Review Response:

To: BunnyBlues

"Peace was never an option" -Magneto

Originally posted: 09/06/2019

Edited for quality of life edits on: 12/21/2019

Chapter 3: Preparations made

The journey back to Warfang was the hardest part of their adventure, and both of them knew it. Returning back to the dragon city was a return to the very thing that they sought after to escape, however, it would only be temporary. They would eventually get another opportunity to go exploring the world, even if that came in two weeks or two months. It was nighttime when they arrived, and they were welcomed with open arms as usual, not only by the city guard but the citizenry still awake too. The fame that came from saving the world wasn't wearing off, and it wasn't going to anytime soon.

Rather than flying directly to the temple, the dragons decided to take a long way and walk through the various backstreets. It was a perfect atmosphere for it too. The streets that they walked were lit by hanging lanterns whose flames danced around inside them, casting light and shadow in random directions. Against the stonework and decorative vines hanging on the side of the walls that adorn the path they walked, it gave off a rustic a romantic vibe. As if by nature, both dragons walked side by side, almost right up against one another, wearing small smiles on their faces as they walked. A small plaza opened up before them.

The plaza, while being less likely to be visited by passersby, it was nevertheless maintained like it was the primer destination of the city. From the wrought-iron lantern post that lit up, the area hung flower baskets that grew flowers that gave off warm shades of red and orange. Even the scent that the flowers gave off was very present. The pavement that they walked on was well maintained and appeared to be regularly washed, the center of which stood an ornate fountain spewing gallons of water out of the spouts and down into the basins. Spyro smirked as a playful thought, ran through his mind.

"ah-ah, ahchoo!" Tried as he may, he couldn't fake a sneeze to save his life, but what it did do was allowed him to freeze the water in the fountain with his ice breath. The fountain once spraying water had now completely stopped. Spyro smiled at his work while Cynder rolled her eyes in the 'Oh you' fashion. The frozen water suspended in the air gave her an idea. Like Spyro had faked sneezed as his excuse to freeze the water, she would do something along similar lines. Readying her wind breath, she loudly fake coughed, letting out a sudden burst of air that shattered the suspended ice, sending it skyward and letting it fall down back to the earth.

Although it was for a few brief moments, it was snowing in late summer. The snow glistening as the lanterns illuminated the ice crystals. Both Spyro and Cynder giggled at this; their playful antics together created something genuinely romantic. With the rustic lighting around them, the night sky full of stars above then, and the snow they had created falling down on them, they both of them kissed each other and held there for what seemed like ages. And with fewer dragons out roaming the streets coupled with the less-trafficked backstreet they were on, they did not have to worry about anyone dropping by and ruining the moment. Their lips parted with both of them gasping for air. Any longer and they might have suffocated.

"You know what? I'm glad that I fell for you, Spyro." Cynder said with satisfaction in her voice. Her heart was racing, and her mind filled with excitement. "I'm not sure than any other dragon would have done that."

"You know that I treat you like royalty." He said, clumsily back. While Spyro had gotten better with talking to her, he still tripped over his own feet sometimes.

A particular quip came to Cynder's mind that she could use to poke fun at him, but that would ruin the moment that they had between the two rather quickly. Another reply quickly formulated and was a little better for the moment than what she had initially planned. "I appreciate your continued efforts, my brave little knight." She said with a high degree of eloquence. "Let us be on our way to our destination at hand." The two continued their walk to the temple, the thin layer of the snow they created compressing beneath their feet, making them very distinctive sound as they advanced.

It took about another twenty minutes for them to arrive there, but they finally reached the temple. As per the rules, the doors this late at night were usually sealed shut for security reasons. That didn't stop the two from entering. Cynder melted away into shadow and slipped right underneath the small crack at the base of the door and opened it quietly as to keep the large metal hinges from squeaking as they made their way in. Closing the door behind them in the same manner, they walked silently through the halls of the temple, cautious of their claws clicking against the stone floor and alerting anyone in the temple to their intrusion; Although it would be unlikely for the guardians to even hear them over their loud snoring. Thankfully they both made it to their room without any trouble or being noticed.

The room was somewhat bland in appearance, with minimal furniture. There were the standard chest and drawers for both of them, which they used regularly, a short but wide table surrounded by cushions and some chairs. Other than that, there was another room connected to their main living room. It was a bedroom, with a large cushion used for a bed. Both dragons climbed upon and laid themselves down on the bed and drifted off to sleep, not all that different than how they did the other night at the clifftop on the northern shore.

/\/\/\

Both of them woke up somewhat late in the morning at around the same time. Cynder could see in Spyro's face that once again, he had another nightmare. And like the night previous, she could sense it with their power of fear. She, too, had another dream like him, although it was not one involving the Chronicler but had a very similar outcome: to persuade her not to pursue her mission. Naturally, she was dismissive of the message. She was going to go to wherever this place was even if she got no peace about it. At the same time, both of their stomachs growled in hunger, determining what they were going to do before they even got the time to formulate plans for anything else.

The dragons left their room and made their way to the mess hall. They were both reluctant to start the conversation, but it was Spyro who spoke up to break the ice. "It happened again." He said, his eyes locked on the ground and not changing their position as they walked.

"Oh? Do you want to talk about it to me?" Cynder said in a concerned voice. "If you want some time, then I'll let you decide when it is best for you."

"I'll talk about it. It's not so much that it was vivid, it is that it wasn't. Like, have you ever been dreaming before, and all you can recall is bits and pieces but from different settings? That is how it was for me. It was like Dark Spyro was torturing me throughout the night, but I can only remember bits and pieces of it, all from different perspectives."

"How many times did it shift perspectives?"

"I lost track after twelve."

"Oh, ancestors..." Cynder nuzzled against Spyro to comfort him. Even after that, he was still distraught. "Were they just as realistic as before?"

"Every moment…"

The conversation ended at that moment. Cynder remained close to him, she was unsure what it was even helping him. They walked into the mess hall, where the staff of moles had been working in a kitchen area to provide food to the essential occupants of the temple. At their request, they quickly got to work preparing a slaughtered deer into excellent venison. The smell of the meat searing over a hot fire. After being basted in a mix of sauces and seasoned with a different blend of spices, it was served to both dragons along with a drinking bowl with water. Cynder ate her portion slowly, taking time to enjoy each savory, gamey taste. Spyro hardly ate any of his; he was too mentally troubled to be bothered by his hunger. After giving their thanks to the staff, they made their way back into the interior to the temple. Next thing on their mind would be to get an interpretation of both of their dreams that they had in the previous days.

They sought out Volteer and found him in his study where, funnily enough, he was browsing through a dictionary to presumably find more words to add to his vocabulary. The study was not significant at all, only about the size of the average median income household. "Oh, ho, ho! Well, if it isn't out two little dragons. How might it be of service to you two today? Might it be a lesson in your electric breath, or might it be something else?" Volteer said in his typical chatterbox reply, closing sizable the book in the process.

"Good morning, Volteer. We need a little bit of a dream interpretation session with Spyro. He had a terrible, almost lifelike nightmare the night before last and the one previous. I was hoping that you might have an answer somewhere in a book on one of these shelves." Cynder points one of her wingtips towards one of the many bookshelves in his study

"Hmm, yes, I might have a dream interpretation guidebook here somewhere. Allow me time to find it, and I will certainly give the assistance you need." Volteer began scanning the shelves, looking at the spines for the right name of the book that he was looking for. A frustrated scowl formed over his face as he was unable to find it. He continued adamantly to find it, but with a heavy sigh, he stopped. "I'm sorry, little ones. I seem to have misplaced it somewhere. While I might not be able to help you in interpreting your sleeping visions, Pyra, just like Ignitus, has been gifted with the ability to use the pool of visions. If anything, I would inquire her about such a matter."

The two dragons had not gotten used to Pyra being the new fire guardian, and in some way, hadn't accepted it yet. Ignitus was a father figure in both of their lives that they didn't genuinely have before. Granted, Spyro had his foster parents in the swamp downstream of the old and now destroyed dragon temple, but Flash could only do so much. And for Cynder, she does not know anything about her parents at all, not even a trace of evidence, as if her egg suddenly appeared out of thin air. To them both, his loss was a significant emotional event.

Volteer directed them in the direction of where they might find her, and with that, they left his study. Once again, they made their way to where he had directed them, and they found her exactly where they have been told. Pyra was sitting on the main balcony overlooking the city as a whole. It didn't take long for her to notice the two dragons and turned around quickly to greet them. "Oh, hi there! How are you two doing today?" She said, in a confident and soothing tone. If anything, she was the ray of sunshine on a rainy day.

"Well, we kind of need your help." Said Spyro. "You have the ability to use the pool of visions, do you?"

"Why, yes, I can. Do you need my help with it?"

"Um, yes, actually. I think that both Cynder and I need it."

"Sure, sure. Come with me and well see to it right away." Pyra lifted herself off her haunches and walked back into the temple, Spyro and Cynder following close behind her. That was certainly easy for them. Thankfully, it was quick and to the point.

/\/\/\

The pool of visions was placed in the deepest part of the new temple. It was a very particular design choice that had to do with the significance of the temple as a whole. It was not only the place where the elemental guardians made their residence, but also the center of dragon culture and religious beliefs. Being the center of such an important place gave the pool a significance, on top of what it already had. Spyro, Cynder, and the rest of the guardians were sitting around the pool, the room was dimly lit by magical lanterns on the wall.

"So, which one of you would like to go first?" Pyra asked Spyro and Cynder. They both looked at each other. It did not need words to understand why either one did not want to go first. Cynder wanted Spyro to go first because she cared for him and wanted to get the help that he needed. Spyro wanted Cynder to go first because he was concerned with the warning that she received from the Chronicler. Spyro would not budge, so Cynder stepped up and went first. Like in the dream, she stared down into the pool. They waited there for a bit. The dream was instantaneous, but reality was often disappointing, with it taking a prolonged amount of time for anything to show.

"I'm… seeing something here." Pyra said. "I see an army, a large one. They are marching towards many ships in waiting. Is this what you saw, Cynder?"

She nodded in response. It looked just exactly as she saw it with the Chronicler. The image shifted, this scene was one of the soldiers close up, their physical appearance remained obscured. What they wore and what they were armed with was not. These solders were facing forward as if they were staring back in them. What they could see was that they stood upright on two legs like the cheetahs. They wore an armor that protected their torsos well, as well as covering their legs with excellent protection as well, and the boots they wore on their feet were finely crafted and of sturdy construction. One of them had a spear, the other a one-handed sword with a shield on the other arm, one with massive claymore, and another one with a beefy-looking crossbow. They all focused on the pool in an attempt to bring clarity to the image but failed to the fidelity that they desired. But they got enough clarity to see something that confused them about their anatomy. Was that… wings?

The pool shifted once again, this time showing a different picture. To all who saw it, there was no mistaking that the giant dragon in the picture was none other than Malefor himself. The view before them showed Malefor unleashing a breath of dark aether into an ornate building, with surrounding city alight in flames. All of them knew that something here was different. Malefor never attacked Warfang directly, so why was this being shown before them? It quickly dawned on them that this was not Warfang at all, rather a city of those creatures, and the building that he was destroying was a palace, where the residents would have most certainly been killed in the resulting blast. The picture once again shifted.

This time, it was along a forested trail that was well maintained by either the person living on that piece of land or someone who might have been paid to do the keeping. In the center of the image was that of a pine tree, with one of the creatures standing a distance away, looking intently at the tree as if it had some higher purpose or significance to it. From there, the image faded away, and all the pool showed was the reflections of those who look into it. Cynder stepped back away from the pool and beckoned Spyro to take his turn. Before they began, the other guardians took the time to speak up and voice their opinion on the matter.

"How particular, Cynder," Volteer said, "I am at a loss of words. These creatures, no, the civilization that you have been warned about is on that has evaded my knowledge."

"It isn't like the pool did not give us enough information about them. Had it shown us more, we certainly could have identified them. It's preposterous to think that they could have existed all this time and us not know about them." Cyril shot back at the electric guardian.

"Now, now, Cyril. Consider that they might be a distant civilization that we've yet to contact." Terrador interjected. "For all we know, they might be thousands of miles away."

"How can you be so sure? Ask Cynder if she had received any more information?"

Before Terrador could even ask her, she already was two steps ahead of him. "From the northern coast, I was told it was over a thousand miles away." She said quickly. For Terrador, that was enough validation for his claims and did not pursue it any further, neither did any of the other guardians. "Anyway… Spyro, your turn." Cynder said to cut any chance for the conversation to continue without it being forced and awkward.

"I guess you are right. Here's to getting answers." He began to stare into the pool, reluctant for everyone to see the torture that he had to go through in those dreams. They waited and waited, and still nothing. It was strange, really. Usually, by now, there would have been something to be seen in the pool, yet twenty minutes later, there was still nothing. "I guess it's not working for me," Spyro said in a distraught tone.

/\/\/\

Cynder was not all that happy that the pool of visions had not done anything for Spyro. They continued to try for another thirty minutes, and still nothing. After all of that waiting, they finally called it a day and went about their business. For Cynder, that was preparing for her cross-ocean journey, which would require a massive amount of mana and, therefore, green gems. She had left the city for the wilderness, her search would go deep into a forest area where she would begin her search for them. It was odd, really. Cynder had done her homework, and the gems were supposed to generate where dragons frequented. Oddly, Warfang was not experiencing an infrastructural nightmare from them generating en mass inside the city. If you wanted to find them, you had to go looking for them, and that was sometimes easier said than done. There had been many times before when out gem hunting when she had found gems rather easily and in large grouping too, and there were times where there was none to be found.

For her, it was a somewhat lucky day as, after about a half-hour of flying gracefully through the sky, she found a patch through the trees. Seeing her opportunity, she made a steep dive towards the forest floor. The treetops were approaching fast. Had a dragon with lesser flight experience tried this, they would have certainly crashed through the tree limbs and toward the ground below. This was no problem for Cynder. Drawing her wings close, she rocketed through the treetops and quickly snapped them back open while pulling up out of the dive. Gracefully, she landed on her feet on the ground like it was a careful descent. Being more anatomically inclined towards flight on top of her control of the wind made this seemingly dangerous task for any other dragon easy for her.

On the dark forest floor, the gems illuminated the trees and growing underbrush in vibrant green, red, and even some blue gem clusters. A broad smile quickly formed over her face. This was great! Not only would this provide the mana that she needed for the long-distance journey, but it would also help heal up any stress and strain on her body, as well as give a boost to her magical abilities. She walked up to the blue once first; in her mind, it was a priority as blue gems were as rare as they came. She swung her head around and, with the help of her horns, smashed into gem clusters. It was not a painful process at all. The gems were so brittle that punching with one's paw would be enough to shatter it. Like magic, well, it was magic, the shattered gemstones levitated and shot towards her. When coming into contact with her scales, the gems absorbed into her. As they absorbed, it wasn't something that could be felt right away, preferably something that will have to be experienced. Blue gems did not heal or energize, only empower.

Next was the red gems, which were in closest proximity. Like before, she shattered the gems and felt their effects almost immediately. All of her aches and pains, big or small, were dismissed like they were never there at all. Any pathogenic substance was wicked away; this would be a double-edged sword as these pathogenic substances could be used in conjunction with her venomous powers for an increasingly lethal effect. Her muscle tone increased slightly with the muscular repairs, giving a beautiful blend of tone muscle and sleek curves. She couldn't help but admire how well that it made her look.

The final gems to be collected was the green gems, which were also the most numerous in how many they were, a great advantage to be had. One by one, Cynder smashed all of the clusters without allowing time for the gems to absorb. When they absorbed, the effects were instantaneous. This time though, it was not as pleasant as the last two. She was not expecting the amount of energy that she would receive from them all. By the time that it was all done, her heart was racing, and she could not stop twitching. She chuckled a bit. She wanted energy, and she sure as hell got it.

"Well, that was nice." She said to herself out loud. "I'll head back to Warfang, and depart on the weekend for the north, then that far off continent." Little did she know, she was not the only one listening. There was a rustling in the brush, maybe thirty or forty yards away. With all pent up energy, she gave chase to whatever it was. Quickly breaking out into a run, she leaped in the undergrowth and gave chase.

Whatever it was that she was chasing, it sure was able to move fast. She continued the chase for what seemed like hours before coming to a clearing, where an opening of a cave was exposed. She stopped, taking time to catch her breath and get her bearings straight. The thought crossed her mind to go cave exploring to find whatever that was, it was quickly dismissed. As much as she wanted to continue, she was on a mission after all, and getting sidetracked like that while out on the other continent would not bode well. And while it was fun, it was a wild goose chase that amounted to nothing. It was fun while it lasted, though, and with a good laugh, Cynder flapped her wings lifted up off the ground quickly and flew back to the city. From the entrance of the cave, a figure veiled in the shadows slowly crawled out.

It was a Quillian scout in need of a new pair of pants.

Bevan and Jadney were both in attendance at the meeting. Everyone gathered into the dining room where not only meals would be served, lightening up the mood, but also where there would be enough chairs for everyone to sit in. The dining staff did a great job preparing the meal on such short notice that Bevan considered increasing their pay wage for the dedication. With the last plate and its accompanying silverware, they began their luncheon. While it was deemed to be rude to talk while eating in higher circles, none of them really cared given the context of their meeting.

"So, I've heard good things," Bevan said, cutting off a piece of bread from a much larger loaf. "All of the numbers say that we have enough of everything to go through with this invasion." He saw all of his advisors nodding. This was excellent!

"Yes, my lord. Would you like more details?" Called out one of the many advisors seated at the table. "I have the final results from the census office."

"Yes, please. Tell me more."

"Yes, sir. During the world-shattering event, we lost countless lives, obviously. However, it is not as bad as we first thought. The numbers show that while we did lose many lives, it was disproportionate to the aged and young youth. The losses that the fighting age population has taken is not enough to affect our manpower."

Bevan smiled at this. Once again, things were excellent. "Now what of rations? Much of the generational farmland was destroyed. Knowing our food situation would help greatly." He raised a glass of tea and took a slow sip from it. Across the table, another advisor, this time, the head of agriculture. He raised up his and pointed his finger up; he was still chewing the food in his mouth. When he swallowed, he lowered his and spoke up.

"We are lucky that when it happened, we had just finished the harvest, and there was plenty to go around. That was months ago, of course. With a lot of the long-time farmland gone, it was expected that there would be famine this year. However, because of the death of many Quillians, there are fewer mouths to feed. And because of that, we are no different than how we were the last harvest. It's like reducing fractions, really."

As Bevan took a large bite out of his slice of bread, Jadney spoke in his place. They say great minds think alike, which in that case, both of them possessed one. "What of equipment?" She said in a somewhat disappointed tone. "We need to know that too."

Another advisor raised their hand and spoke. "Well, we've been overproducing equipment. We will have more than enough of everything." Bevan smiled at this. Everything was perfect to plan, a little too perfectly, a little uncanny even. A chill began creeping up Bevan's spine. It was all too perfect, to the point where he knew that something was going to fuck it all up.

"And I know the finances are well enough to sustain the effort," Bevan said, a small amount of food remaining in his mouth as he did. He simply did not care if it was or not. "And with that settled, let us prepare the draft for the declaration and mobilization."

"Then, is meeting formally adjourned then?" Asked Jadney. Bevan nodded. "Then, I will go tell the scribe once we finish our meal, okay?"

"Yes. Thank you, love."

"You're welcome, my dear."

The group had already begun drinking out of their glasses, but that did not matter one bit. Bevan raised up his glass in a toast. "To our success. Long live the kingdom!" Everyone quickly grabbed their drinks and raised there up to.

"And long live the king!"

Their meal continued on without the formalities of the meeting. They all broke out into their own little conversations independent of one another and of the various different subject matter. If anything, it brought them all together and a little closer. All while this is happening, Bevan couldn't help but wonder if the world was setting them up to be quite possibly bamboozled. He dismissed the thought for the time being and continued their meal with the rest of those gathered,

A/N: Well, that wraps up that. I believe that I suffered from overusing the same words in this one, but story-wise, I feel like I made excellent progression getting the story to move along. This chapter is more dragon centered, so expect the next one to be more central to the Quillians to make up for that. Also next chapter, the journey across the ocean begins, and maybe even the reveal of the Quillian appearance. Also, I've started to plan out the story in more depth with the help of a composition book and a pencil. I can tell you for sure that had I gone with what I had initially planned, this chapter could have quickly gone over 10K words. Yikes! However, this isn't cut content, preferably something that will be worked into the next chapter, mainly because some time needs to pass in the story rather than having all the events bunched up all together In an incoherent mess.

On a final note: Just because I do not update in a while does not mean that I've lost interest. I love this story, and I very well plan on seeing it through to the end. This stems mainly due to me not having a whole lot of time between college, fire training, and other personal responsibilities. I hope that you'll understand.

-AbyssalBlue