Hi, readers! I apologize for the time it took me to post this chapter. It's because I decided to change the planned plot and didn't finish the new one yet. As result of that, I don't know when the next will come, I'm sorry.
This chapter also might feel a bit filler, but as before, that's not intended, it's just the course of the story.
At least, I'm writing a new fic, called "A Parallel view", that's based on the same world of this one, but features only original characters in a completely different situation with a different plot. So I ask you to give it a chance and follow if you like, favorite if you really like, and review telling me why you liked or not (same goes to this chapter).
I also lost my beta reader, which is a friend of mine, since she seems to have lost her interest in reading.
Finally, I really hope you like this chapter, even more after so much waiting. Liking or not, don't forget to tell me how do you feel about it, that's the only way I can improve.
After the last training, the dragons met on the mess hall to have their breakfast. Spyro and Cynder joined a bit later since they were talking to the Guardians.
A few minutes after they finished their breakfast, Ember called Grace to have a walk with her.
"Come on Grace." She got up from the bench, getting the dragoness' attention. "Let's have a walk around."
It was not the first time Ember asked her for a walk. She usually did that to talk without the males hearing, not because of herself, since she actually didn't mind that, but for Grace, since she showed herself shy to speak some things in their presence.
Grace smiled and got up too.
"Will you come, Cynder?" The pink dragoness turned her look to her.
Cynder smiled too and got up. "Sure." She said.
Spyro smiled at her, happy to see her sticking with others beside himself since she used to be more reclusive.
"See you soon, boys." Ember smiled and walked away, with Grace and Cynder following her.
"Hey, Flame." Amphars called while the three of them watched the girls leave.
"Yea?" Flame gazed at his friend.
"Do your butt still hurting after that fight?" He provoked, finishing with a genuine laugh.
Spyro did his best to do not laugh but giggled at Amphars in the end.
"Not as much as I can leave yours." Flame provoked back. "Not even a quarter."
"I'm frightened." Amphars continued his laugh.
"Tell me… How are things going?" Ember curiously asked, amused.
"Are you asking that just because I didn't say I had a good morning?" Grace asked her, puzzled and raising an eyebrow.
Ember laughed, before replying. "Sort of. But I know you, Grace."
"And you want to know everything…" Grace completed, with a teasing tone.
"Oh, you're my best friend's girlfriend, of course I want to know!" She explained herself.
Grace laughed to herself. Cynder just giggled at the dialog.
"I know, don't worry." Grace smiled and bumped her shoulder at Ember's.
"So?..." Ember face lit up.
Grace looked down briefly, before start talking. "This morning, we…"
And so the day passed on. Flame and Ember couldn't hide some eagerness to know which one of them would be chosen, and why. The Guardians, however, would remain silent through the rest of the day.
When the sun started to set in Warfang, the six young dragons met again in the mess hall. While they ate and chatted, Flame and Ember had the idea to go outside the temple and visit the city, to rejoice in a bar to celebrate the end of a month of Guardian training. The other four gladly accepted.
So they went to Warfang's finest bar, where all those who wanted to drink and rejoice after a day of hard work went to, be cheetah, mole or dragon.
The bar was crowded as always, but when Spyro and Cynder stepped through the main door, everyone stopped whatever they were doing to gaze at the "Heroes of Warfang". There wasn't a single being that didn't look and comment about them.
Quickly, cheetahs and moles got up and started to clap at them, while some ran towards them to meet the famous dragons, and shake their paws.
It was the first time Spyro and Cynder went to a crowded place in Warfang, and they didn't expect such a warm reception from the citizens.
Spyro and Cynder retributed this reception, greeting everyone that approached them as a friend, and thanking those who clapped and complimented them for the distance.
Of course the others were not known and didn't receive such attention, but just for being with Spyro and Cynder they also had been noticed.
Eventually, everyone settled down and allowed Spyro and Cynder to reach the cheetah bartender.
"Spyro and Cynder themselves, in my bar! It's always a pleasure have dragons like you two here!" The bartender cheerfully met them, with a big grin on his mouth, opening his arms to them. "What can I do for you and your friends?" He politely asked.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Spyro bowed slightly, before continuing. "We want to commemorate the end of their Guardian training." Spyro explained, giving Flame and Ember a glance.
"Are you telling me that you just brought the candidates to Guardianship here?!" The cheetah surprisedly asked.
Spyro just gave him a nod.
"That's even better than I thought!" He exclaimed, joyfully. "Free drinks for Spyro, Cynder, and his friends!" He shouted as loud as he could.
The bar rejoiced, everyone lifting their mugs.
"Thanks for your kindness!" Spyro happily replied.
"That's nothing, Spyro. We all owe you two much more than a few drinks. Drink as much as you want, enjoy!"
Just when the bartender said, Cynder noted something.
"We forgot to bring coins." She discretely said to him.
"Gladly we won't need them." Spyro replied with a small laugh.
Before starting drinking, the six raised their mugs and made a toast for Flame and Ember.
"For Flame and Ember!" Spyro called. The others joyfully repeated.
None of the six young ones had ever drank alcohol before, and they were still to get used to the taste.
They chatted and drank until after the sunset, when they became tired.
Spyro and Cynder said their goodbye to the bartender, and then to the rest of the bar at once, that said back to them and desired them good way back.
Since no one was in a rush, and they had drank, they chosen to go back walking. It wouldn't be nice to crash against the temple walls at flight speed anyway.
They walked their way back into the night, and only the towering torches lit their way back to the temple.
More talking took place, laughs and jokes too, before they reached the temple's stairway, where they finally said their goodbyes, and parted with their mates to their rooms. Ember and Flame, and Grace and Amphars had to be stealthy, since they didn't had authorization to sleep together.
Flame entered his room ahead, with Ember behind. She took care looking to every corner, before slipping in. She shut the door closed with her tail, and walked to Flame's bed. But even if both were tired, Ember didn't had the intention of sleeping yet. While Flame laid himself flat over his ribs on the small bed, Ember lay with her underside on top of him, giving him a small lick on his cheeks.
He released a laugh, and Ember smiled to herself.
"Aren't you tired, Ember?" He curiously questioned.
"Just a bit." She replied, and slid her head to his under jaw. Flame just knew she was asking for attention, so she wanted something.
"What's that?" He asked.
She then forced his head up, with her muzzle.
Flame then moved under her, turning himself to face her. She gave him a satisfied smile, as that was exactly what she wanted.
Soon that he turned, she pressed their lips together, and started to kiss him passionately. The dragon then did the same, grabbing her cheek with a paw, and her hips that were just over his with another. Meanwhile, Ember was gently caressing his chest with both paws, slowly and continuously. They could still taste the alcohol in each other's mouth as they kissed.
Their bodies closer as possible warmed together, their hearts beat strong, their tails intertwined, and the sounds of their kiss and their accelerated breaths was the only sound to be heard in their room.
After a minute of two of kissing, Flame hold on her quarter's become stronger, while he pulled her against him. In reply, Ember let her underbelly slide over his, getting a small moan from the dragon while they kissed.
Just then she finally ended their kiss, gasping for air, and then licking her lips.
In the next afternoon right after breakfast, the Guardians finally called Flame and Ember to their hall. Spyro and Cynder went with them, leaving Amphars and Grace to themselves in the mess hall.
In the Guardians' hall, the eager fire couple sat side by side, gazing up with curious eyes to the three old Guardians, who met them with proud smiles.
"Good morning, Flame and Ember." The Guardians said together.
"Morning, Guardians." Flame and Ember replied.
"We know you two had a long way and hours of training to get here..." Terrador started. "...and you two proved to be worthy, to do a final test."
"What test?" Both asked, curious and surprised.
"This test is actually more symbolic than a real test, but well...we want you to bring a few rare scrolls, left on the old dragon temple." He explained.
"Just bring scrolls?" Flame tilted his head.
"Exactly." Volteer took the word. "But these scrolls are pretty old, and fragile. They are also unique, and immeasurably valuable for their knowledge."
"And... In case they aren't there, we want you to find them." Cyril said.
"Now I get it..." Flame said.
"The temple was raised from the ground by Malefor, using his dark powers, and stayed like that for a while, until his defeat. The temple now must be somewhere near the mountain, we don't know exactly where." Terrador continued.
"If it didn't fall inside the volcano, of course." Cyril added.
"And if it did?" Ember curiously asked.
"We believe that the power that Spyro used to undo the world's end might also have affected the floating temple, keeping it from falling inside the volcano, and landing it graciously elsewhere, but like Terrador said, we don't know where it might be." Volteer replied.
"I was almost forgetting that." Cynder muttered to Spyro.
"About Malefor, or the temple?" He asked back to her.
"About you, fixing the world from the core." She smiled.
"Me too." He giggled.
"So we need to search around the whole mountain? It's kilometers large!" Ember said.
"Actually, the temple might have fallen after the ring of fire, so you can add a few more kilometers to that." Cyril giggled.
Ember pouted.
The Guardians just giggled at this.
"It is not a hard task, neither dangerous, but may take a while." Terrador said.
Cyril then approached the young couple, and handed them a paper scrap, with two names on it.
"These are the scrolls we need, you may find them with the others on the temple's library."
"The library? There must be thousands of scrolls there!"
"We know, Ember. But you will know when you find these two, they are pretty different from the other ones." Volteer said.
"You two may go alone, since it is still a test. But if any of you gets hurt or if any danger appears, you are to get back to the city. You shouldn't run any unnecessary risks, understood?"
"Understood." Both nodded their heads.
"We trust you will make a good judgment of any situation you may encounter." Terrador said. "Any question?"
"I guess not." Ember said, not very sure about the task. Flame just nodded his head.
"Good, you may go then."
"Thank you Guardians." Both bowed their heads.
The Guardians only nodded.
Spyro and Cynder then approached the two dragons.
"We wish you best luck, Flame and Ember. " Spyro respectfully said.
"Thank you Spyro and Cynder." Ember said, bowing her head. Flame followed suit.
"You two are always welcome." Spyro put a smile.
"So, are we going to go now?" Ember asked her mate.
"I guess so." He replied. "The sooner we finish this, the sooner we become Guardians."
"Lets wait after lunch then, shall we?" Ember asked.
"Why is that?" Flame curiously asked.
"If we go now we will have to stop soon to eat. So I think it will be better for us to lunch first." She explained.
"Okay then." He nodded. "And what do we do until lunch?" He curiously asked.
"We plan ahead the mission, and enjoy our time, of course." She replied, rubbing her shoulder lightly in the end on him and beaming.
He chuckled amusedly.
Flame and Ember used to be visiting the city like Spyro and Cynder, but today they didn't have time to plan anything, so going back to bed was a good idea to kill time comfortably.
On the other side, Amphars and Grace were too lazy to go outside at morning, mainly because of Amphars. They enjoyed to be comfy with each other, and their room gave them that plus privacy. A lazy and romantic morning in their room was just perfect.
As for Spyro and Cynder, finally, they went to rest and sunbathe on the grassy plains outside of the city, near to the mighty city walls, that were surprisingly still standing after such a powerful siege of Malefor's troops.
There, Spyro was enjoying their time, laying flat on his side over the smooth grass, with his mind free of thoughts and worries. Cynder was just ahead of him, also laying over her ribs, having her back against his belly and chest. However, Cynder had something in mind since she woke up that morning. She was ignoring it since then, but could no longer now.
"You will never get away from that Cynder, you always will be marked. And you still carry these iron shackles to show you former servitude to the dark master!"
The scene replayed on her mind just again, forcing a sigh from her throat. That was enough to her mate notice that something was wrong. She had never thinking so much ever since they defeated Malefor.
"What's wrong, Cyn?" He asked, with an already comforting tone.
"It's not important, Spyro. Don't worry." She replied, seeing that he had noticed her behavior.
"It's bothering you, isn't it? Tell me then." He insisted.
Spyro's insistence forced a weak smile to crack on her lips. She always felt better when he demonstrated care for her, and he did that just frequently.
"I was thinking...about my shackles." She forced herself to reply, looking back to him. She didn't want to bother him with that.
"Cynder, I thought you were used to them. Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He questioned her, concerned.
"I was, or at least thought so. I didn't think it would bother me." She explained.
"I'm sure we can get them off you, Cynder. We'll find the key." He said with his characteristic assuring tone.
"Thanks, love." She smiled, and gently rubbed her head under his jaw.
"It's nothing, Cyn." He smiled back.