Welcome one and all, and for my American viewers happy eclipse. I probably could have posted last week, but i wanted to have a chapter go up on eclipse day. I also have a confession and an announcement. After writing this story and focusing on this story for so long, and because I am starting College in a few days, I have decided to take a short break from this story. I will be back in the groove with this story by October. I will post chapter seven in September, but in the meantime I am working on a more relaxed and lighthearted Pokémon story, so look out for that.
Okay enough of me. Let's get to chapter six, hobey-ho let's go!
Chapter 6: The Plan
The library was huge, but Cynder had expected that. After breakfast she had followed Mortimer through the green door and up through the temple to the library.
"How was breakfast," Mortimer tried. He was obviously uncomfortable and trying to start a conversation.
"It was great, Agatha is a wonderful cook." Cynder smiled at the mole. "You know that we don't have to talk. We could just walk." Mortimer started to speak, but then shut his mouth.
They walked in silence for a while, and Cynder began to feel guilty. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly, but she was perfectly capable of holding a conversation with people she was comfortable with. She watched Mortimer for a while. He was so kind and so friendly, she knew that she could be comfortable around him.
She took in his stiff walk. The way he marched was extremely regular and deliberate, much like a soldier. "So, you work in the kitchens huh?"
Mortimer flinched as she said this, which caused him to misstep. "Yeah I do, but…"
He paused and Cynder unconsciously finished for him. "You want to be a soldier."
Mortimer looked back at her warily. "How did you know that?" Cynder didn't know what to say. She didn't exactly want to admit that she had been trained since she was very young to analyze everyone with extreme scrutiny in case she needed to destroy them later. This training meant that she was extremely good at reading people. She could pick up on every little detail they let slip.
Thankfully Mortimer didn't wait for her to answer. "Yes I do want to be a soldier. My entire family has served in the Warfang militia for several generations, and I want to follow in their footsteps. At least now I do?"
"What do you mean, now you do?" Cynder asked.
"Well when I was a kid I didn't do as well at the academy as my family did. If you graduate in the top ten percent of your class you get an automatic assignment in the militia or the guard. I failed a class in my first year, so the best I could do was fifteen percent. I have to complete so many hours of extra training and perform well in another assessment to be accepted now. In the meantime I work in the kitchen."
"Sorry," Cynder tried, but Mortimer wasn't looking for pity.
"No, no, don't be sorry," he said. "Every afternoon I work and train. By this time next year I should have all of my hours completed."
Cynder didn't know what else to say, but thankfully it was around that point that when the they reached the library. There was an orange strip of crystal imbedded in the floor across the doorway. Beyond it a short, wide wooden desk was nestled between two huge bookshelves. The ceiling was at least forty feet tall, and each of the over one hundred bookshelves in the vast library continued all the way to the domed glass roof.
Small desks filled the remaining space between the shelves. Almost every seat had a mole or a cheetah in it, but surprisingly there were also a few apes. Cynder's scales raised in fear along her neck and back. "What are they doing here?"
Mortimer frowned at her. "They sorta live here. I know a lot of them were mean to you, but you can't escape being close to other moles-"
"Not them," Cynder snapped, "the apes."
Comprehension dawned on Mortimer's face. It quickly morphed into an expression of fear. "I know what you mean. After you guys left to defeat the destroyer a whole delegation appeared and asked if they could join us. We imprisoned them until the guardians returned and they could put a leash on them. We didn't exactly trust them. I think that without the influence of Gaul or Malefor they are totally benign, but I still don't trust them. Anyways I have to get back to the kitchen, but if you need me just call. I think my sister is working the morning shift in the library, so just look for her. Bye Cyn." And with that Mortimer raced back up the corridor in the direction of the kitchens.
Cynder, feeling extremely self- conscious walked casually through the center of the library heading for the main desk. A thin, attractive mole was sitting behind the desk pouring over a huge book with a pair of delicate, silver, spectacles perched on the end of her nose. As Cynder approached the lady glanced up and began to squint in Cynder's direction. "I told you already," she said, "no you can't eat in here. Take your bananas somewhere else." The mole behind the desk returned to her book.
"Excuse me!" Cynder was a bit insulted that the mole had mistaken her for an ape. Although they had been on the same team for a time. The lady squinted again and then, after rummaging through her desk for a few moments, extracted a thick pair of gold glasses that she immediately swapped for the silver ones.
The librarian didn't even blink at the sight of Cynder. "My mistake, is there anything I can help you with dear?" Cynder was the one who blinked. Usually people had some sort of reaction after meeting her for the first time.
"Don't you know who I am?" Cynder asked puzzled.
"Of course, you're Cynder." And without missing a beat she launched into and explanation of how the library worked. "This library has the most books of any in the city. Now we don't let patrons leave with-"
"Wait, that's it? That's your reaction?" Cynder asked incredulously. "I'm sorry but most people have some sort of reaction and..." Cynder realized that it was ridiculous how she was reacting to this.
The librarian looked at her with a smile. "Honey you obviously love books, that's a good enough judge of character in my book." She giggled at her unintended pun. "My name is Melody, but you may call me Ms. M. As I was telling you we don't let patrons leave with books, as evidenced by the orange crystal lines by the doors. The books have matching crystals in the spine and they refuse to pass their brothers. Oh before I forget..." Ms. M reached behind the desk and pulled out a rough orange crystal on a length of leather. She placed it around Cynder's neck. "This will help you retrieve books from high shelves. Off you go then. Happy reading!"
Cynder normally would have browsed the fiction section and eventually curled up at one of the tables with an epic story, but today she had a reason for being in the library. She quickly found the shelves that had books on the properties of crystals. It was time she found out more about the planet crystal.
As she entered the aisle, crossing a pattern of green mana crystal buried in the floor tiles, the orange crystal around her neck began to glow. In response the small crystals imbedded in the spine of each book began to hum and vibrate. Cynder began to browse the shelf looking for anything referencing the planet crystal or light powers, but the humming and buzzing was distracting her. She tried for a few more minutes before turning away and sitting down in disgust.
"I just want a book on the planet crystal is that too much to ask?" Cynder didn't know why it happened, but suddenly the buzzing stopped. Then something hit her on the back of the head. Cynder whirled around. "I felt that! Whoever you are come out and try that again!" There was nobody nearby. Something whacked her head again. Rubbing her tender skull Cynder looked up. Floating just above her head was a thick leather-bound book with a drawing of a crystal on it. Cynder also noted the buzzing, glowing crystal set into the spine.
Before it could hit her again, Cynder snatched the book from the air and tore through its pages. She checked the table of contents, the index, the glossary, and the appendix but the most information she got on the planet crystal was that it was the material that made up the planet's core.
Using her newfound knowledge of the library's internal workings, Cynder searched the entire catalog of books for anything on the planet crystal. She tried a book called, Rare Crystals of this World, but she got nothing. She asked for a book on different types of dragons and one on different dragon powers, but those didn't work either. Cynder was solely tempted to scream and throw the book she was holding. It was a good thing she didn't, because it was at that moment that she heard the voices. Someone was coming.
"Man did you see his face as we changed him. The little dude almost peed himself. But of course we had to give Spyro's brother special attention." Two husky male voices chuckled, but one stopped sooner than the other.
"Hush you buffoon. Nobody can know about this. Oh no, here comes Melody! Quick over there!" Cynder froze as she saw two forms dodge into her aisle of books. Without thinking she summoned a book from a high shelf, then dismissed it while holding on to it. It quickly took her to the top shelf where she hung from the thin plank of wood desperately trying not to fall down and alert the two to her presence.
"Oh good, she didn't notice us. Anyway did he explain the plan to you?" Cynder could tell that they were moles, except something was off about them. She didn't know what, but her instincts told her not to reveal herself.
"Yes, he told me this morning. He should be getting all of the information he needs from Spyro right now." The mole speaking twirled his finger through a sparse goatee that hung from his chin.
The other mole smiled, and Cynder noted that his blue eyes grew wider as he said that. "When is it going down?" blue-eyes asked.
The one with the goatee looked around his green eyes roving the shelves, but thankfully he didn't look up. He leaned closer to his friend and lowered his voice. Cynder had to get closer. She swung her body and released her claws from the shelf. She caught herself on a lower shelf just above the moles, but one of her paws slipped and scratched a huge gouge in the wood with a loud "scree". Both moles froze and began to look up.
Cynder, with her heart pounding in her chest, threw up her most basic defense. This was one of the first applications of her power that Malefor had taught her. She coated her skin with liquid shadow which leached into the air around her. In total or near darkness this effect would effectively make her invisible, but in the broad daylight of the library it merely darkened her form and broke up her outline. From afar she could escape scrutiny, but if either of the strange moles got closer…
Both of the creatures below looked up simultaneously. Blue-eyes stopped scanning above almost immediately, and began looking up and down the long aisles. But goatee continued to look up. It was at that moment however that Cynder began to feel her grip giving away. The smooth surface of the shelf was impossible to grip, and the soft wood it was made from barely met her claws with any resistance. In that moment Cynder made a risky decision. She lifted her other foreleg from where it dangled by her body and dug her sharp claws into the shelf next to her other paw. Better to risk detection with a small movement than to guarantee it by falling on them, she told herself.
Looking down, Cynder's heart began to beat faster. Goatee mole was pointing up at the shelf she was dangling from and saying something to blue-eyes. She watched as blue-eyes reached into his shirt and pulled out an orange crystal amulet much like the one she now wore. She saw him mouth something. His crystal began to glow. All at once the loud buzzing she had heard earlier returned and it began to grow steadily louder. Cynder felt a tug of wind as a book flew dangerously close to her slightly untucked left wing. It wasn't the only one. Book after book after book rained down from the shelves around her, many almost striking her. Cynder risked it all again by pulling herself completely up onto the shelf to dodge the books that were now raining down on the mole. But instead of burying him under several layers of parchment and leather the books began to stack themselves into a steep staircase. Almost every book on the shelf she was occupying was exhausted making the staircase, but at last the pile reached Cynder's shelf.
There was a moment of silence, then there was a creaking protest as a foot crushed a book and the buzzing returned as the orange crystal held the books in place. Panicked Cynder tried to think of what she could do. Someone was coming and unless he was blind he'd see through her meager camouflage. Cynder closed her eyes and searched deep within herself, searching for anything that might protect her. Despite the gravity of the situation her thoughts kept straying to Spyro. If he was here she wouldn't have to hide. As thoughts of the purple dragon filled her head Cynder felt a curious, warm trickle flow over the scales. Whereas the shadow had been cold, this new sensation was warm like a warm embrace. She was about to look down at her own feet to see what had happened when suddenly a fuzzy face with blue eyes jumped into view. "Aha," said the mole as he found...
•••
...nothing. There was nothing on the shelf. He knew it! He knew that goatee, whose real name was Richard, had just seen a book move, or light reflect through the domed ceiling. "Dick," He called, "there's nothing up here! Crazy mole," blue-eyes finished to himself.
As blue-eyes, who was more commonly known as Lucas, descended the staircase he moved his concentration away from the books beneath his feet and they shot off, back to their spots on the shelves.
"Are we waiting for tonight go for it? You know the darkness won't fade until this afternoon." Lucas wasn't too concerned about continuing the conversation, but Richard still seemed a bit wary.
"Yes, but he's also waiting for the end of the guardian's meeting with Spyro. If Spyro doesn't spill they'll try on Cynder. If they get the information we'll strike tonight, if not we can still get it tonight. What's the rush?" Richard grinned as though this was obvious. "We know the room. It will be perfect when we bring them in, bound and gagged. Maybe when Spyro sees his brother he'll wise up and spill." The two moles laughed as they left. There was a whoosh as something followed after them leaving an orange crystal on a high shelf.
•••
Spyro was lost in thought as he wandered the temple. He still wasn't happy with the guardians, and he still hadn't forgiven them, but he felt that their reasons had been valid. At least to them. He was heading back to the kitchens from the audience chamber. The guardians had thanked him for his time and dismissed him after they had grilled him for information about Ignitus, the black crystals, and the final fight with Malefor. Maybe it was his trust issue, but he didn't share everything with the others; the information regarding anything specific especially concerning his and Cynder's newfound powers. He kept it all on a "need-to-know" basis. The fact that the city was in danger was relevant. The fact that Cynder and him were given bad-ass powers, not as much.
Spyro circled a corner looking for some signpost or landmark that would point him towards the library. Fortunately as he rounded the corner he smacked into something solid and he was knocked back. Years of training kicked in as he rolled to his feet. Flames roared to life on his tongue before a squeaking protest met his ears.
"Spyro, don't. It's me." Spyro shut his mouth and looked around.
"Cynder?" He asked looking around. "Where are you?"
There was a ripple in the air where he had hit, and for just a moment Cynder's outline was visible. She huffed in frustration for a moment. "Ugggh, I hate this, I truly hate this. I can't even turn it off to become visible.
"How did you even become invisible?" Spyro asked circling where he thought Cynder was. "I've seen your shadow sneak. It only hides you, it's nothing like this."
"No duh," Cynder said, and Spyro imagined that she was rolling her invisible eyes, "this isn't shadow, I think this has to do with... our new... er... you know what."
Spyro waved his wings in front of him as he slowly stepped forward until he felt himself hit Cynder. He carefully grabbed whatever part of her he had hit and positioned himself next to her. "Well you can't exactly go anywhere until you become visible again. I guess we'll just sit here and wait."
Cynder grumbled, but sat down back to back with Spyro and sulked. She was glad that this power had appeared when it had, but now she didn't need it and it just wouldn't go away. She was so mad that she almost forgot about what she had heard in the library.
"Spyro you will never believe what I just heard in the library. I don't know exactly what is going on, but there is a plan in place to..." Cynder paused a moment as she realized that she didn't actually know what the plan was. "Anyway it involves at least one of the guardians and- er Sparx-" Cynder again paused. Perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to mention Sparx. "Whatever is happening, it will only happen once either you or I tell the guardians something, or late tonight."
Cynder realized after she had explained it all how much her story didn't make any sense. Spyro was looking, or at least trying to look at her. He was staring slightly to her left, but it didn't matter.
"Cynder," Spyro began cautiously, "that doesn't make any sense. Why would Sparx or the guardians betray us?"
Cynder's heart wilted in her chest. She couldn't believe that Spyro didn't believe her. Did he not trust her? She a cold feeling trickle down her back as she felt his doubt.
Spyro shivered and jumped too at the feeling. He turned to look at Cynder again and could actually see her. "Cynder, I can see you... kinda. You have Shadow all over you, but at least I can see you now. You know how to get rid of Shadow right?"
Cynder shook herself like she was wet, but it did the trick. The shadows quickly evaporated off of her scales. She was elated that she was visible again, but she didn't look happy. "I know it sounds crazy and unbelievable but-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Spyro said flaring his wings defensively, "I never said that I didn't believe you. I was just saying that it was unbelievable. I pulled the world back together, I believe in the unbelievable."
Cynder shivered despite herself. She'd never had anyone believe her with just her word. It was definitely a new experience.
"So what now?" She asked.
"You go and see the guardians. Just don't tell them anything they don't need to know. Like you said we don't owe them anything, especially you. Just don't tell them anything, make them tell you what you want to know." Spyro smirked to himself, "Terrador definitely has something to tell you. If he needs any persuasion mention Gaea."
Spyro kissed Cynder's cheek and then began walking down the hallway toward the kitchen. "I'm going to go get lunch," he called back to her, I'll have some for you in our room when you're done."
"Oh, Spyro could you find another room and prop the window open. The moles said that they knew where our room was."
"Sure," Spyro shouted back without turning. "Hey when you are done with the guardians you should tell me the rest of this story."
Cynder smiled as she headed up the stairs to the guardians chambers. Spyro was silly sometimes.
Spyro had left the door open to the guardian's chambers, and the three older dragons hadn't had the opportunity to close it yet, so they almost didn't notice when Cynder walked into their presence. Strangely it was Cyril who first saw the black dragoness.
"Ah, Cynder," Cyril said calling the other two guardian's attention the the young dragon. "I'm glad you agreed to meet us." Cynder couldn't help herself. She shivered. The coldness in his voice coupled with his past mistreatment of her chilled her to the bone.
Cynder didn't like Cyril. During the year she had lived at the Dragon Temple he had always been the first to scold her, even when she hadn't done anything wrong. He had always criticized her during training, always finding something wrong with every set she completed. She didn't know why he hated her, but she did know that he did.
"Spyro told us what happened after you left us. Could you give us your version of events?" Cyril gazed coldly at Cynder.
The young dragon didn't know what to do. She didn't want to say anything that Spyro hadn't said, but then she considered what Cyril had actually said.
"My version of events?" Cynder asked incredulously. "What makes you think that it will be different from Spyro's? Do you think he covered up events for me? Do you think that my story will be inconsistent?"
"No," Volteer protested, "we simply wanted to know if from your slightly different perspective you noticed anything that Spyro didn't. We just wanted to discern from any differences, omissions, or additions that you made as opposed to Spyro that might give us a clue as to the true purpose, potential, or -"
"Shut up," Cynder snapped, "that may be what you had in mind Volteer, but what did he have in mind?" She turned and glared directly at Cyril.
"Enough," Terrador growled, "we aren't accusing you Cynder." He paused and regarded her. "This wasn't how I expected this exchange to go. You and Spyro are being much more confrontational than I had expected."
"Perhaps that is what happens when you use someone for years, and then they find out and aren't happy about it. Malefor certainly learned that the hard way!" The room went silent for a moment as what Cynder said sank in.
Cynder turned to leave the room, but then she remembered what Spyro said. She forced Terrador to meet her eyes and then said, "Gaea!"
Terrador's eyes went wide and then he hung his head. Cynder watched for a while as he sat there. As she watched the big dragon in front of her seemed to deflate even more, drooping forward with his eyes closed. Cynder felt a bit disturbed as his shoulders began to violently shake. He was crying.
"I am so, so, so sorry Cynder." He finally said.
Cyril on the other hand had had enough of this. "Terrador, is this really the time to discuss this?"
"Volteer, Cyril, I'd like to speak to Cynder in private. Please!" The Earth dragon's voice shook the room, and even Cynder felt extremely nervous. His voice wasn't even targeted at her. The Ice dragon rolled his eyes, but left the room nonetheless. Volteer looked a bit shocked at Terrador's tone, and it seemed like he wanted to stick around for a few minutes and see what happened. Cynder was stuck somewhere between laughter and pity, so she cleared her throat. Volteer snapped his head around to look at her.
"Oh sorry, my mistake." He hurried out of the room making sure to push the grand doors closed behind him.
Once he was gone, Cynder looked back up at Terrador to see what he had to say.
The great green dragon just stared at her. His eyes were filled with pain as he just stared at the young dragoness taking everything in. "You look just like your mother." He whispered.
Cynder didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't that. She would have expected Malefor himself to step into the audience chamber before hearing Terrador say that. "You know my mother? Wait..." Cynder glanced at the guardian suspiciously, "...are you my..."
Terrador only nodded, fresh tears streaming down his snout. Cynder didn't know how to feel about this revelation, so she pushed past it. "Is my mother even alive?"
"I don't know how much Spyro told you, but yes your mother, Gaea, is alive. So is your sister, Summer. They are both living in the old Dragon Temple now. We would have them here in the city, but with the whole dark crystal business we didn't think it was wise for them to come back yet."
There was a lot of information to process, so Cynder tried to tackle it one at a time. "Them?"
"All of the guardian's mates and children are taking refuge in the Dragon Temple. Everyone made it out with two eggs, except for Ignitus and... me."
Cynder realized that she was about to ask a question that she had wanted the answer to her entire life. It was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. "What happened that night? What happened to me?"
Terrador sighed. "That moment is the one I have regretted the most, and it almost destroyed me. I was the last one to make it to the egg room of the temple the night of the raid. The apes were already there, and had been for a while, smashing eggs left and right as they made their way deeper into the room. It was horrible, it was the closest place to hell that I have ever been. The flames from their torches reflected off of the blood and shattered egg shells that littered the floor. The smell of dead hatchlings almost completely overwhelmed me.
"Most of my clutch was near the door where the apes had entered and for a moment I thought I had lost them all. All of my children gone in an instant. But then after fighting my way past all of those damn apes I found a single green egg buried underneath the shards of a hundred others. I killed any ape that was stupid enough to come near me. They weren't about to touch my egg. As soon as you were out of danger I tucked you under my wing as I tried to secret you away undetected, and I would have made it had Gual not been waiting outside.
"He used that blasted staff of his to steal my mana. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. The pain as my magic was ripped away from me briefly paralyzed me and I fell immediately to the ground. I tried to cushion the egg as best I could but I lost my grip on it and it rolled away into the night. My head felt fuzzy for a moment, and when I regained consciousness I saw Gual perched over me ready to plunge his blade into my heart. I felt true fear wash over me. It was over, I was going to die. Then I heard a foot soldier cry out , 'General over here!' Gual didn't take his attention off of me for a moment, but he grunted to the smaller ape. 'We got what the Dark Master wanted,' he said, 'this dragon was kind enough to bring it directly to us!' I almost cried as he held up my egg. Gaul turned fully to examine it. For an instant I felt Gaul's attention slip, and I was paralyzed. Fear made my heart pound. I could hear blood rushing in my ears as I tried to decide what to do. In the end I am ashamed to say that fear won out, and I used that moment to escape." Terrador hung his head sadly as he finished.
He stayed that way for a long time. Finally he said, "I failed you, both as a father and as a guardian. I was so afraid of dying I let them have you. I let them curse you and..." he trailed off as he realized that he didn't truly know what Cynder had been through. "I am so sorry my child. Is there any way that you can forgive me?"
Cynder felt overwhelmed. She didn't know how to react to this. On one hand he had abandoned her to the torment that she suffered, but on the other hand she understood why he had done it. She had been motivated by fear before, and she truly understood how it could affect her. In all honesty she was probably the only dragon in the world that could understand Fear.
She didn't know what to do, but thankfully a simple thought in the back of her head made everything a whole lot clearer. If you faced another dragon who you had killed, would you want them to forgive you? It was a great analogy, as both were unthinkable acts, but Cynder was still indecisive. She didn't even know herself if she was worthy of forgiveness, but then she remembered something that Spyro had said to her.
•••
It was just after they had awoken in Avalar and helped drive away the Wyverns. Cynder had been expecting praise and forgiveness, so that they could be on their way to Warfang. Instead they had been forced out of the village and tasked with finding Meadow.
The village chief had been just helpful enough to tell them that Meadow had been seen heading upstream earlier that day, and so Spyro and Cynder followed the river to the head of the valley.
"Why are you moving so slowly?" Spyro complained as the chain nearly pulled him out of the air for a third time.
"I'm not," she protested weakly while drifting to the ground.
Spyro landed lightly beside her. "Okay what's wrong?"
Cynder refused to look at him, choosing instead to gaze back at the village. "You've seen it with Sparx, but I honestly couldn't care about what he thinks, but until now it's never truly hit me how much people treat me differently because I was Cynder, the terror of the skies. I even made them suspicious of you, someone who deserves to be thanked and given the highest honors. Are they right about me?"
Spyro was stunned for a moment, he hadn't realized that all of this bothered Cynder, and he had no idea that she thought so highly of him. He regarded the village for a moment, and then pointed at it with his tail.
"Go attack it." Was all he said.
Cynder just looked at him. "What?"
"They did you wrong. Go attack them. Kill them. Raze the village to the ground. You are definitely powerful enough, we can free Hunter and be on our way to Warfang in a fraction of the time it would take to find Meadow. Go, attack!"
"No," Cynder said, extremely confused. What was Spyro doing.
"Why?" Spyro asked raising his eyebrows. "You are the terror of the skies aren't you? Go destroy them. Why wouldn't you?"
"No!" Cynder shouted angrily. How could Spyro say that? "They may be jerks, but they are innocent and they don't deserve to die. I'm not going to attack them!"
Spyro met Cynder's furious gaze. They stood like that for a moment, and then Spyro smiled. "Exactly!"
"What?" Cynder asked now angry and confused.
"You just proved what I know. You aren't evil, you aren't violent. Cynder I know that you've done horrible things in the past, but they don't matter. You were under Malefor's control. Get over it. You just proved that you aren't going to attack innocent people." Spyro continued to stare into Cynder's eyes until the black dragon looked away.
"But I still did them." She whispered. "That is what they will judge me on."
Spyro was somewhat frustrated now. "Cynder you didn't choose to do them, and that should make all of the difference. I'm sorry people judge you for that, and that they don't know, or refuse to accept, that you are a hero. Fine. Do something that will change their minds. Make them see you as a hero!"
He could see that she still didn't believe him, so he met her eyes and spoke firmly. "Were you given a choice? Because if you weren't, it wasn't your fault. It couldn't have been. If anything it is Malefor's fault, and trust me we will make him pay!"
•••
"...if anything it is Malefor's fault, and trust me, we made him pay." Cynder smiled up at the Earth guardian.
Terrador respectfully bowed his head to the black dragoness. "Thank you, I truly needed to hear that." He shook his head vigorously, as if to clear his head. "I'm not quite sure where to go from here," he admitted, "but I won't pressure you. Take all the time you need to get comfortable with the idea." He smiled at her, but it was a rueful smile, a regretful smile.
"Thank you for telling me all of this," Cynder said as she turned to leave, but before she pushed open the heavy stone door she turned back and before she could change her mind added a final word, "father."
•••
Spyro was hopelessly lost. Again. But it really wasn't his fault. There were thousands of doors leading to thousands of rooms with hundreds of hallways connecting all of it. During his last trip to Warfang he hadn't exactly had time to get a tour of the place. Hell the last time he had seen the Temple it had been missing a tower... and a few walls... and ceilings... and floors... and was on fire. Blame Spyro as much as you want, but the Temple just looked different when it wasn't in the middle of a war zone.
It didn't help that he had gone to a completely different side of the temple to find a safe room where they could sleep without worrying about extremely vague plans that came from suspicious moles. Their new room was on the north side, third floor, and was the ninth room from the left. If there was something that was going to happen tonight then there was no way that anyone could find them. It was like looking for a specific needle inside a sewing shop.
Spyro briefly wondered why there were so many rooms. Surely there couldn't have been this many dragons that were killed in the raids. He quickly tried to do some math. From what Ignitus had told him about dragon breeding, a typical clutch of eggs was between eight and twelve. He knew that his own clutch had been extremely small, with only three eggs, but he assumed that he as the purple dragon was probably to blame. He figured that there were at least two thousand rooms in the temple, and so by dividing by the twelve eggs that was around one hundred and sixty seven clutches of eggs.
Spyro knew that at least eight adult dragons had escaped Malefor's purge, and that a great number had died years before that fighting Malefor the first time. He also knew that there were dragons living in other regions. Ignitus had taught him about a kingdom of Fire dragons living in the western deserts, and about a huge settlement of Ice dragons that had lived in Dante's Freezer before the war had forced them to travel even farther north. But even though he knew all of this, the concept of even one hundred and sixty seven female dragons who were able to lay those eggs was a staggering thought.
Spyro tried not to think about it as he climbed yet another set of stairs. Perhaps he should just try to find Cynder. She was moving, so she might be easier to find than their room. The purple dragon stopped short of the next landing as he heard someone talking.
"I'd like to... I wish I hadn't... no that won't..." Spyro heard a heavy sigh, "what am I going to say? How am I going to apologize?" Spyro was shocked. He knew who the voice belonged to, but he had never heard him sound so forlorn.
He moved from his hiding place. "Apologize to who?"
Sparx whirled around to face his brother. "Oh, Spyro. What are you doing here?" The dragonfly was nervous, Spyro could tell. What was Sparx doing here?
"Oh I was," Spyro said, and then hesitated. He remembered what Cynder had said about the plan, and about how Sparx was involved. "I was... looking for Cynder. She said that she would come back to the room after she was done meeting with the guardians, I even had lunch ready for her, but she must have gotten lost. I was heading back to the room hoping that she was there."
"Spyro," Sparx said raising an eyebrow, "your room is that way." Sparx pointed in the exact opposite direction that Spyro was going.
"I may have gotten lost as well," Spyro said quickly. "What are you doing here? I thought I made my feelings clear earlier." Spyro turned and started walking in the direction Sparx had pointed.
Despite his situation, Sparx couldn't help himself. "Spyro... upstairs..." Spyro glared back at his brother and then altered his path to take him to the staircase. "Look Spyro," Sparx blurted quickly to try and bring the conversation back on track, "I'm sorry. I came back to... apologize to you, and to Cynder if she'll hear me. I was out of line this morning-"
"This morning?" Spyro growled.
"I was out of line this entire time with Cynder." Sparx amended. "I'm sorry Spyro, and I know I was wrong about Cynder. I'm happy for you two, and I want to be a part of your life again."
There was a moment of silence as Spyro took in his brother's apology. "I accept your apology Sparx, but I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."
Sparx lit up. "Thanks bro. Now should I guide you to your room or correct you whenever you make a wrong turn?" Spyro rolled his eyes at the bug.
Turns out that Spyro's room was only a staircase and two hallways away. Sparx waited in front of a thick wooden door that looked identical to every other door on the hallway. "Seriously," Spyro cursed, "would a little individuality hurt? A patch of purple paint right there and all of this could be fixed."
Without waiting for his brother's response Spyro opened the door and poked his head inside. To his relief Cynder was laying on the bed finishing off the meal of fish and wild berries that he had brought her.
"Hey Spyro, did you get lost?" Cynder teased as soon as Spyro walked in. "Thanks for lunch by the way. Did you-"
"No I couldn't find you. Sorry!" Spyro interrupted shaking his head. "Look who I found on my way back though," Spyro said before raising his paw and cueing Sparx to come in.
"Oh," Cynder said, thankful that Spyro had cut off her question. But Sparx's entrance had made raised more questions. Didn't Spyro have a falling out with him? Why was he here then?
The little gnat flew over until he was hovering at eye level. "Cynder," he began meeting her eyes, " I am so sorry for everything I've said to you. I was way out of line and I hope you can forgive me."
For the - how many was it? Cynder was beginning to lose count- time that day Cynder was shocked by what Sparx had said. He had been the most consistent stream of verbal abuse since her curse had been broken. She had been honest before when she had said that his opinion didn't bother her, but after a week of constant hurt being constantly poured over her she began to crack. She didn't want to admit it, but there were several times during their adventure that she had wanted to kill the dragonfly.
She wanted to know above all else how honest the guy was being. "Really you think after everything that you have said you can just take it back and we'll be all good? No."
Sparx's glow faded somewhat. "Cynder, I'm sorry that I didn't trust you before. I truly believed I couldn't until just a few days ago. You brought Spyro back home alive. I can't thank you enough for that. This morning..." he bit his lip and looked back at Spyro. "This morning I was so bad because I wasn't sure if you were good enough for my brother. It was stupid I know, but I didn't want him to stay with you out of obligation. Now I realize just how much he loves you. I know now that I was wrong about everything. I'm sorry. Please."
Cynder subtly looked past Sparx to meet Spyro's eyes. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say "it's up to you". Her conversation with Terrador flashed into her mind, and she remembered the logic she had employed. If she was Sparx she would want to be forgiven.
"Sparx, it's fine. I forgive you. Thank you for apologizing." It was as if all of the tension in the room immediately dissolved. In fact Sparx lost so much tension that he flopped out of the air. He caught himself before he hit the ground, but it was too late. Spyro and Cynder both burst out laughing, and despite his embarrassment Sparx couldn't help but laugh as well. Any time any of them stopped, one look at any of the others sent them back into fits of giggles.
"How'd it go with Terrador?" Spyro eventually asked fighting down a laugh.
That sobered Cynder up quickly. She thought for a moment before speaking. "I don't know. It was really awkward, and really I have no idea what we are supposed to do now. I mean it's not like we can just create a father-daughter relationship after all of these years."
"Whoa," Sparx interrupted. "Are you saying that Terrador is your-"
Cynder nodded.
"And do you know who..?" he asked glancing at Spyro.
Spyro nodded. "Ignitus," he answered.
Sparx grinned at both of them. "That is so cool. So what about your mothers? Did you find out about them?"
Cynder glanced at Spyro. It couldn't hurt, could it? "Yeah, the guardians told us about their mates. They have taken shelter in the other dragon temple, the one by the swamp. All four of them, their mates… and their children."
"Wait," Sparx said looking back and forth between the two dragons, "There are other dragons." Then something else occurred to him. "You two have siblings?"
Spyro fell silent. Cynder, however, answered happily. "A sister, Summer."
Sparx turned to Spyro. "And you have..?" He sounded nervous.
"No. But why would I need any other siblings? I have you."