Chapter 11
"Cyril, Volteer, Terrador..oh it's so good to see you, you have no idea how long it took to get here..." Spyro stopped talking when Terrador stepped forward and put up his paw, after Spyro closed his mouth Terrador cleared his throat and addressed the multitude surrounding them.
"residents of Warfang, we thank you for coming, as you all know by now the war has been won, but not without casualties, let us now give a moment of silence to those we lost and who have been reunited with their ancestors in the afterlife." The surrounding crowd, both moles and dragons, all went quiet as they tilted their heads down and thought about the ones they would never see again.
After a while Cyril stepped forward and coughed, regaining the attention of the crowd, "yes well, though we mourn the departed and the past happening we must also be aware of the present, the war maybe over but that doesn't mean our enemies are gone, we know how stubborn they are and surely they will once more attack."
Cyril stepped back and Terrador stepped forward once more, "he's right, you all know your assignments, the moles will be fixing the walls, as well as the cannons guarding them, while the dragons fly around the city and make sure no danger is present."
"remember," said Cyril as he stepped forward once more, "report only what could be a large scale attack, or what could potentially do a lot of damage, if it can be taken care of by you or a couple dragons it is no reason to bring it to our attention."
"That is all," said Terrador as he stepped forward, "dismissed!" he yelled with his powerful voice. While the moles picked up tools or carried blueprints, the dragons all took flight in all directions towards the surrounding walls protecting the city.
"Spyro, Is that really you?, why, it is simply astounding that you are here right now, we saw the energy discharge and the fact that you were able to escape or even survive an explosion of that magnitude is beyond what any of us had initially thought had happened to you," said Volteer as he flew down from one of the towers.
"What Volteer is trying to say," Terrador interrupted, "is that it's good to see you both still in one piece," said Terrador. "yes quite (mumble, mumble,) now then pray tell, where is Ignitus there are some matters of importance that we must discuss," Spyro and Cynder seemed to stay quiet, much to Cyril's annoyance.
"Well, what is it? spit it out already.." Cyril stopped when he felt a paw on his shoulder and looked back at Terrador. Terrador had only to close his eyes and shake his head to get a good idea of what had happened. "hmmm, I see...well..he'll...he'll be missed, we'll have to look for a replacement, looks like we'll have to cycle into the new generation sooner than expected, we'll have to make preparations, Terrador, Volteer, come with me we must have a meeting about this and discuss the recent happenings."
Spyro looked at them in amazement, "wha, just like that? Don't you feel anything, he was your friend! y..you can't just say he's gone and leave it at that!" yelled Spyro in anger. "Spyro we do feel terrible about our friends fate, but we simply can not allow sentimentality interfere with our current situation and complications, it would be illogical to allow such conditions such as this to halt our current tasks, I apologize but that is simply the way we guardians operate," said Volteer before turning around to join the other remaining guardians.
"In the mean time, why not attempt to localize a resting area for you and Cynder," suggested Volteer before turning a corner and disappearing from sight. Spyro sighed and looked down, he was somewhat disappointed with the way the guardians took the news.
Cynder saw this and nudged his shoulder, "I'm sure they're sad too Spyro, maybe they just have too much to think about to show it," she said, hoping that would cheer him up. Spyro took a deep breath and looked up, "yeah...I guess you're right...thanks Cynder," he said while looking back at her.
"anytime," she said with a smile, "so...any ideas of where we could stay?" asked Cynder as she looked around the tall city. Spyro too looked around but sighed when he saw nothing in sight, "great, now we have to wonder the city looking for a place to stay."
"oh don't worry Spyro, can't be that hard, can it?" she asked as Spyro began walking down a road. Well, Cynder was right, finding a place to sleep in wasn't hard, there were many inn's scattered around Warfang, most of them were more than happy to allow Spyro to stay the night, Cynder however was a different story.
They had been looking for nearly two hours now and so far, not a single inn allowed Cynder to even come near it, much less stay the night. "and don't come back with that thing!" yelled the owner of an inn as he slammed the door shut. Spyro huffed and shook his head, "I don't get it, you helped defend this city as much as anyone, you would think that would count for something," said Spyro as he started looking for another inn.
"I'm afraid my actions won't be paid for so easily Spyro, were talking about years or wrong doing...it'll be a miracle if I can ever make up for it," said Cynder with sadness in her voice. Spyro wanted to say otherwise, that it wasn't as bad as she thought, but no matter how much he wanted to deny it he knew she was right.
Spyro stopped, he got the all too familiar feeling that they were being watched, he side glanced over to a dark corner and saw that something was observing them. Spyro took a deep breath and spun around, as soon as he looked directly at it the stalker took off running.
Spyro quickly ran behind it but as soon as he rounded the corner it was already a couple blocks away, how can someone move so fast?, he wondered as he ran after it. Cynder merely grabbed on and kept a close eye on the fleeing creature.
It looked back and yelped when it saw that they were gaining on her, she quickened her pace and ran up a ladder into a crumbling and old building. Spyro on the other hand stretched his wings and flew upwards on pure adrenaline, as soon as she reached the top of the stares she was tackled to the ground and slid a couple feet before coming to a stop.
Spyro was about to attack before Cynder gasped, "Spyro wait...look," she said as she pointed at the dark figure. With the moon light illuminating the old and damaged room they could finally see who it was that they had been running after.
Spyro stared in amazement as he looked down at a little curled up dragoness dressed in rags and covered in dust, her scales were white in color though now gray from all the dust she was covered in, and her horns were barely coming in, just slightly more than mere inches long.
Spyro stepped back as the little dragoness skittered away into a corner and curled up in fear. Cynder got off Spyro and walked closer to the shaking and scared figure in the corner, "we're sorry...we thought you were an enemy," she reached out to grab her but she backed up against the wall.
"we really didn't mean it...are you okay?" asked Spyro, the little dragoness seemed to calm down slightly and nodded her head. Spyro looked around the room, most of the wall was missing as well as cracked and mossy floor, and the only thing in the room was a couple of old, tattered pieces of cloth and a lantern.
"do you live here?" asked Spyro as he walked over to the pile of cloths on the floor, they were wet and cold to the touch, not to mention itchy and uncomfortable. The little dragoness finally seemed to calm down completely and nodded her head in response, "...yes," she whispered.
"where are your parents?" asked Cynder, she looked down with a sad look on her face as Cynder asked that, "...what about friends? A group...anyone." the little dragoness only stood in the corner, quiet as a mouse as she asked those questions.
"are you alone here?" asked Spyro, she sighed and nodded her head, "...I guess the war left more scars than I thought," said Spyro in a low voice to Cynder. She nodded and looked over at the little dragoness sitting in the corner staring at them.
"...we can't just leave her here Spyro," said Cynder, feeling pity for the lone little dragoness before them, "she's gotta be no more than a couple years old, she'll never last out here on her own," she said with worry in her voice. Spyro looked at her then back at Cynder, "what do you suggest we do Cynder? We can't even find a place for us to rest in."
Cynder looked down thinking then looked over at the little dragoness, "hey, do you know of any inn around here that we could sleep in?" she asked, expecting a no or a confused look. Much to her surprise she nodded and slowly walked around them and down the ladder.
"I think she wants us to follow her," said Cynder, Spyro didn't think that was true until the little dragoness stopped and looked back at them. Cynder smiled and climbed back on top of Spyro's back, he made sure she was holding on tight before he jumped off the ledge of the broken room and began following the little dragoness infront of them.
It didn't take long before she stopped infront of a two-story building made of chiseled stone and wood, Spyro walked up to it and looked at a sign hanging in front of the door, "The Sleeping Lizard" the sign read, "are you sure?" he asked, the little dragoness nodded then walked up to the door and stretched up to try and open it for them.
Cynder couldn't help but giggle at how cute she looked, Spyro only smiled before opening the door for himself and watched as she ran inside. The inside of the building was dark, lit only by a couple of torches spread out around the room, and a window with deep blue curtains that blocked almost all the light.
"hello and welcome to The Snoozing Lizard, h-how may I help you?" asked a mole sitting behind a desk, "umm, sorry my glasses might be a little foggy but, aren't you Spyro?" asked the mole as he cleaned the lenses of his glasses and put them back on.
"yes I am, me and Cynder were wondering if we could get a room here." "why..of course, a-anything for the defenders of the northern wall," he said as he opened a large book and wrote down Spyro's and Cynder's names with a quill."
"um... for asking but...why aren't you wearing those binocular things?" asked Cynder, trying her best not to sound rude or annoy him. The mole looked up and smiled, "no need to, as you can see this building is plenty dark, of course there is still light but so long as it's not too bright there's no need for us moles to use any protective lenses," he explained.
The mole looked behind him and grabbed a key with the design of a dragons head on it, "the best room we have, uh first night's free of charge, o-on the house," he said as he handed the key to Spyro, "first floor, last door down the hall, y-you can't miss it."
"Thanks, you're actually the first person that didn't kick us out completely rejected us," he explained. "oh I'm not surprised, most of the Inns around this city pride themselves on their reputation, sorry to say this, but I don't think allowing Cynder into their Inn would be much good for business."
"so how come you don't have a problem with it?" asked Spyro, wondering why he was questioning his kindness. The mole laughed, "because I don't care about reputation, Inns are meant to house people without a place to stay, not to judge them," he explained.
Spyro sighed and smiled, finally a place where we can rest, thought Spyro as he took the key from the counter and walked down the small hallway. Cynder tapped his shoulder and he looked up at her, she gestured back towards the counter and saw that the little dragoness was just sitting and staring at them.
"Well...come on," he said to her, she tilted her head and looked at him in confusion. Cynder got off and walked over to her, "don't you want to come with us," she said as she extended a bandaged paw, "it's okay, we'll take care of you, if you let us" said Cynder in a reassuring, almost mother like way.
The little dragoness hesitated, wondering if they would really take care of her or if she would simply wake up to find that they were gone in the morning. "we won't abandon you," said Cynder, "we'll always be with you, I promise."
The little dragoness sniffed as a few tears fell, she longed to hear those words, but never thought she would live to see the day someone would actually tell her that again. Cynder smiled and picked her up with one paw, the little dragoness wrapped her paws around her neck and squeezed it tightly as if her life depended on it.
Cynder struggled to keep herself from falling as she walked down the hall towards the double-door bedroom. Spyro smiled at the sight and quietly laughed, "it's a sad sight," said the mole behind the counter, Spyro looked over at him wondering why he would say that.
"the war did so much damage, families separated, friends we'll never see again...and children left without parents or family to take care of them, of course some are so young they forget about their parents completely, never knowing anything except loneliness and fear."
"...are there many more around the city?" asked Spyro, half wanting to not hear the answer. "all spread out I'm afraid, you won't find anyone without scars in this place, physical, or psychological." The mole sighed and shook his head, indeed this was a sad thought, but there was nothing they could do about the sad truth.
Spyro looked down, even I had parents, not to mention a brother to keep me company throughout the war...I can't even imagine how someone without anything would feel. Spyro dismissed the thought and walked down the hall where Cynder was waiting for him to open the door, "sorry," he said as he saw Cynder struggling to stay standing.
Spyro inserted the key and watched as the door glowed a bright blue, soon after, the door shifted and began sliding open with the sound of rattling chains and stone sliding on steel. Cynder quickly walked in and laid the little dragoness down on the bed, sighing in relief as she too laid her aching body down on the bed.
Spyro walked inside and looked around the room, admiring the layout of it all. The room had plenty of walking space, and the windows provided a gentle yet comfortable breeze, the bed looked large enough for a full grown dragon and the pillows seemed to be as soft as clouds, there was a small shelf beside the window with many books and a myriad of topics to chose from. The decoration was more than pleasing to say the least, there was a small table laying atop a rug with a beautiful night sky design on it, a painting hanging above the bed depicting the city in its former glory with many dragons flying around, and the curtains on the window were a light green with a flower design on them.
"not bad, this single room might look even better than the temple," said Spyro in awe as he walked over to the window. "well it is in ruins so I can see how that could be," said Cynder, still resting on the bed, "anyway," she sat up and looked over at the curled up little dragoness laying down on the bed next to her.
"do you have a name?" asked Cynder, the little dragoness sat up and looked down at her small paws, "please, I really want to know," said Cynder as she lowered her head to meet hers. "...Lilith," she whispered, Cynder smiled and shook her head.
"sorry but, can you speak louder, I couldn't quite catch that," she said, giggling at how timid she was. She played around with her claws as she tried to muster enough courage to speak louder, "...i-its...li..lilith," she finally said, she lied down completely on the bed and looked away, feeling embarrassed and scared.
Cynder smiled warmly and lied her head down next to hers, "well I think that's a beautiful name...Lilith," she said. Lilith looked up at her and smiled slightly, "you really think so?" she asked, still only talking in a low voice, Cynder giggled and nodded her head.
Spyro smiled while looking out the window at the night sky, finally things appear to be slowing down for a change, thought Spyro as he closed the curtain and walked over to the bed, "so Lilith, sleepy yet?" he asked as he laid down. Lilith nodded her head and yawned.
"..can I...sleep here..on the bed?" she asked shyly, she felt bad and embarrassed for asking that, she felt they had already done more than enough for her. "of course you can," said Cynder, Lilith's head shot up surprised at her response. Lilith stood up and wagged her tail in excitement, "really?" she asked, happiness practically radiating from her.
"of course you can.." Cynder flinched as Lilith jumped up and hugged her neck. "thank you," she said, laughing for the first time in what she thought felt like forever ago, "thank you, thank you, thank you," she kept saying. Cynder smiled and pulled her away, laying the thankful Lilith down on the bed beside her, "okay okay, why are you so excited?" she asked, laughing lightly at her joy.
Lilith's smile seemed to vanish as she looked down, "...its just...I always heard people talk about how comfortably these things were, and how well they slept...I was happy with just finding a rag to keep myself warm during the night, the street's floors always got really cold during the night."
"and then there was the constant fear of something hurting me while I slept...half the time I couldn't even close my eyes over how scared I was," explained Lilith, she smiled and looked up Cynder and Spyro, "thank you for letting me stay with you...it'll be nice to finally sleep without worrying for once."
Cynder felt like crying after hearing Lilith's story, she sniffed and pulled her into a hug, which Lilith happily accepted. "well," said Spyro as he lied down and stretched, "you'll never be alone anymore, not now that you're with us." "and we'll never leave you," finished Cynder as she lied down on the bed with Lilith next to her.
Cynder rubbed her muzzle and Lilith giggled as she did that, "good night Lilith," said Cynder as she closed her eyes. "good night," said Lilith as she took off the rags she was wearing for warmth and threw them on the ground. She then curled herself up and tried to go to sleep. Her eyes opened as she felt something warm covering her whole body, but calmed down when she noticed that it was only Cynder draping a wing over her.
She smiled at the warmth and comfort she now felt and went back to sleep, and for the first time in a long time, she wasn't afraid or worried anymore,she felt safe...and happy.
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I don't remember who said I was getting better with each chapter, but I'm pretty sure that after this one I successfully proved that person wrong, once again I'm sorry for taking so long, inspiration is sparse now that I've lost my wi-fi/internet. And without new music I grow weary of hearing the same playlist over..and over...and over...you get the point.
I'm not certain when the next chapter will come out or if you still even want to see more, I feel that my skill for detail diminishes with each chapter, not that I was that good to begin with but still. If you see any errors or anything wrong feel free to speak up, or something.
And as per usual I bid you farewell, piece.