Chapter 14: Tense

Taps echoed through the cave from the sound of claws hitting the stone. Seraph paced himself circling the centre of the chamber. After his group suffered significant injury from the remnant attack earlier made the experience stick to his thoughts as an apprehensive frown painted across his snout.

The raging conclusion of the situation did not feel good. The wounded still have received no crystal treatment. No gems were in sight, not even any mana crystals forcing the group to rely on their own reserves and the natural recovery of energy. Often in the war Seraph and any with him had to endure moments like this but that would usually supplement with a crystal, but no such luck this time.

Seraph trotted over to the wounded, making up at least half of his group. Xavir being one of the worst affected laid with his back against the cavern wall, taking the weight off his hind legs to an extent. Seraph cringed under his breath to observe the massive gashes tearing down his right flank.

Blood dripped down his flank as another dragon held his paws against the deeper cuts doing his best to pressure the wound to reduce the loss as he laid to his side a small pool of his own draconic blood.

The silver wind dragon supporting him had borrowed a bandage from a mole and steadily wrapped it around his body to cover one gash to reduce the leaks. This all superseded all the minor cuts and bruises covering his body, his scales turned blotchy black on his arms and upper chest.

His head dropped, staring at the floor between his tail and hinds. Seraph could make out his quiet whimpering. He placed his right paw on the young dragons shoulder joint, "Xavir? Can you hear me?"

The black dragon struggled to raise his head, barely interpreting what he said, but forced a weak nod and whispered "Seraph…."

"How are you feeling?

"Cold sir. Are we… going to make it?" asked Xavir, almost as if he was pleading with the poison dragon.

"Hang in there Xavir, we will get out of here and get you home," Seraph reassured trying his best to instil hope into the young dragon. Xavir slowly lifted his head up to look upon the poison dragon.

"I… hope so," quietly uttered by the young dragon but his look quickly turned to one of worry, his eyes narrowed and his lips perked downwards "Isn't the war meant to be over? Why did those creatures… just attack?"

The question struck Seraph deep in a way he didn't know an answer immediately. Realising the young dragon's position of never fighting in the war to receive training at the guard academy. He was only a trainee and quickly thrust out into the force in the hope he would gain valuable experience. Xavir's head dropped again, finding it difficult to stay awake and wheezed under his breath.

"I don't know Xavir… the war is over but… these creatures seem stuck in their ways, refusing to disappear…" Seraph explained appealing to justify their move although in the back of his mind he had a doubt himself. They were out here to protect the trade route through the forest between Aquarius village and Warfang. Any simple raiding criminals dealt with minor issue, yet these intensified attacks from the remnant in the last couple of days made it very difficult.

Seraph could understand the line of questioning from the young shadow dragon. After surviving the dark wars, they wanted nothing more than to enjoy the life of peace they wanted but now stuck in a cave fearing for their lives.

"Here Xavir" Seraph channelled his mana within him and a few green sparks radiated through his limb and passing into his paw and through Xavir's shoulder. The young dragon tensed up, his head raised again and his eyes widened with a grunt of surprise, feeling the mana flow into him, empowering him.

Seraph after a couple of seconds cut himself off and took his paw away from Xavir, having bestowed a negligible amount of his own mana to the young drake. Xavir inhaled a few breaths after his body reacted to the transfusion "That should help you maintain your strength until we get out of here".

Xavir leaned back against the cavern wall and breathed a sigh of relief "Thank you Seraph… that feels better".

"Get some rest, Xavir. Save your strength. It's looking like we're stuck here for a while," suggested the basil dragon.

Xavir looked at Seraph giving him a hopeful smile bringing that same smile onto him and nodded expressing his thanks to the knight. He shuffled his back with his shoulders against the wall, making himself more comfortable.

The misty coloured ice dragon tending to his wounds lifted onto his paws finished with the bandaging and turned his attention to Seraph urging him to step away from Xavir to talk more and cautioned Seraph "I've done what I can to stop the bleeding for now but if we don't get him so gem treatment it's only a matter of time before he gets worse. Those lacerations are deep and he could be at risk of infection".

"I know. I hope that extra mana will ease him and rely on his natural healing for a while. The unfortunate truth is there have been no sign of crystals not even mana in this cave or the surrounding area," conceded Seraph as he folded in his wings and felt tense; frustrated in their plight.

"Make sure not to use too much of your own mana either, sir. Ancestor knows when we may need it again since having to rely on our own reserves," advised the misty dragon. He turned away, heading over to the rest of the wounded to tend to leaving Seraph in the centre of the chamber.

He heaved a huge breath, feeling hopeless of the situation. The very place that was offering them sanctuary is slowly bleeding them dry the longer they remain and with sunset fast approaching it was dangerous to leave even if the situation outside had changed.

Responding to such a situation, Seraph walked over to the entrance. Dargus hugged the wall of the cavern entrance, taking watch since he brought down the wall of earth erected earlier to conserve his energy. His glaring stare focused on the tree line beyond the clearing, watching for any hint of moment.

Seraph came up alongside him, sticking to the shadow of the entrance to scan the surroundings "Any sign of them Dargus?"

"Hmm…. not yet…" answered the green drake, keeping his sight focused on the tree lines "After dropping the wall I expected them to test us but… nothing. They know we are in here and with our wounded they could overwhelm us… so I don't know why they haven't attacked".

Seraph for a second wanted to breathe a sigh of relief on hearing that news. Allow it to wash over and afford him a moment to relax, knowing if they relaxed it would be the best time to attack. He agreed with Dargus's conclusion; Why have they not even attempted to test their broken strength?

"They are no doubt playing it cautious, maybe they think we're not as weakened as we are and waiting us out… That or they don't want to waste strength if we raise up the barrier again," chattered Seraph trying to draw up a conclusion to any possibility of the remnants delay.

"Well, if that's true they aren't wrong. I have enough mana to maintain the barrier for a while if I need to throw it up again," Dargus informed.

"I'm hoping it won't come to that for now this is the safest place for us but at the same time we cannot stay in here for too much longer," Seraph resolved. His thoughts juggling up the deduction if they don't decide soon and idle for too long the severe wounded could be at risk.

"What you thinking? If we are going to make a move, it must be before sunset. It will be too dangerous at dark to move the wounded… we would be more vulnerable to attack," Dargus stated to the lime coloured drake.

Seraph looked downward and tapped a claw against the stone floor, pondering what they could do. It was a troublesome situation riding on his shoulders. Decisions will affect how this can conclude and their lives and he undertook that pressure, keeping a cool head as he debated in his mind.

Dargus was right. If they moved the wounded now, they could get caught out again but have a chance at escaping or wait it out and increase the risk of getting attacked. Neither was a pleasant situation for him. But one thing he was certain while they covered this entrance this would be the only way they could get in considering they haven't attempted to burrow underneath them.

"We will wait for a while longer. See if they make a move before we do. But there may come a time we send someone to gather some crystals for us. We will need the boost if we try to force our way through them. Or maybe…" The poison knight concluded, halting his collection of thoughts midway.

"If I may sir, maybe it be better to send someone back to Warfang and bring help. We are battle ineffective at this point," Dargus took his eyes away from the tree line to look at the limed drake making his suggestion.

"It's possible… I had considered that, but that could take time we don't have. Either way, we will wait it out a while longer before we make a move. Dargus we may have to seal the cave again. Should you need more mana, don't hesitate!"

"I know sir, I'm fine. I'm ready when I'm needed," acknowledge Dargus. Nodding and turning back to watch the tree line again. Seraph dropped back, giving the green drake space, checking back on the rest of the group.


#


Tegrol heaved in frustration, leaning over his bench, peering into the blackness of the lifeless mana crystals. Settled at his station just outside the temple entrance, samples of the blast sites over the city still produced no tickle of energy void of its mystical properties. Taping a claw against the glass surface of the small gems.

Brimming cracks into the gem, something he assumed was impossible, usually the gems would just break apart into smaller gems, not crack into pieces. His head teemed with questions; What is this? Has what's been happening drained these crystals of their power? What caused all this? What kind of reaction triggered the death of this crystal? Questions he couldn't puzzle an answer together.

"Tegrol! How are you getting on? Any luck?" Called a voice. Tegrol whipped his head, seeing Delacon come up to his side, taking a place around the bench.

"No. I can't make heads or tails of what I see in front of me," Tegrol pondered, maintaining his stare into the void of the blackness "In all my years of researching and investigating the different crystals I've seen nothing like this".

He grasped a black gem in his paw and held it up to their eye level, looking deep into the glass. No energy existing with felt very inquisitive to the researcher "It's like… it has been drained of its mana… not even a tiny lick of energy remains in these crystals; just drained".

Delacon sat on his hinds contemplating Tegrol's words. He found it impossible to believe such statements about their life force, the gifts bestowed by from the ancestors "Has this ever occurred in our history?"

"No! Our recorded history of the dragon race has not encountered… an anomaly like this before even in the golden era of the former dark master's youth. There are no answers to the questions right now and… I'm not sure how to even go about finding these answers…" explained Tegrol, but he sounded helpless unable to decide on a course of action "Only when Volteer returns that we can band together and investigate that mysterious crystal they young ones discovered".

"That crystal must hold a clue to all of this. It's pretty odd we find it and then a remnant attack?" asked Delacon. The fire drake felt restless, unable to keep his body still with his tail bouncing on the spot and his claws scraping against the cobble. He gritted his teeth unsure of what he can do to help and it annoyed him same as many other dragons.

"I'm hopeful it will. Like the earth guardian explained, it is not a crystal I have ever laid eyes on in my life. There is a lot of mystery to it," Tegrol explained. His sense of curiosity spurned up at the mention of that mysterious crystal found embedded in a green crystal. Such a design never seen within the dragon race "At the same time though Malefor created a lot of new gems of different designs during the war like those dark gems that drained mana from nearby dragons… it's possible this crystal could also be one he designed before his defeat and if so, did the grublins plant it. But we will only find out when we inspect it".

The possibilities influenced a jolt of interest from Delacon. A shiver waved through his body, shaking his scales at the thought this could be another dangerous crystal they were dealing with. The events of today unsettled a lot of dragons and most of the city were unaware of what had transpired. Delacon felt uncomfortable with keeping it quiet outside of the guard and certain individuals.

But he understood that logic. Coming to terms with the idea, the last thing would be to unsettle all of its inhabitants with one small incursion. Although he didn't like it, his duty bound him as a guard of the city to carry out the instructions of the council.


#


"Nothing! Still no sign of that damn orc, I'm getting fed up of this endless searching!" Flame complained. He slouched in his walk as if he had a limp with an annoyed look on his jaw, curling his lips, bored with the endless walking around the streets of the city.

"Will you stop moaning like a hatchling and take this seriously, Flame? It's all you have done since we went on this search," retorted Krytus, not far behind him.

"Shut up, Krytus! No one asked you to speak," Flame growled, fed up of the earth apprentice glaring back at him. Krytus became amused he easily got under the fire dragons' scales and smirked.

"Is it that easy for you to lose your scales, Flame? Such a fiery head as always," He taunted back, teasing at Flame's conflicting emotions of being bored and getting annoyed.

"Will you two cut it out! I swear your like a pair of snippy hatchlings," snapped Frost. The ice dragoness rolled her eyes, showing her own irritation at the bickering drakes "Sometimes I wonder how Phalera puts up with you two".

Cynder walking nearby looked between the two drakes exchanging glares from the two crept up beside Frost and whispered "Do they always bicker like this?"

"Ugh… I don't know what's with them two they are always at each other," Frost answered complaining of the attitude of the two males "I feel sorry for Phalera. She has to deal with this all the time in their training sessions with the guardians. They just don't get along."

Cynder looked between the two males again, making faces at each other. She couldn't recall the last time she saw Flame wound up like this, especially with Krytus around. From what she could tell, it didn't look like bullying off one of them; they both just didn't get along. Something not surprising at all to the black dragoness considering they are both confident, proud dragons.

She huffed amused by the antics looking away muttering under her breath "hmm… Boys!"

Thinking it through now, she wondered if Spyro would get in on the antics too, if he was in this position instead. A fighting thought told her he might react too. Considering they all were still growing and only adolescents on the verge of becoming young adults beginning their cycles of the adult stage but ultimately, she breathed in relief knowing he had much better control of his emotions compared to these hot heads they consider friends.

The group pressed on covering a few more streets, thankfully for the females it quietened down from the male's antics. More streets empty as sunset was underway, blanketing the mixture of colours over the city. It wouldn't be long before nightfall and by then they will need to have reported back.

Pyrus had expressed he wants no young dragons in the streets tonight after today's attack would be a perfect opportunity for any remnant still within the city if there was any. While she felt to an extent being treated like a hatchling under such notion considering what she and Spyro had gone through but she buried her pride away and complied.

Exiting out of the street into the eastern plaza a couple of buildings from the wall, they regrouped in the centre to find Valera and Oculus waiting for them. The snowy white coloured dragoness welcomed them, "Glad to see your back safe. Any luck on your end?"

"I'm afraid not, we searched most of the eastern parts but still no sign of any remnant," apologised Frost.

"Same for us. The north-east section was nothing, too. Either that orc is superb at hiding or has fled the city and neither is too good of an outcome for us," concluded Oculus. A gleam of disappointment shadowed his face.

Krytus felt confused by the notion and questioned, "Why wouldn't that be great if it has left the city? One less thing to worry about, right?"

"Because it has escaped while if it has only retreated out of fear that is good," Valera replied, lifting a paw and motioning as she explained to the young dragons "However more likely it has retreated to alert the remnant if they are truly more organised then we thought".

"Great! That's all we need. More remnant coming to hurt us," Krytus fumed. Shrugging his wings up turning away despite the slight sarcasm read from his voice from the others.

"Don't worry yourself, Krytus. If they come again Spyro, Cynder and I will take them down again," boasted Flame showing off a gloating grin at the green dragon "You just hide back away in the temple as usual."

Krytus opened his eyes almost retaliating with a quiet growl and a just noticeable glare. He smiled "Oh… well from what I heard Cynder did all the work taking on a few orcs and grublins alone and protect Spyro at the same time while you were getting beaten around by just an orc and little grublin".

"What was that!" Flame questioned as Krytus got the reaction he hoped for as Flame spun around his eyes wide and gritted his teeth. He stomped up to the green dragon, his snout coming right up to his getting in his face "At least I was there to help my friends. Where was you? Stuck in the temple hiding under Terrador as usual!"

"I listen to my mentor and actually wish to learn under him," Krytus growled, not appreciating his fire counterparts display "Unlike you who doesn't even have a mentor and just run around spouting little fires everywhere thinking you're better than everyone."

"HA! Look who's talking… all you do is stick your nose up at everyone," retorted Flame.

"Tell you what then Flamey," Krytus ridiculed, nicknaming the fire dragon "I'd give you one now but we have a job to do so next time we're training at the temple. How about a spar see if you can put your fire where you're hissing tongue is."

Flame laughed mockingly, exclaiming a huge boasting of confidence against his earth counterpart, "Gladly you rock slab. I'll enjoy putting you in your place."

The two males stared into each other eyes, gritting teeth and growling at the other. Frost was less than impressed, shaking her head in a paw at the display of the two males. Oculus looked bored with the display with his eye's half closed while Cynder and Valera were both entertained somewhat. They looked at each other simultaneously, shrugging their shoulders with amused grins

Flame turned back to look at the dragonesses "Hey Cynder you want to get in on this after I've beaten him… maybe some easy target practise."

The question surprised Cynder. Questioning why was she being brought into this as if she had points to prove. Unable to recall if she had received such a request before during her time in the city. Valera stepped forward beside the smaller black dragoness and raised a paw, pointing and making circles.

"Well boys; as tempting as it is for me to sit and watch. let's not involve the ladies in this. Besides, I'm certain what's actually… being measured here might put Cynder at a disadvantage… then again maybe not" Valera teased putting the two males down "I'm pretty confident in saying if you two were in an arena against her. Cynder would have you both picking your teeth off the floor".

The statement left Cynder speechless as Frost and Oculus both 'oooooooohhhh' in sync as the two bickering males looked away feeling a little sheepish, Flame feeling embarrassed having involved the black dragoness at all.

"Had you said that about any other dragoness… I'd have laughed at you," said Krytus trying to salvage what dignity he could from the severe burn he was feeling from the slight older dragoness statement.

"Well… thanks, Valera," Cynder expressed feeling complimented by the dragoness's declaration.

"My pleasure Cynder. Anyway, we better report back to Pyrus now before it gets dark. Captain's orders!" The wind dragoness ordered with all present nodding. They trotted away from the plaza, heading in the temple's direction as sunset neared its end to finish tone of the liveliest of days Warfang has seen in a long time.

And there we have; glad I got this one out sooner. I decided to cut it here and save some more content for the next chapter. Not a nice move now I know but you'll probably thank me later. Besides what I leave out gets put in and I want to pace it out a bit properly so no chapters get overloaded or underloaded.

So, I decided to include Krytus and give him some more face time. Felt I was ignoring him a bit lately with only little cameos and well I spy opportunity in the ranks of the guardians and their apprentices as you may see. You may be questioning wow that outburst came out of nowhere. Well situations change especially who you're with so…it happens. Especially two confident proud dragons very similar like Flame and Krytus.

Anyway, thanks for your support as always and now onto some review replies.

Void Reader: Well a lot of theories you have there with the crystals. I look forward to you reading and unravelling this mystery with the mana crystals and I hope it's to your satisfaction.

Az0tac: Thanks for the positivity. I'm glad the general mood of the city is showing and hopefully your seeing more of that here in this chapter. I do rather enjoy my spy x Cyn moments when they come. Of course, it pains me that can't be all that inhabits the chapters or well not much of an adventure then unfortunately as much as I would like it. Glad to see your enjoying and I hope you enjoy more

RioloverBardenBellaforlife: Well to say I gave you vibes of Riverstyxx is extremely surprising and you flatter me especially with Riverstyxx being my idol, inspiration and undisputed best author I've had the pleasure of reading Spyro and Cynder content. Yes, I thought Spyros' moment of anger would catch your eye and enjoy a lot. Hmm was that it though for it…. we shall see. I know that their chemistry is special to you so of course that takes a lot of my attention.

DiabloPProcento: Glad you are enjoying my content, makes very happy to see people enjoy the content I put out. It's important to me and is what pushes me to be the best I can with producing content of my favourite characters and games and I hope you enjoy further.

Anyway, on a final note now, in this time now the world is experiencing a crisis with the Covid-19/coronavirus pandemic. We live in a scary time and don't know what the future holds right now. To all my readers please keep yourselves safe and all the best during this crisis and hopefully I will be here to continue my content hopefully at a faster pace.

Stay safe all and I will see you next chapter.