Chapter Four: Preparation
"Well, it's getting close to evening; do you think we should get back with Skyro and Scarlet here soon so we can get back home and get ready?" Flare asked Smoke who was looking at a small scratch on his forearm, wondering where he could have received it, soon realizing that he probably got it from Fearador's horns scraping at him while trying to break free from his headlock.
"Yeah we probably should, I would like to spend a minute or two with Scarlet before we part ways." Smoke said, smiling at Flare as the two strolled back to the school.
"You really care about her don't you?" Flare said, smiling back as Smoke blushed a little bit to Flare's words.
"You have no idea Flare, she means the world to me," Smoke said with a smile, feeling joyful as he and Flare neared the school. "I feel like she's just made for me… I mean every time we talk and spend time with each other I feel like we never run out of things to talk about."
"I feel the same way for Skyro… how come you haven't told her how you feel?" Flare asked, having a decent guess why he hadn't confessed his feelings to Scarlet.
"When I go to confront her, I want everything to be perfect," Smoke said, surprising Flare at the same time. "I just want it to be a memory that we both forget, no matter what happens to both of us."
"I thought it was because you might be shy or something." Flare said, nudging Smoke's shoulder with her arm as they reached the bench next to the school doors.
"No never, I managed to get over that lump in my throat a while ago, I just spent more time with her until I felt more comfortable around her," Smoke said, chuckling as he turned and looked as Flare, taking a seat next to her on the bench. "How come you haven't said anything to Skyro yet?"
"I don't now really… I think I want him to make the first move… I mean I love him, I really do." Flare said, closing her eyes and smiling to her words.
"You mean you 'love him' love him?" Smoke said, realizing that maybe he misunderstood his feeling for Scarlet as just being best friend feelings but they were actually the first feelings of love.
"… Yes… He's been by my side even before we first hatched," Flare said, making a face of determination as she spoke her next sentence. "Yes I do love him; he's a feeling in my heart that loves to be acknowledged."
"Hey quite down, here they come." Smoke whispered, waving to Skyro and Scarlet who strolled up to the two.
"Hey did you two find anything interesting?" Flare asked Scarlet who nodded her head.
"A few gift shops, some herbalists who were trying to get us to try their free samples, the usual stuff," Skyro chuckled as the four turned towards the Dragon Study, watching Spyro exit the large building and head over towards their direction. "Hey dad, how'd the talk go?"
"It went decent son, no problem there," Spyro said, brushing the topic off as he tried to start up another conversation. "Hey Smoke, Scarlet, Flare, nice to see everybody all here; Skyro, I'm having dinner with Flare's parents tonight. Are you going to be ok while I'm gone, I might be out for a while?"
"Yeah dad I'll be alright, I was planning on heading home now to get ready for tonight here, was you going back home as well?" Skyro asked, smelling what smelled like liquor on his father's breath.
"Yeah, I have to be ready also, how about a race back to the cave?" Spyro edged on, trying to have some fun with his son.
"I don't know dad, I might beat you again," Skyro chuckled, waving to his friends before opening his wings. "Hey I'll see all of you tonight ok?"
"Alright buddy, will do," Smoke nodded, smiling as he watched Skyro and Spyro take off swiftly into the evening sky. "His dad was drinking again; I could smell it on his breath."
"Me to, but he didn't act drunk though." Scarlet said, shaking her head as the three felt sorry for Skyro. "At least he's not violent to Skyro though, I just hate to see his father like this."
"He probably drank something to counter the buzz, we all feel the same for them both, but what can we do about it though," Flare said, knowing better than Smoke and Scarlet what Skyro was going through. "Cynder was a big piece in Spyro's life, not to mention Skyro's as well… it's hard to even imagine how painful it must feel knowing the one responsible for her death is still out there somewhere."
"Hey guys, let's head home and get ready for the party, try to give Skyro a night of happiness for once." Smoke said firmly, trying to break the tension as he turned towards the Dragon Study, we should all meet up here and then head to the party afterwards."
"Alright Smoke, we'll see you then." Scarlet said, turning to her apartment in the city while waving to Flare. "Take care Flare, I'll see you within a few hours."
"You to Scarlet, see you." Flare said, taking flight as she headed home to get ready for the party.
"Nemphis… come forth my son." Draikor commanded, looking among the arena which was built just outside of their secluded fortress.
"Yes father, what is it?" Nemphis answered, stepping next to his father and looking down below the balcony at three silhouettes of what appeared to be dragons.
"I want to introduce you to our reinforcements," Draikor pointed down below to the dragon that stood before a large stone statue of a dragon. "Meet Psych… he's the master off telekinesis. He's the only one on this whole planet who wields this special gift." Nemphis watched as the all grey dragon closed his eyes and focused on the statue. The statue began to tremble and shake before it crumbled into dust and gravel.
"Very impressive… He can prove himself useful during battle, who's next?" Zpharah said, eager to see who was next.
"Deceptya, the shape shifter," Draikor stated, smiling as the female dragoness stepped forward, her burgundy scales shining in the evening sun. "She can morph into anyone in her memory down to the finest detail, even their voice." Draikor's mouth formed a wicked smile as he watched the sexy dragoness morph into an identical copy of Cynder.
"Wicked… I love it, and who is the last fellow?" Nemphis smiled in delight as the final dragon stepped forward.
"Tumour, the dragon of manipulation, another rare gift only he possesses," Draikor said as he clamped both of his paws among Deceptya's head and tapped into her thoughts, forcing her to morph into Draikor. "He loves to abuse his powers which make him a dangerous foe."
"Why do we need these dragons," Nemphis asked, not sure what role they would play as in their quest for power. "Don't you think these dragons possess a threat to us?"
"No, I have them under control with Dark Magic, and we will need them to weaken Spyro before you go through your second task." Draikor said firmly, looking over to his son who nodded his head in agreement.
"To kill Spyro… he is weak now, I can sense it." Nemphis said as he allowed Zpharah to slip back into his body.
"No doubt… but I feel another force, but I don't know where it is coming from," Draikor said, shaking his head to rid himself of the thought. "Whatever it is, it will not stack up to our destructive forces, along with our army. We are unstoppable."
"What happened at your first dance, what was it like?" Skyro asked, still getting ready to leave to Warfang.
"I uh… now's not the time to get into stories son, you're running late as it is." Spyro said, not wanting to bring up any memories.
"I've got time dad, I'm actually running a little bit early as it is." Skyro said, putting in a small drop of eye drops to make his green eyes seem clearer when looked at.
"Alright son, only but a quick one though," Spyro said, taking in a deep breath quietly before beginning. "It was cold that night, clear skies overhead and I was running a bit late, and I was a nervous wreck. I specifically told her I would be no later than ten after… twenty minutes had already passed. It is rude to keep a lady waiting. I've been planning this for months now and I was the one who happened to be running late."
"I was flying at a pretty fast rate of speed to make up for lost time however," Spyro continued, not wanting to miss a detail. "I could see the city lights from where I was at though, there was a giant party in the city, everybody and anybody was invited there as a celebration for the time of peace. I was to meet Cynder at the city dance and dining theatre, I had something big in store for her that night, everything fell into place perfectly… except for me running late. I touched down about a block away from the theatre, it was the only clear place to land without me running into anybody and ruining my appearance."
"What were you wearing that night?" Skyro asked, taking the metal choker which his mother had gotten him for a gift if he ever completed his training and snapping it around his neck, adjusting it so if fit comfortably.
"Nothing to flashy, I don't think your mother liked it too much when I looked flashy and popular I guess is the way to put it," Spyro said as he chuckled a little bit to the thought. "Anyway, I was wearing a simple scarf and headdress which your mother had gotten for me a few days earlier, had it sized and fitted to my horns perfectly. I ran as fast as I could to the theatre and shoved the doors open upon my arrival. All eyes were upon me as I walked into the room; everything was going according to plan. I had told everybody in the city if they were planning on attending the ball in the theatre to simply remain quiet and stare as I walk in."
"Why, how does that go with the surprise?" Skyro said, brushing himself off of any dirt or foreign materials from his scales.
"Because everyone caught on before your mother did, she was the last one to turn towards me as I strolled up to her slowly, taking in her beauty from a distance before being face to face with it… she was the most beautiful thing imaginable Skyro," Spyro said, reliving those moments of that night. "She wore a red silk garment which was being held up by her choker which reflected beautifully to the eyes. Her eyes were twice as brilliant as I've ever seen them; she must have used some type of eye drop to bring out the color." Skyro then thought of what he had just done to make his eyes stand out and smiled, knowing that his mother would have probably have told him to do so.
"What happened after that?" Skyro asked, not wanting to miss out on his father's story.
"Hello my love, beautiful evening tonight is it not?" Cynder calmly said, admiring how handsome Spyro looked.
"The night is quite beautiful indeed, but not as beautiful as you," Spyro calmly said, gently hugging her before stepping back once more to admire her beauty. "Sorry for me running so late, I ran into some Moles who needed some help fixing their grocery cart before I could head home and get ready, didn't realize how hard it was to find a blacksmith nearby so they could be assisted."
"I'm just glad you made it here for the dance," Cynder said with a smile, looking among the great dance hall which had just finished construction about a week prior. "I must say though dear, you sure know how to treat a lady."
"Only the best for my queen," Spyro said, snapping his fingers to the musicians playing the music for the night, the room falling deathly quiet as soon as soon as the music stopped playing. "Shall we dance my love?" Spyro reached his hand out to Cynder who gladly accepted her husband's invitation. No words were said as the two stepped out into the middle of the dance floor.
"How come nobody else stepped out to dance with you guys?" Skyro asked, looking himself over one last time in the mirror to make sure he looked his best.
"Because it was the second part to your mother's surprise," Spyro said with a smile, thing back to what he had planned that night. "I wrote her a song for the musicians to play."
One of these days the sky's gonna break and everything will escape, and I'll know…
"I don't believe I've heard this song before, what is it called?" Cynder asked, wrapping her arms around Spyro's neck while he placed his hands among her hips.
One of these days the mountains are gonna fall into the sea, and they'll know…
"My song to you my love, Letters from the Sky," Spyro said calmly, noticing that the lights had grew dim all around them except where they stood dancing slowly together in the center of the dance floor. "I wrote this song just for you my love…"
That you and I were made for this, I was made to taste your kiss, we were made to never fall away…
"Spyro… I love you."
"I love you to Cynder…"
Never fall away…
The two shared a passionate kiss before beginning to dance to the rhythm of their special song.
One of these days letters are gonna fall from the sky telling us all to go free…
But until that day I'll find a way to let everybody know…
You're coming back… coming back for me…
'Cause even though you left me here, I have nothing left to fear…
These are only walls that hold me here…
Hold me heeeeere…
Hold me heeere…
Hooold me heeeere…
Only walls that hold he here…
One day soon I'll hold you like the sun holds the moons…
And we will hear those winds overhead…
And we won't have to be scared…
"As long as we have each other, we have no reason to be scared of what might be thrown at us." Spyro calmly said in Cynder's ear before spinning her around and back into his arms once more.
'Cause we won't have to beeee scaaaared, no!
We won't have to be, yeeeah, scaaared, no!
Comin' back for me, comin' back for me, you're comin' back to me…
The crowd cheered and whistled in applause as Spyro dipped Cynder down for one last kiss before pulling her back up to his face.
"As long as you're still here, I will always have something to come back to." Spyro said with a smile before they both walked over to the rest of the guests who had come.
"Dad, that was very amazing what you had done for mom," Skyro said as he turned towards his father. "I wish I could think of something like that."
"You have a special someone?" Spyro asked, having a very good idea whom it might be.
"Flare… she makes me happy dad, like beyond what happiness is." Skyro said, unsure of what to say next.
"All I can tell you is that when the time comes, your heart will know what to say," Spyro said, kissing his son on his forehead before shoeing him off and out of the cave. "But anyway son I'm rambling, now go have fun at the party, make tonight a night to remember!" Spyro called out, waving to his son as he watched him disappear out of sight and into the late dusk sky. Spyro then turned back into his cave, making sure he looked presentable enough for dinner with Flame and Ember.