Chapter 31: A Second Chance
"Alright, Malefor, come on." One of the guards opened up the cell door for him and they yanked him out, he walked for some time through the dreary prison walls, as he walked by, a cheetah grabbed it's prison bars and growled. Once they had exited that room, the guards released Malefor and let him exit, when he left, he saw Spyro and Cynder waiting for him with a large Red Dragon.
"Spyro! Cynder! It's good to see your faces again." He smiled and walked up to them.
"You can thank Blaze for that." Spyro glanced at Blaze.
"Well, Blaze, I thank you." Malefor bowed in gratitude.
"I'm aware of your history, Malefor, I know of your...tragedy."
"Well, that is good to hear, I'm just grateful I get to see my son again." Malefor looked down at Spyro.
"Speaking of which, we had a question to ask you, Spyro used Shadow to protect you, why is that? He's never been able to do that before. Not even I knew he could do that." Cynder got to the point.
"Yeah, we were hoping you could explain that." Spyro added on as Malefor thought about it for a moment.
"It is likely that your genealogy might have something to do with it...Synthia was a Shadow Dragoness, it is possible that you inherited this power from her...but I can't be sure, you might be able to master the other Secondary Elements, but even then, I never could..." The larger Purple Drake suggested as Blaze walked up to him.
"Either way, now we have to focus on getting you a roof under your head, Spyro and Cynder live in the Dragon Temple, but I can find you a place, help out with your bills and whatnot considering I'm fairly wealthy due to being on the High Council." Blaze revealed to Malefor and he raised an eyebrow.
"Well...it's good to know not all my family has left me." Malefor smiled at Spyro as Cynder coiled her tail around his. "I'm also proud of you, Cynder, for looking after Spyro for me." Cynder blushed in embarrassment and nuzzled Spyro.
"I was just doing my job." She responded and Blaze lead Malefor away from them and towards the house Blaze had provided him, as the two Dragons watched, Cynder smiled at Spyro.
"Well, this is going to screw over my public profile." Spyro sighed and the Dragoness giggled.
"You shouldn't worry about what other people think about you, what matters is you did the right thing. We don't always get rewards for it, though." Cynder replied.
"When did you start spouting wisdom?" Spyro asked her and she smirked.
"I took some notes." She uncoiled her tail and slid it under Spyro's chin in a seductive manner, but naturally, the Purple Dragon was oblivious to it's nature. Spyro himself took a chivalrous step and grabbed her front paws and raised her up and they were almost in a slow dance position as they looked at each other.
"I don't want to come off as weird, but I've been waiting to do this with you since we arrived in Warfang." Spyro commented to Cynder, who laughed a little.
"Oh Spyro, you certainly are a gentleman, and to think that it was like yesterday we hated each other." She responded and they leaned closer for a kiss, but they were forced to break off when the crowd surrounding them started throwing things at Spyro and Cynder.
"Get a room!" They parted as Spyro growled and grasped Cynder's arm, dragging her away from the crowd and towards the Dragon Temple.
"Spyro, calm down." Cynder could feel the fury in his grip as they stopped at the top of the stairs leading to the Temple.
"I'm sorry you had to be a part of that, Cyn." Spyro apologized to her as they grasped paws.
"It's okay, just remember what I told you: don't worry about what other people think of you...now if you don't mind, I'd like to continue somewhere more private." She replied in a seductive tone, one that Spyro could identify that time.
"Whatever you wish, my dear." He smiled as they kissed briefly and then entered the Temple to head towards their quarters.
Many Years Ago...
"Again, this time, concentrate more." Malefor instructed Synthia as she breathed heavily.
"I didn't think this would be so hard." She panted as the Purple Drake walked up behind her.
"Well, you wanted to learn how to use Magic, I told you, it's not easy to master, I've spent years perfecting my craft, I didn't get good overnight." He replied. "Now again, and this time, concentrate." Synthia nodded and closed her eyes, extending her paw outwards, for a moment, nothing happened...until a weaker purple hue formed around her paw, and she weakly lifted a small pile of rocks, once Synthia realized what she was doing, she gasped giddily and dropped the rocks.
"I did it! You saw that, right!?" She asked him as Malefor smiled and walked up to her, grasping her paws as she skipped up to him.
"Yes, I saw it, you did really good considering it was your first time." Malefor complimented as Synthia looked up at his eyes.
"I learned from the best." Her comment made Malefor blush in embarrassment, he wasn't really used to such compliments.
"Well, I...thank you. You really mean it?" The Purple Dragon asked Synthia, who nodded in response.
"Definitely." She leaned against him. "Besides, I intend to follow through: I teach you to better master your elements, you teach me about Magic, plain and simple." Synthia pulled away and grabbed her bag, gesturing to the time.
"Well, I suppose it is late. That'll be all for today, Synthia." Malefor agreed with her silent gesture and grabbed his own bag. Walking with her away from the field they had set up for practice, and towards the Temple where they resided. On the way, they caught sight of Ignitus and a Fire Dragoness walk up to them.
"Hey Malefor, Synthia." Ignitus greeted them as they looked over at the Dragoness.
"Hello Ignitus, whose the lady?" Synthia asked.
"Oh right! This, is Incendia. Incendia, these are my friends I've told you about: Malefor and Synthia, she arrived last night after what happened at the market." Ignitus introduced them to Incendia, who inspected their forms.
"So, you're the Dragons Ignitus is always talking about. I must say he's really accurate with his descriptions." She commented.
"What kinds of stuff did he say about us?" Malefor asked Incendia.
"Well, he said that you were a shy but caring Dragon who dislikes violence. As for Synthia, he describes you as a friendly and eager Dragoness who likes those close to her and helps others in need." Incendia explained and nuzzled Ignitus, causing him to blush.
"Incendia!" He snapped, causing Synthia to giggle.
"You two seem good together. I think I'm going to like her." She said the last part to Malefor and they coiled their tails together.
"Well, I'm just giving Incendia a tour of the Temple, after that, I'll introduce her to Hazan and request if she can stay with me. Considering it's been getting more difficult to talk with each other, our families have been on the brink of war for awhile now. But I reckon those Apes will force them to unite." Ignitus explained to them.
"Then don't let us keep you two, by all means, enjoy our Temple." Malefor allowed them to move along and kept going with Synthia through the courtyard. "Do you mind if we take a walk? I love this time of day." Malefor asked his lover, and she accepted.
"How can I refuse, my love?" Synthia replied as they walked throughout the courtyard. "So, how is the patient today?" She asked Malefor in regards to Froststorm.
"Well...I'm actually not sure, I haven't gone to see him yet." He replied as they looked out at the sunset. "Nature is so beautiful." He sighed and glanced at two birds nestling together in their nest on a tree. They nuzzled one another like Malefor and Synthia did, the Purple Drake smiled and looked at Synthia, grateful for the life he had with her and Hazan, and Ignitus, and all of his friends. "I never realized how lucky I've had it." His sudden statement drawing Synthia's attention.
"What do you mean?" She inquired as his wings folded outwards.
"I mean that I could've been miserable growing up, I could've had a family who hated me and wanted me dead, I could've been born into a impoverished underclass. But instead, I grew up here, where I could be safe and welcome. My parents dying from the Apes was hard to deal with, yes...but I still found allies, a father-figure...and someone for me to lean my shoulder on to cry." He looked down at Synthia. "Someone special." She looked up at him as they kissed for a moment, and then parted, with Malefor draping his wing over her back.
"I love you, Synthia."
"I love you too, Malefor." The two Dragons remained for some time until night was starting to show. "We should head back inside now, I think." Synthia suggested, but Malefor remained, staring at the night sky.
"I've always been fascinated by the wonders of the Cosmos..." He stared in awe while Synthia remained.
"What's so wondrous about it?" She asked.
"Just the fact that we're so microscopic in such a diverse Universe, in a way, we barely matter...that gives me feelings of dread and wonder. Knowing someone could be watching us, too...is also, kinda unnerving, and I've been getting some of those vibes from Froststorm lately." Malefor explained as he felt a small pang in his neck, he quickly struck the source, and saw a small splattered bug. "Great, Mosquitoes. Now we can go." He reluctantly left with Synthia and returned to his quarters to rest with her. As they entered his quarters to rest, Malefor seem distressed, but it didn't take long for Synthia to notice.
"Malefor, is something wrong?" She asked in concern.
"It's nothing...but I can't help but feel like something's off..." He looked out his window as Synthia walked up behind him.
"I think you're getting a little too paranoid, if it's about Froststorm, then I think you should go and see him tomorrow. If that isn't the case, I'm sure it'll blow over." Synthia responded as Malefor looked over at her, she then wrapped her arms around him. "Now come and snuggle with me, you big purple loaf!" She smirked at the Purple Drake, who smiled in response to her enthusiasm.
"Well, when you put it like that..." Malefor suddenly scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bed, once there, he set her down gently and walked around to lay next to her. Once he was settled, Synthia made another move to wrap her arms around his upper torso, Malefor, in turn, grabbed her waist and pulled her in closer.
"Goodnight, my love." He kissed her forehead and waited for her to fall asleep. But he himself didn't sleep, he stared out the window past Synthia's resting form, he glanced at the stars, he still felt like something was wrong, but he eventually figured he'd listen to his lover, and he fell asleep alongside her.
Hey people, apologies for the shorter chapter, but I kinda ran out of ideas with this one, but I've got a solid vision going forth, so until then, you'll have to make due with this short as hell chapter, anyways...peace.