This one has a lot more words. Seems fitting considering the plot truly starts here. Who is ready for the actual story? A lot happens in this chapter.
I am always looking for feedback, but don't be mean about it. Constructive criticism please. Overwhelming praise works too... no? Okay.
As I've learned an upload schedule is expected and reassuring, so I plan to start posting Mondays whenever I have a new chapter. I will try to have a new chapter ready once a month at least, and if I can't keep up I have five chapters in reserve to post.
One final note. We have nearly 500 views, but from chapter one to two, and from two to three we have even less. Please keep coming back. This story gets longer and better as we go. Just hold on.
Now on to the first "long chapter".
Spyro woke up abruptly and knew immediately that something was wrong. Cynder wasn't beside him. He sprung up onto his paws, his back arched and tail up in a defensive position. He relaxed slightly when he didn't see any enemies, but he still wanted to know where Cynder was. He knew that he shouldn't complain about the chain being gone, but after everything they had been through in the past week Spyro hated that he couldn't keep an eye on her.
Spyro slowly crawled to the cave mouth and peered outside. He relaxed upon seeing Cynder sitting on a rock shelf enjoying the sunrise. Spyro walked up and sat down beside her. "Hey look, our first sunrise that couldn't possibly lead to certain death." he joked.
"You never know," Cynder laughed. She continued to gaze out at the perfect eastern light show and smiled. "I never got to enjoy this very much," she said sadly. It was my favorite part about living at the Dragon Temple."
Spyro nodded as he watched the sun come up. It was beautiful. Especially today.
"Spyro what if I do something stupid again, like when I left the Dragon Temple?"
Spyro shook his head at her. "You won't, I won't let that happen. You have a place you belong now. Anyone who thinks you don't shouldn't care. Hell they should be groveling at your feet."
"Thanks," Cynder said, then she smiled, her face lighting up as she remembered something. "I almost forgot, come on I caught breakfast."
Cynder led Spyro down from the mouth of their cave toward the river running across the valley floor. Lying on the sandy riverbank was the carcass of a large sheep.
"What time did you get up?" Spyro laughed, "you hunted, bathed, and were back watching the sunrise before I even woke up."
"Whoa, how did you know I took a bath this morning?" Spyro only chuckled in response. "Anyway, it wasn't that long before you got up, and I could tell you were tired. Not only did you completely drain yourself of power, but we have been going nonstop for a week. How much have you slept since we escaped the crystal?"
"Good point," Spyro acknowledged with a yawn. Now that he had allowed his body to relax, it started to remind him how much it had gone through in only five days. "Now what are we waiting for? Let's eat!"
"I was waiting for you to help me with it. I managed to suffocate it with Shadow, but then I got stuck." She looked pointedly at Spyro. "I'm not one of those dragons that like their meat raw."
Spyro took the cue and prepared to summon Fire. Thankfully it was much easier to call upon it than the night before. In just a few moments all of the wool had been seared from the sheep, and the mutton was perfectly cooked right down to the bone. It was amazing what a good night's' sleep could do for you.
"Ya know it's times like these when I regret not being a normal dragon. Having Fire must be so useful." Cynder said it nonchalantly, and she didn't seem upset, but Spyro felt a bit uncomfortable hearing about her regret. But since she seemed at peace with it he chose not to bring it up.
The rest of the day passed rather quickly as the two dragons used it to catch up on some much needed sleep. In fact they spent three days living like this. Relaxed, lazy days rolled past as they tried to recover from the past week and really the last six years.
On the fifth day after the world ended, Spyro began to get restless. It wasn't that he wanted to go back to Warfang and resume his responsibilities, but he was tired of just eating and sleeping day after day. And so Spyro and Cynder spent the next few days exploring the valley. The tried to avoid all of the remaining monsters that lived in the valley. By the end of the week they knew their way around the entire valley. They obviously avoided the Cats, Hunter's people, and the ruins of the Well of Souls, but otherwise the entire valley from the base of Malefor's volcano to the wide plains that surrounded Warfang were theirs to explore.
Whenever they were bored they would chase each other up and down the valleys in long games of tag.
Cynder was "it" when it all seemed to hit the fan. She had chased Spyro into a particularly dense clump of trees that were close enough to the Well of Souls to make her uncomfortable. She was passing over said trees, trying to spot a flash of purple or gold through the thick canopy, when the air seemed to grab onto her wings. She came to a dead stop thirty feet in the air. Just as quickly as it had grabbed her it released her sending her crashing through thick tangles of tree branches and eventually to the ground in a mound of black scales. Then the earth began to shake.
For a moment Cynder's heart sank. Had they sacrificed so much for nothing? Had Spyro's fury only bought them another week or so? This time she didn't even have her best friend at her side.
Just as quickly as it had started, the shaking stopped, but something still felt off. She felt a weak but unmistakable pull drawing her into the small forest. She weaved between the trees following the pull like yarn in a labyrinth. She could confirm that it was leading her to a small clearing up ahead. She peered into it and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Tall trees surrounded a large, L-shaped meadow. Then at the very edge of her hearing Cynder detected a low hissing. It sounded like a snake was whispering in her ear, but as she listened Cynder swore she could hear cursing insults, dark chants, and the screams of tortured victims. Cynder took a few tentative steps out from underneath that cover the trees provided and was immediately struck by lightning.
There was no warning, no sound. Cynder just felt a huge jolt of energy and collapsed, her muscles twitching uncontrollably. Cynder barely regained control of her body in time to roll away from another blinding bolt of electricity. She looked around and saw another dark-scaled dragon advancing towards her. It opened its mouth and more electricity flickered between its teeth.
In desperation Cynder spit a large glob of poison, hoping to distract the creature, or potentially disable it, but a well timed bolt of lightning destroyed it spraying poison everywhere. She got another look at the dark dragon through the green spray and realized that it wasn't really dark-scaled. It seemed to have a dark aura. Its eyes and teeth glowed with an eerie white light.
There was a flash as another bolt of energy almost hit her. Her heart filled with terror as she realized she wasn't able to fight the dragon in front of her. Every time she moved, the black dragon moved with her. Every time she tried to attack, the beast would counter. Cynder's heart rate spiked when she realized that its pure white claws left behind an imprint of shadow as they sliced through the air. The creature eventually forced her to retreat until her back was to the trunk of a tall thick tree. The ground began to shake again as the dark dragon lunged forward, but he was thrown back as a spire of pink-purple crystal, that glowed so bright that Cynder had to squint to see it, erupted from the ground.
The spike of crystal continued to rise from the ground, its smooth surface flawless despite it being underground. It grew almost as tall as the trees throughout the clearing.
It shuddered to a halt, and then just a moment later a blast of white light exploded from the tower of stone.
Cynder felt something tingle in her chest as the light dazzled her eyes. She felt like her body was swelling as it bathed in the light. The power of Fury didn't even seem this powerful, convexity wasn't this fulfilling.
And then as soon as the light appeared it faded. Spots danced in front of Cynder's eyes, but she was just grateful that she hadn't gone blind. The tingling feeling that the light had left faded from the tip of her tail and her talons.
Something rose up from Cynder's stomach. It didn't burn like acid, or choke like shadow. She opened her mouth a spewed forth a light brighter and more pure than her fury. She closed her mouth quickly to stem the flow, but it simply erupted from her nose. Cynder panicked for a moment, but when she finally got her wits together she was able to dim the light with only a thought.
Cynder took a moment to calm her heart and slow her breath, but for some reason her body refused to calm down. A pull in her gut told her that she was forgetting something, something important. The dark dragon!
Tentatively Cynder poked her head out from behind the spire of crystal, looking around and keeping all of her senses on alert just in case the dragon decided to attack her again. All she saw was a bright splash of light in the nearly chest high grass. Cynder approached the spot warily, ready to fly away at any provocation. Nothing happened.
The bright spot seemed to be a cocoon made of light. As Cynder watched she swore she could see runes and symbols floating in the luminescent cradle. Had this happened to her when the crystal released its power? If so why was it happening to the dark dragon? The light faded slowly, but once it was completely gone, Cynder was able to recognize Spyro's form lying in the grass where the dark dragon should have been.
Cynder quickly backed away.
Could Spyro really have betrayed her? She thought back to the battle in the Well of Souls when Spyro had been suspended in the column of dark purple light. He had looked like that dark creature then too. Then again, when he had felt upset about Ignitus' death, he had also lapsed into darkness, but it was a controlled power. He was calling the darkness in and using it instead of his mana to channel his power. This time was more like the battle in the Well of Souls. He wasn't aware, he was being controlled.
Her thoughts whirled through her head, drowning out but not smothering a buzzing that she had been too busy to pay attention to until now. Cynder realized that the pull that had drawn her into the clearing was still pulling at her. Leaving Spyro, who she assumed wouldn't awaken for some time, she crossed the clearing following the pull. Up ahead the clearing dog-legged right, and the thick woods blocked any view of the other side. Steeling herself for any possibility she dove and rolled around the corner. What she saw almost made her physically sick.
The twisting shape was what hit her first. The spiky writhing form reminded her of rose bushes and other thorny vines. The dark color could only be described as black, although other colors seemed to flit across its surface like a film of oil on water. The thing that hit her the most was the feelings that accompanied it. It radiated fear, pain, and sorrow like heat from a volcano. It also filled its subjects with weakness, drawing away their power and converting it into bursts of dark electricity that arced between the branches of the world's most ugly and unhealthy tree. Her heart sank further as she realized that there was only one person that could create this crystal. Well two. It was time to get answers from Spyro.
•••
Spyro dreamed, and in his dream he was somewhere he recognized. He stood on a small rock island suspended in a dark purple ether, and despite the fact that he knew that his body was somewhere near Avalar, he felt the rock under his paws. He didn't panic however. He had been here before.
"Chronicler, why have you called me here again?" Clumsily he glided down from floating rock to floating rock until he stood before the element gate that protected the Chronicler's dream realm. Earlier during his adventures the Chronicler had helped him unlock his powers by holding him in the dream realm until he could make it across the dreamscape to the scrying pool that was also a gateway back to his body. One of the obstacles were element gates that would only open after a blast from an elemental fury of the same type.
Spyro stepped up onto the first part of the element gate, a raised dais that cracked with the specific energy that the Chronicler wanted him to focus on. The brilliant white light that surrounded the dais like an aura quickly made him realize that that this wasn't an element he recognized. "Hey," he shouted, only hoping that the Chronicler could hear him, "this isn't one of my elements. How will I get through?"
Foreign thoughts entered his head in a familiar, yet not quite the familiar voice of the Chronicler. "What? The great purple dragon can't wield the power of light? I thought you were better than that. Even your mate has figured it out faster than you have."
"Cynder? What has she got to do with this? And she's not my mate." Spyro said quickly.
"Oh?" Spyro would have bet that if he could see the Chronicler's face he would have a raised eyebrow.
"It's complicated, I'm not exactly sure what we are. All I know is that I love her." Spyro finished looking down at the circle of light visible between his paws. Something wasn't quite right about the Chronicler. He usually never strayed from the topic at hand and never teased. What was even more odd was the way he spoke casually about Spyro's personal life. Before he had only talked about Spyro's mission. The purple dragon hoped that his tone meant that this would be more of a conversation between friends than a life or death meeting.
"I can tell that she really loves you. In fact right now she is panic stricken about you." This realization filled Spyro's heart with warmth. He had experienced this kind of feeling before, but now he found that he could channel it like any of his other abilities.
He remembered when he used his first elemental attack on those apes that were trying to kill Sparx. He had felt his anger rising and had unconsciously focused it on his mouth and throat planning on unleashing a powerful war cry while doing his best to physically overpower the apes. Now through his training he knew how to focus his power on his claws, tail, and horns in order to add some "oomph" to his melee attacks, or flood his body with it and purge the element from his system in an explosive process known as Fury.
Slowly so as not to overwhelm his weary body, Spyro allowed the strange energy flow along with his blood to every nook and cranny his small body had to offer. A thought struck him. "Chronicler, is this safe. This would be my third major Fury in a week. Last time I used up all of my energy and it almost killed me."
"Spyro, the Furies you used to save the planet and escape the volcano were meant to be more like defense mechanisms. To be used only in emergencies. This Fury, in comparison, will only use a fraction of the power." Nodding the purple dragon let the energy flow more quickly. Almost immediately it gained enough momentum to lift his from the ground. He charged every cell of his body to its limit and with a strangled cry let it burst from his being.
To an observer the event would have looked like a miniature sun came to earth and landed on top of Spyro. But in all the heat and light nothing was destroyed. The light grew brighter and brighter as it expanded, and every time something entered the glow the light would briefly flare brighter. Suddenly the light seemed to buckle and bulge. In an instant the light collapsed in on itself and everything within was incinerated in an instant. Then there was an even bigger explosion, a blastwave of pure energy, that extended ten times as far as the original sphere of light.
The light faded slower than any other Fury he had ever used. The delay of the blast, and really any effect on the things he wanted to destroy pleased him. Before he had discovered convexity, Spyro had always been afraid to use his Fury. Whenever he did, he would always warn Sparx, but that gave enemies a warning as well. Once he landed back on the dais the element gate dropped allowing him past.
"Let me tell you about light. It is a rare power that can only be bestowed by the Ancestors that inhabit the planet crystal; the large purple crystal in the center of the planet. Light can be used in the obvious, to light dark areas and blind enemies. Light also has the characteristics of all other elements and can be used like they can. As you have seen light can burn, it can jolt and paralyze. It can even be used physically. Light also has certain purifying properties, and can be used to heal."
Spyro wound his way across the small floating isles that made up the sky scape. Every time he deviated from the path a bright blue flash emanated from the scrying pool. Eventually he entered through the portal gate by walking between two Malefor statues. He grinned as he recognized that they had cracked and crumbled in places. It was perhaps the greatest proof to Spyro that the Dark Master was gone for good. The scrying pool looked like it had the last few times he had visited, except this time there was a huge blue and white dragon standing in the strange reflective liquid. His back was to Spyro.
"I summoned you here for two reasons. One, I will admit, was selfish." He turned around and Spyro saw his face. He cried out as he realized why the Chronicler seemed different. Ignitus smiled back behind his mask of blue scales. Spyro ran to him and hugged him as best he could. "This is exactly what I hoped would happen. You aren't mad." Ignitus looked down at the purple dragon he had wrapped around his leg.
"Not really, but when you first died it was almost enough to 'turn' me."
"Turn you?" Ignitus asked.
Spyro didn't want to look at Ignitus. Looking down at his feet was easier. "Did I tell you about the Night of Eternal Darkness? Did I tell you about how I got a taste of Malefor's power as he was awakened? That taste of darkness... Ignitus it was addicting. I felt like suddenly I had an endless pool of mana to draw off of. I was also able to combine my elements for the first time, it's how I learned convexity. When you died I welcomed the darkness back in. I thought, no I knew that I could change things. I could rip a hole in reality and bring you back. If it wasn't for Cynder I would have done it."
"There was no harm done," Ignitus said gently, "and you learned from it. Why are you beating yourself up about this?"
"Because I was so focused on bringing you back that I almost killed Cynder. I forgot about the chain, or maybe I just didn't want to think about it. If I had come to bring you back she would have been dragged along into the Ring of Fire. She would have been vaporized! When she tried to stop me I told her nobody could stop me. Then she told me that it was my own choice, that only I could stop myself."
"Spyro, don't you understand," Ignitus said sternly, "the fact that this eats away at you just proves why this won't happen again! You love her, I know you do, and she loves you back. She loved and trusted you enough to know that you would make the right choice, and you loved her enough to protect her. But this darkness that you felt was my other reason for bringing you here. Why I taught you light and brought you here instead of my new white isle. You remember what happened in the planet's core?"
"Yeah, Malefor was knocked down by our convexity, and then five of the ancestors came and dragged him down into the planet crystal. Why?"
Ignitus bit his lip. "I wish I could protect you from this. There have been suspicious signs."
"Signs of what?" Instead of answering, Ignitus gestured to the pool. Spyro walked up to it and immediately the swirling blue liquid within solidified until Spyro was convinced that he was looking through a window. Except for a slight murkiness around the edges, it could have been a midair window looking down at a small, L-shaped meadow. He saw himself crumpled on the ground and Cynder sitting beside him looking concerned. "What does this have to do with..."
"Shhh, just watch." As Ignitus spoke, the vision began to move backward as if time was reversing. They watched as Cynder got up and walked backward across the meadow where it curved. She moved around the corner and Spyro gasped as she came right up to a twisted black monolith of dark crystal. She circled around it a few times, still moving backwards. She eventually made it to where she was facing the pillar of crystal with her mouth open in shock. A few moments later she backed up through the meadow until she was between his crumpled body and a huge shard of purple-pink crystal. Suddenly a huge, bright, ball of light burst into view. It continued to grow brighter and brighter as time rewound. It grew so bright that it seemed to fill the whole world. The light was finally sucked back into the crystal revealing the dark dragon in Spyro's place.
"What!? Is that me? How did this happen? How come I'm like this? And what about that purple crystal? Or the dark crystal for that matter?" Ignitus continued to stare resolutely at the image in the pool.
The spire of crystal sank back into the ground revealing Cynder cowering against the trunk of a huge tree. The dark Spyro seemed to inhale several lightning bolts as he backed away from an advancing Cynder, and then Cynder dodged aside only to fly from the clearing backwards. The dark Spyro lingered for a moment before running backwards toward the dark crystal. He fell to the ground beside it, and then was lifted up to it. There was a bright flash and suddenly Spyro saw his normal self flying into the trees. The reverse image seemed to speed up; Spyro saw the sun arc overhead and disappear behind the mountains only to reappear seconds later. The nights and days passed quickly, but the picture slowed down during what Spyro calculated as the first night after the world ended, just before the rain stopped. They watched with baited breath as the lighting in the clearing slowly became blood red. Spyro vaguely remembered the lunar eclipse that night. The second all of the light had vanished, except for this eerie red glow,the monolith shook and slowly sank into the ground.
"What was all that?" asked Spyro. His wide eyes searched his mentor's for a glimpse of hope.
Ignitus grimaced, "I don't know. But I have the feeling that Malefor, or at least his influence isn't done. I also find it odd that that spire of Planet Crystal saved Cynder. We must remain vigilant. I'm sorry to keep you from your vacation, but you must warn the guardians of this threat." Spyro's vision began to fade as he sank into the pool. "Good luck, my son." Ignitus said before Spyro was pulled from the dream.
•••
Cynder felt hopeless. Spyro looked dead, yet he was still breathing. She tried everything to wake him up. She had hit him with a blast of fear, even done her wind trick with an energy crystal. She finally just sat there staring at him, but he still didn't wake up.
And then just as it seemed that they would both have to spend the night in the clearing, Spyro jumped up from the ground, and Cynder almost had a heart attack. He spotted Cynder and immediately took her in his wings and hugged her. "I'm sorry." Spyro said.
"How did you know about it? Where you aware!?" Cynder panicked.
"Of course not. Once you knocked me out the Chronicler called me to the dreamscape again. He showed me what happened. Guess what, Ignitus is alive!"
"Did the Chronicler show you where he was!?" Cynder was beaming. Besides Spyro, Ignitus had been the first to be nice to her.
"No, he was the Chronicler." Despite the fact that he had just technically attacked the love of his life Spyro had never looked happier. "I also think..., I think he admitted he was my father. I knew I felt a connection to him. Anyway he also had some bad news; apparently that pillar of dark crystal wasn't there a few days ago. It appeared a few nights ago during the lunar eclipse. Ignitus also said that we have to warn the guardians."
"So much for our vacation. Should we destroy the monolith, we destroyed every other dark crystal."
Spyro thought for a moment. "No, these seem different. I was transformed just by touchingit." Cynder snorted and a jet of light shot from both of her nostrils. She blushed slightly. "Ignitus explained that too. Apparently the 'planet crystal' only bestows that upon certain dragons."
"But I didn't have this yesterday. How'd I get it? Unless..." both dragons looked over at the purple crystal that was poking out of the earth.
•••
Warfang looked almost exactly like it had when they had left to defeat the destroyer. Cynder and Spyro were perched on a hill near the east wall of the city. Spyro remembered Hunter's people charging the flank of the attacking army from here.
"This is it. There is no going back after this point. Are you sure that we can't have another few days of vacation before we deal with this?" the dark dragoness implored.
"I'm sorry, but Ignitus said that this was important." Spyro leaped off the hill side and flew toward the gates. As soon as they rose high enough to see over the wall an alarm sounded inside the city.
"Were they waiting for us?" Cynder asked. They were still too far away to see any details, but they could see several figures, probably moles, rushing across the battlements of the city. The golden catapult in the center just above the main gates glinted as it turned. The alarm suddenly quit followed by a huge smack. Had they recognized the two dragons and were they preparing a welcome?
Cynder cried out as a net seemed to materialize around her. "Spyro!" she cried. Spyro dove roaring, flames streaming from his open mouth. He tucked his wings as close as he could to his sides just to keep pace with her.
"Close your eyes!" Spyro shouted just before he activated his comet dash wreathing himself in flames. She did just as Spyro impacted with her ensnared body. She felt the net vaporize almost instantly in the intense heat just as Spyro caught her paw in his and held her aloft until she could recover.
Once she got her wings under her again they continued to close in on the city again. They dodged nets and bolos by the ton. At least ten miles of rope had to have landed in the field outside of Warfang by the time the two smaller dragons made it to the walls. Immediately they were surrounded by moles; each of them holding a drawn crossbow.
"Don't move or I'll make you both a pincushion. Sit tight while we fetch the guardians." The lead mole said.
"Corporal, don't you recognize me?" Spyro asked stepping forward. A new recruit instinctively pulled the trigger sending a quarrel rocketing on a course that would send it directly into his brain. With a flash of silver it fell to the ground snapped in half. Cynder snarled at the mole, her tail blade raised and ready for another strike.
"Just try that again," she hissed. The moles backed away slightly and they looked horribly afraid.
"Isn't that Cynder," one asked, "the terror of the skies? What is she doing with him?" Is she protecting him? Why? So she can kill him herself?"
Another mole whispered back, "I saw him save her from one of our nets. He should have let her fall." Tears were about to fall from her eyes, but she stubbornly held them back. What was with these moles? During the battle of Warfang they had treated her with respect and repeatedly asked for her help. Why were they acting like this now?
Cynder figured it out a moment later. That had been war time. The people of Warfang had been desperate for any help they could get. She wasn't actively attacking them, so therefore she was an ally. Now they could take the time to realize who she actually was.
Spyro said enough for both of them. "If I hear anymore about Cynder," he roared, "I will show everyone here the full power of a purple dragon, and let me tell you, it will be your last experience!" He turned to the mole who had whispered about killing Cynder. "I think you owe Cynder an apology." That shut the moles up quick. They all seemed afraid to speak, but upon a cue from Spyro they apologized. One brave one however mumbled to himself.
"Malefor jr.," he said. Cynder looked to see Spyro's reaction. She was surprised when she saw an equal amount of rage and shame flash across his face. It was almost miraculous that the guardians arrived at that moment. When they saw who the newcomers were they stopped in their tracks. "Spyro?Cynder? We were about to give up hope." The thundering voice of Terrador sounded like boulders grinding across each other.
"Spyro? Cynder? Really? Oh this is marvelous, astonishing, astounding. I am so happy that you two are alive and made it back, although I always believed you would unlike Cyril who spent at least two days pacing through the caverns underneath Warfang asking if we should send other dragons after you..." Cynder couldn't help but smile. Even after this horrible day Volteer always had the ability to make her smile.
"Oh shut up you!" A colder voice orated from the back of the group. Everybody made way for Cyril as he stepped forward. Cynder shivered involuntarily, and it wasn't just because Cyril was an Ice dragon. There was just something about the blue dragon that made Cynder feel uneasy. Even when she had captured him years ago he had somehow unnerved her. "Oh, it's you two. Welcome back to Warfang." Cynder recognized that it was probably just the type of dragon he was, but he seemed overly cold and distant.
"Hey guys. I thought you were going to tell me when the moles summoned you. I know I can't eat crystals or spit lightning, but doesn't my opinion matter as well." The sharp nagging voice was instantly recognizable for almost everyone on the walls. Sparx had taken his duty from Spyro very seriously that he oftentimes helped keep watch on the walls of the city. Most of the moles had created a betting pool on how long he would last before somebody squashed him. Sparx finally made his way through the press of scales, fur, and cloth until he found himself pressed up between two sets of odd scales. His face was pressed up against black scales, and his back was up against bright purple ones. "Hey bro," he said hesitantly, "welcome home. It's great that you didn't die. Hey I'm glad for all the physical contact, but could you help me. The she-demon is crushing me." Both dragons moved apart sending Sparx sprawling to the ground. He popped up and hugged Spyro's snout. "Dude I knew you could do it! And you," he said turning to Cynder, "thanks for taking care of him."
"I did my best, but it's almost like he looks for trouble," Cynder joked.
"I know ever since he learned he was a dragon he just keeps leaping headfirst into trouble," Sparx conceded.
"I'm glad you two are bonding," Spyro laughed, "but we have things we need to discuss with the guardians."
"Perfect," Terrador rumbled, "we have quite a few questions for you two as well. Should we retreat to the Dragon Temple? You two are staying right?" Terrador seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Ignitus. Both really did care, and both were wiser and more empathetic than most dragons their age. The only difference it seemed was that Terrador expressed much less of his emotion, but both Spyro and Cynder understood that.
"Of course," Spyro replied, "What?Were you planning on only hosting us for a night? No such luck my friend. Cynder and I were here to stay." He looked around at the assembled moles, and of course Sparx before he leaned in towards Terrador who lowered his head to listen. "And the Chronicler has some information he wants me to pass on to you," he whispered.
Terrador nodded and began to lead the small group of dragons down off the walls and into the city. Spyro noticed sadly that most of the grand staircases leading from the streets up to the battlements were cracked and destroyed. In fact the whole city looked much worse than it had the last time he had seen it. Sure it had just been through a war, and the literal end of the world, but that damage being reflected on such a noble and beautiful city made it seem so much worse.
They paraded down the stairs and into the small courtyard where the main gates were. Spyro eyed the magic braziers that kept the doors shut. They burned, but Spyro knew that an overwhelmingly substantial blow would put them out. He stopped when Cynder threw out her wing and struck his shoulder.
"Spyro look, is that what I think it is?" From the gates they had great views of several streets that ran the length of Warfang. Down the alley to their right something was different. There was something in the middle of a courtyard several blocks down the street. Four element barriers blocked access to a tall pillar of black crystal that stood in the center of a fountain. Cynder continued to stare in horror until a dark figure charged the barriers. He hit the innermost electricity barrier and flew back slamming into the side of a building, but not before everyone got a good look at him.
It was a mole, that much was certain, but he looked so much different. Instead of short brown fur, oily blackness clung to his skin, twisting and shifting so much that it looked a lot like smoke. His two front teeth extended from his mouth, and they glowed eerily against his dark fur. But the worst part were his soulless glowing white eyes that seemed to lock onto Spyro and Cynder.
Terrador interrupted their mute horror. "Let's wait until we reach the temple; we can talk there. How is it that you know about these crystals?"
"Let's wait until we are somewhere safe to discuss this," said Spyro. The small group walked awhile longer, then Spyro asked, "When you said temple I hope you didn't mean the Dragon Temple, you know the one on the cliff by the swamp?"
Terrador smiled, "What good is a dragon city without a training ground for dragons. We have one within the city that is almost identical to the one in the mountains. Besides that one is serving a different purpose at the moment. But again this can wait until we get to the temple."
It took most of the day to make it across nearly the entire city. By the end Cynder was leaning heavily on Spyro. He tried to hide his exhaustion, but he wasn't doing well. He wrapped his wing around her as they walked. When they made it to the temple, Terrador opened the grand front doors by slamming his front paw into the ground.
The Dragon Temple was huge, covering almost as much space as eight city blocks right in the center of the city. The building was mostly square and was constructed from a bright tan stone much like the rest of the city, although the almost one thousand thick windows told visitors that it was a very important building. The temple reminded Spyro of a castle more than a temple. There were huge soaring towers on each of the four corners, and at least ten turrets pierced the sky. The great front doors lead into a grand entrance hall with a huge marble statue of a dragon taking center stage. Spyro blushed as he realized that the relatively new statue was of him. "The moles put that up last week as a memorial to you," Terrador affirmed a moment later.
The Earth Guardian looked over his shoulder at his young charges to see their reaction. He took one look at the adolescent dragons and declared that they should get some sleep before they talked. They both nodded glad for a reprieve. Terrador summoned a passing mole and told him to lead them to their room. Cynder felt her exhaustion keenly as they traveled up three flights of stairs and down endless corridors. Eventually they made it to the west wall where the mole led them both to adjacent rooms and left them to get settled.
Spyro bid Cynder goodnight, and then he took a good look around his room. There was a small bookshelf in the corner, and several maps and charts decorated the walls. In one corner there was a sleeping mat on a large dais that provided cushioning to protect against the hard stone floor. Opposite the thick wooden door that led to the hallway there was a pane of glass that swung on hinges. After careful inspection Spyro noticed a clasp on the outside and concluded that the window could only be opened from the inside. Outside the huge window was a large stone balcony with a beautifully carved railing. He sat out here watching the sunset. Only with the rise of the moon did he go to bed.
•••
Spyro snapped awake in complete darkness. It took him a moment to adjust to his surroundings. After almost three years of running around trying to save the world he found it funny that sleeping indoors on a bed was a surreal experience.
His gaze wandered the room wondering what had awoken him. Nothing immediately caught his attention and he found himself slowly drifting back to sleep. Tic,tic,tic! A strange tapping noise jolted Spyro awake. He blearily got up and crept slowly to the door. Who could be knocking at his door this late. He reached up to open it when a thought struck him. What if it was a dark creature? What if they had broken through the element barriers?
Spyro stood at the door for a while paralyzed by indecision. He had just made up his mind when, tic, tic,tic, the tapping sound came again. Spyro whirled completely around to face the window. The moon was only a quarter tonight, and it had yet to rise, so Spyro couldn't see anything beyond the thick glass.
Tic,tic,tic the tapping was incessant now, but Spyro didn't know what it was. Or maybe who it was. He strained his eyes to try and see through the dimness surrounding the window. He still couldn't see anything.
Spyro felt a warm tingling sensation awaken in his chest as he desperately tried to see through the pitch-black night. It reminded him of the feeling he had when he had been reunited with Ignitus. Unconsciously he concentrated his new light energy into the tips of his horns causing them to glow with a pale waxy light much like the moon. The glow revealed Cynder shivering on the balcony.
"Get in here!" he shouted throwing the window open, "what were you doing out there? What were you thinking?!"
She hopped through and managed through chattering teeth, "I had to come and see you. Oh and thanks for opening the window," she added with a touch of sarcasm. Spyro's expression softened and he began to breathe little jets of Fire over her scales to warm her up.
"There's a hallway over there," he grumbled.
"Haven't you tried your door? We're locked in. The balcony was the only way."
"Fine. Anyway why did you need to see me?"
Cynder opened her mouth, and then visibly seemed to wilt. "I don't remember. I know I wanted to say something but... I was out in the cold for quite a while," she added pointedly.
"Sorry," Spyro rolled his eyes. "I guess you're right I did lock you out there for so long. Say, why do you think they locked us in?"
"I believe it has something to do with security, but it could also be that they don't want us to leave. You heard Terrador today. They are just as scared as we were about those crystals. They need us, and we could be considered a flight risk."
"Why do you say that?" Spyro asked.
"Well there was the time where I ran off just before the Apes invaded the Temple, and the time that you actually ran away later that night. And if course now that the prophecy is over, you might just decide to leave."
"What do you mean?" Spyro said cocking his head.
"You are done with the prophecy. You don't owe them anything. Except for your brother you don't have anything holding you back. You could leave tonight with him and me and never have to worry about anyone's problems anymore."
"No I couldn't," Spyro protested. He was extremely confused about what Cynder was suggesting. "These people need help. I can't just leave."
"And that is why I love you," Cynder said as she nuzzled Spyro. He smiled and leaned forward so he could rub more of his snout along Cynder's. she stepped forward, until she was sitting almost directly between his front paws and began nuzzling his chest and neck. Spyro sat down and scratched his paws up and down Cynder's back.
"Oooh, you're warm," she purred deeply.
Spyro stretched his neck out as far as he could, because in her energetic passion the spikes on the back of her head were getting dangerously close to his throat. Cynder fixed it by raising her nose and rubbing it along Spyro's jaw.
Spyro reveled in the contact. He loved everything about Cynder, even being around her. It could have gone on a lot longer, but Cynder let out a huge yawn into Spyro's chest.
"I guess I should get back to my own room and get to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow. Cynder managed to untangle herself from Spyro. "Goodnight," she said as she turned and pushed open the window. A blast of cold air from outside rushed into the room as Cynder pushed open the window. Cynder opened her wings and threw herself through the portal. The window slowly swung shut, but just as it was about to latch in place one of her red wings wedged itself into the window frame and threw it open once more. She flew back in, blushing underneath her black scales. "I forgot to latch my window open. I'm locked out. Could I stay here tonight?"
"Of course you can Cyn." Spyro answered. They both positioned themselves like they had been in the cave. It was comfortable, yet they both felt self-conscious. Cynder finally relaxed into the male's steady breathing and heartbeat, snuggling into his chest and purring. "Cynder," Spyro said after a time, "do you want to leave before we have to face this problem?"
Cynder raised her head up to look at Spyro. "No, what would give you that idea?"
"I just couldn't help but think of that thing you said earlier. I was just going to say that if you didn't want a part of this new situation than I would help you leave Warfang. You could go somewhere else, and after all of this was over I would come and find you." Spyro didn't look at her. He didn't want to know what her answer was.
"Tempting, but no. I will stay." Cynder smiled at Spyro who tried not to reveal how happy his words had made him. "Maybe you are rubbing off on me but it is fun being the hero. Maybe it will become a habit." Spyro chuckled as he set his head back down so he almost missed what Cynder said next. "I love you."
"I love you too," he whispered back.