tribes. It's not so hard to speak to everyone in the city at least once."

"It's no wonder you won when the public got to vote then."

Imperia shrugged slightly. "Well you know I do my part to help out everyone. I've been teaching here for several decades too. I teach dragon and mole classes both; everyone knows me."

"So is there anyone at all you haven't danced with?"

"Cyril. That's about it."

"Poor Cyril."

"I've offered. He declined."

"Rude Cyril."

"Mmhmm, I thought so too. You should dance with Spyro when we rescue him, you might be surprised at how good he is."

"I'll put it high on my list of things to do. Rescue Spyro, then dance with Spyro. Then sleep in until midday."

"Hey that sounds like my priority list. Have you been copying?" Imperia poked her tongue out.

"No, and get your sticky nose out of the dancing part of the rescue mission. You've already proven you can't be trusted not to give Spyro random kisses."

"He's not the only one I'd give random kisses to." Imperia muttered to herself before returning to her normal speaking volume. "Anyway no date of mine would be complete without a bit of dancing; so shall we?"

"We've danced a million times; it's not a date thing. Also this isn't a date."

Imperia giggled and bowed to Cynder before rearing up and offering her paws. "Well as long as we get to dance I'm happy."

Cynder copied the motion; clasping Imperia's left paw in her right and placing the other just below her wing. If she had been standing alone she would have struggled to keep her balance. Standing on two legs was far from the easiest position for a typically quadrupedal dragon to hold on their own; but with a partner for support it felt much more natural.

"Right, side, pause, left, side, pause." Imperia hummed for them as they started to step; Cynder moving in time to Imperia's voice.

Her tail swished behind her as they moved, a simple waltz, although it had certainly taken Cynder a long while to get familiar with the graceful movements and stop tripping over her own tail.

"Right, side, pause and turn, left…" Imperia's voice became singsong as they continued, making a wordless rhythm, a background music for them to dance to.

"Spin me." Cynder asked as they continued.

Imperia did so, her paw bringing Cynder out to the side and allowing her to twirl before resuming the dance. After a few minutes they swapped and Cynder spun Imperia.

They danced back and forth for a long while on top of the roof; losing track of time. Eventually they stopped, both panting slightly and sitting down to watch the city. The sun was starting to drop in the sky, they'd been dancing for hours.

"Can we sleep up here?" Cynder asked.

"Sure. It would get cold though."

"Dang… This would be such a pretty place to sleep."

"We can give it a try. I'll keep you warm."

Cynder laughed. "No, being cold is where I draw the line. We can stay up here for a little while longer at least. And when we get dinner you get me something other than lobster."

"Deal."

This chapter was really fun to write; but at the same time felt like it was missing something. I eventually realized that the reason I wasn't quite happy with it was that this chapter is the wind down of tension from the previous ones; this chapter is the emotional wrap up from the previous ones. Stories wind up and down, the tension rising and falling and slowly building across arcs of the plot.

This is the calm before the final storm.

On an unrelated note one of the things I've done to procrastinate on writing over the past few weeks is something that I very much want to share with you all: Avatar, the Last Airbender.

I hadn't watched the show before, much to the horror of most of my friends; but now that I have watched it I'm very glad I did. I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who hasn't seen it. Avatar The Last Airbender is a fantastic show which you should absolutely go and watch, I hope you'll very much enjoy it if you do!

(PS I also reccomend checking out the song The Hour of Twilight by Zephysonas; it's a really nice piece of music)

Thanks as ever for reading, reviews are always appreciated!

-4Dragons