The next day the elders held a funeral for the wind dragoness. Her body was brought into the city and placed atop a pyre in the center of the city. Dragons and moles alike came to watch in curiosity and surprise as Terrador gave an eulogy. He spoke of the wind dragons as he had remembered them, and then spoke of the beauty of the dragoness whose life was ended far too early, finally he spoke of the egg which she had left behind.
Many were surprised to see the wind dragon, the white scales having only been seen in books and heard about in legends. The wind dragons had not been completely forgotten as Terrador, Volteer and Cyril had thought, no it seemed that dragons who had past years ago, had told their children of the kindness and generosity of their white scaled cousins. The children had most likely told their children and so on, the truth slowly fading and the wind dragons turning into legends, and becoming some kind of hero of the dragon realms.
Finishing his eulogy, Terrador said a quick prayer to the Ancestors before he stepped back. A fire dragon from the crowd quickly stepped forward and blew a gentle flame under the pyre. All of Warfang watched as the flames slowly consumed the wood and then the body of the dragoness, more prayers were said from those among the crowd. The prayers ranged from hopes of safe passage to the afterlife for the dragoness, to the best wishes for her egg.
When nothing but ashes remained of the dragoness and the pyre, Cynder stepped forward at the request of Terrador, and used her wind breath to send the dragonesses ashes into the air. It had been tradition that wind dragon's ashes be sent off on the wind as their belief was that they came from the wind and should thus return to the wind when they died.
Some other races had similar beliefs, fire dragons for instance would find the nearest source of magma and lower their dead into said magma. Ice dragons, if at all possible, would encase their dead in ice, so that they might never age in death. Earth dragons however simply buried their dead in the ground like the moles and cheetahs, though earth dragons would place a boulder over the sight of the grave and those closest to the deceased would have their names carved into the stone.
The funeral came to a close the crowd began to disperse those who had not yet left quickly did so now their lives calling to them. While no dragons wept for the dragoness who had passed, a heavy cloud hung over Warfang that day, as sorrow and grief took hold of the minds of everyone. Such was the way of things, when a legend died.
Returning to their conference room, the three elders, along with Spyro and Cynder, would have much to discuss in the coming days. Plans would need to be made, and while the arrival of the egg of a wind dragon was big news, it did not constitute a valid excuse to abandon their duties. Spyro and Cynder, while technically holding no power in the decisions of Warfang's future, came along at the request of Terrador. The two younger dragons had helped to save the world from the dark master, and as such all three elders respected their opinions, and sought insight on the happenings inside the city. They could see things that the elders could not, for their age caused them great grief, and they could not walk the streets as they once could.
Taking their regular seats. Terrador, Cyril, and Volteer, all grunted as their bones shifted. Spyro and Cynder took up two new cushions that had been brought for them and both relaxed as they waited for the elders to settle. Once that was done Terrador spoke first as his gaze fell to the center of the circle that their bodies had made. In the center, resting comfortably on a stand which had a half oval carved into it, sat what the elders and the two young dragons had begun to call Boreas's egg.
"My friends," he began his old voice ringing with life once more. "The arrival of Boreas's egg fills me with hope once more. I think I speak for all of us when I say that things will look up for our race in the coming years," Murmurs of agreement and nods came from around the circle. "But Boreas's egg must wait, for we have much to discuss. Hope alone will not ensure our races survival."
"Well said Terrador," Cyril replied as he straightened himself on his pillow, his faded eyes glowing.
"Thank you Cyril, now onto pressing matters. The death of the wind dragoness, while tragic in of itself, has me worried that more danger lurks outside our walls. The cursed skeletons that were once the apes, still run amok. We can not truly kill them for they are already dead, and bound to the shadows,"
"Quite right, Cursed with vile dark magic, the creatures seek to gain power, but will never have it. This makes them ravenous and quite possibly the most dangerous creatures alive to date." Volteer added.
"Yes we are all aware of their curse. I thank the Ancestors that they still hold their cowardice even in death, I fear it is the only thing that keeps them from our city, nevertheless we must take action to prevent more deaths. They cannot survive long in the sun, which is a blessing, but until we are able to raise warriors to defend our home, we must take action."
"What would you suggest Terrador? We cannot keep the citizens locked within the walls of Warfang," Cyril commented.
"No we can't, nor can we keep them from the forests where the creatures lie. Our only course of action is to warn the citizens, of the dangers the forests conceal, and and assure them of the safety that Warfang provides them."
"What if we started a sort of guard?" Volteer suddenly asked. "We would only take volunteers, and as I recall a few good dragons are just skilled enough to repeal such dark creatures. The guard would not be nearly up to the same standards the Warfang warriors of old, but perhaps if the citizens see their friends and family in armor and patrolling the streets, they may see the benefit of staying close by." Volteer said, his mouth moving fast enough that it appeared it was trying to catch up to the words coming from it.
"Wow Volteer!" Cynder Suddenly said, breaking the silence and saying what everyone was thinking. "I haven't heard you talk so fast, since before the war ended." Volteer only blushed in reply as Cyril laughed.
"Volteer's wagging tongue aside, I think he has an excellent idea," Cyril spoke up, getting his laughter under control. "The citizens cannot look to us for protection and despite Spyro and Cynder's reputation, they still fear the monsters from the war. They will not be expected to defend the city but they will be prepared in case the need were ever to arise."
"I see merit in the suggestion," Terrador mused aloud. "If you cannot seek comfort in the walls that protect you, look instead to those who you know. I don't think we need to put it to a vote, Volteer and you seem to think it a good idea, and I can't find fault with it either, but I wish to know your thoughts on the matter." he said turning to look at Spyro and Cynder.
"I'm not to keen on the idea of dragons just signing up to guard the rest." Spyro began carefully. "What if some young dragon wants to prove something and ends up getting himself killed? It would only cause more problems than it would good."
"I don't know Spyro, what if the guard had a mandatory training schedule? Those dragons who aren't as experienced would have more training hours which would keep them busy, and out of trouble while at the same time preparing them for any danger." Turning to Terrador she continued. "I think this would help restore faith in Warfang, but I think the dragons who have more training hours shouldn't even be allowed to patrol the streets, at least not at first, and when they do start, maybe assigns them a more experienced guard to watch them and keep them in line."
Terrador nodded. The extra training hours and mentors would keep younger and more foolish dragons from making mistakes. There was of course the truth that no matter what they did, young dragons would still do foolish things. "Cyril, Volteer. What say you?"
"Spyro makes a point, but the benefits far outway the risks, and Cynder's proposal would help to minimise any mishaps and keep young dragons in line. I'm for the idea of a guard." Cyril said nodding his head.
"Quite right, Cyril. I couldn't have said it better myself, I cast my vote for the guard."
"Then it is settled, we will form a guard to watch the city and put the fears of the citizens to rest. We can smooth the details out later but for now, we must move on to other matters. Cyril how goes the the hunt for knowledgeable dragons and moles to run a school here in the temple?"
"Ah the hunt goes well Terrador. The moles as you know have a network of communication, word spreads fast through them, and already several moles have come forward with claims that they can teach math, science, and history. I've also gotten reports of a few dragons who are in possession of certain materials that would benefit the school. Attempts to convince them to donate said materials are ongoing but I have high hopes."
"Good. Any sort of education we can give the current generation of whelps is welcomed. Volteer what about our food supply?"
"Chief Prowles has agreed to our request and will provide the city with meat, in exchange they'll be allowed access to some of the gardens, so that they can grow their herbs and medicinal plants," Volteer said happily.
"Excellent, while we're on the subject of medical resources, how does our supply of red gems looking?" Terrador asked.
"Not well I'm afraid." Volteer replied a little crestfallen. "While serious injuries have been on a decline, we've still gone through a decent size of our reserves. While we still have enough to treat many serious case, if a city wide disaster, we would be severely under prepared. I suggest that we send out some electric dragons soon to try and locate more just in case."
"Will they last for another month?"
"Definitely, though we may have to ration them, for only the most serious of injuries."
"I see, we'll speak to the moles running the infirmary and let them decide on what is serious and what is not."
"Terrador this is all well and good but I believe it's time we talk about who will take over for Ignitus. The fire dragons don't fully trust us, they need someone to lead them." Cyril spoke up getting all eyes too turnt to him.
"Yes I'm aware of the problem Cyril, which is why I've increased the number of moles in areas where fire dragons reside. They're currently looking to see who the fire dragons look up to the most, who has the respect and trust of the fire dragons. We can choose a successor later, but for now the moles are working on it." Terrador replied.
Cyril didn't look especially ecstatic about postponing the decision, but he was content to trust Terrador. The meeting went on for a few more hours, most of the problems being brought up were miniscule, and easily solved, other were not however. A fight had broken out between an ice dragon and a earth dragon, leaving one with cuts and bruises and the other with a nasty black eye. The idea of using the guard had come up to not only protect the city of Warfang from outside, but also from the inside.
Problems ranging from a shortage of water, to an unreliable bartering system, were brought up and were dealt with or pushed aside until a solution could be found. Spyro and Cynder added their fair share of ideas, and even gave the guardians an insight on how the citizens felt. The two heroes were invaluable, their insight helped to make better decisions. Finally the elders ran out of problems with the city to discuss and try to fix, leaving all anxious to discuss what would be decided about Boreas's egg.
"Now that we've finished discussing the city's plans, we can move on to the egg." Terrador began.
"If it's alright with you three, Spyro and me have been talking, and we'd like to raise him." Cynder suddenly said, getting all eyes to turn to her and Spyro.
"You want to raise Boreas's egg when it hatches?" Cyril asked sounding like he couldn't believe it.
"Well the truth is, Cynder and me talked about it a little bit yesterday, but we weren't sure what you thought." Spyro supplied one of his clawed paws moving to the other to rub it in a nervous habit.
"You do realize that if you were to raise the whelp inside that egg, that you would not be able to raise your own children?" Terrador said as he eyed the two young dragons carefully.
"What?" Both asked in surprise.
"The old laws of our culture only allowed dragons to raise a single child. It is so that dragons do not struggle with trying to raise more than one whelp at a time. Many families were in ruin because dragons could not feed their children and the guardians of the time stepped in to fix the problem. The parents chose one egg amongst the clutch to raise while the others were raised in temples." Volteer replied looking crestfallen.
"We can't make any exceptions. We've already had the eggs of several couples collected and stored here at the temple, were we to make the exception for the two of you, it could send the citizens into an uproar, they might demand that we return their eggs, or worse, they might leave the city and endanger their lives." Cyril added.
Spyro and Cynder quickly looked at each other, as new doubts began to worm their way into their minds. They wanted to raise the whelp inside of the egg, but they had always thought they'd be allowed to have a son or daughter of their own. This new information was troubling and they didn't want to make any rash decisions. "We...should think about this moreā¦" Spyro finally said, getting a nod from Cynder.
Terrador nodded his head in approval. "Indeed, such a decision should be talked about in length." he paused for a moment as his eye traveled to Boreas's egg a thin smile working its way on his face. "However should you decide that you don't wish to raise the whelp, I have a favor to ask of you Cynder."
"What? Me?" She asked her head snapping to attention.
"Yes. Since the whelp is the only known wind dragon in existence he will not have other wind dragons to teach him how to use his breath." As he said this understanding suddenly dawned on her face. "You are the only known living dragon who can use the wind breath. When the time comes, that the whelp is old enough, I ask that you be there to teach him what you can."
Cynder looked for Terrador to the other two elders to see that they all agreed on the idea. Turning to Spyro she saw that he liked the idea as well, and while he himself didn't personally know how to wield the wind breath he would jump at the chance.
"Understand that while the whelp will not leave at the end of the day with you, you'll will still be responsible for his care." Cyril spoke up.
"Indeed, when he comes of age, you'll be expected to monitor him and make sure he doesn't get in trouble." Volteer quickly added.
"Are you all asking me to be his unofficial mother?" Cynder asked just a little bit confused.
"Indeed." Terrador said with a smirk. "The law does not say you cannot love the child even if he is not yours, it is not much of an alternative, but it is the best we can offer you without breaking the laws and sending the citizens in an uproar."
"I'll take it, thank you Terrador." Cynder said, her mood improving somewhat. True she would not be the whelps mother, but once he grew old enough she'd show him as much love as she could. She knew what it was like to not have parents, so maybe she could at least be there for the whelp.
"Then it is decided, Boreas's egg will stay here in the temple, to be raised with the other clutches." Terrador stated, as he slowly stood. "With that I believe our business is finished for the day. Cyril, Volteer we shall speak later on forming the guard, for now I must move before my joints give me trouble. Spyro and Cynder, it was nice to see you two again, hopefully when the city is running properly you can visit more often."
"We will, and we'll try and keep an eye out for anything the citizens might have a problem with but don't want to come forward about." Spyro said as he approached the larger male. The two embraced in a short hug, before doing the same with Volteer and Cyril, Cynder following his actions soon after, before they turned and said a few more final farewells and left for home.
00000
Author's note: First I just want to say that to the guy who wants longer chapters, sorry but you'll be lucky if I get to 4K word count wise. I believe in quality over quantity, but I'll try my best to make the chapters as long as I can.
