She watched him disappear into the raging storm, signalling his departure with a loud clap. Aurora continued to yell after him, even attempting to join him in the storm but she stopped her. She gave both of them a disgusted glare before taking off, leaving in both anger and sadness.
"What were you thinking?" Her ridged tone made him wince.
"I didn't want this. I was just frustrated and everything started to snowball out of control." He sighed. "I didn't want to hurt Eclipse."
"You did more than that." She looked back in the direction he disappeared in. "You broke him. I'm not even sure why you're still alive, he should've killed you." She shook her head at him. "You're lucky that I did get here with Aurora, I have no doubt that he would've killed you if I didn't."
"Thank you for that." He tried getting up.
"You can thank me by helping me get him back." She pushed him back down. "Wait until the medics get here with red crystals, I'll find you when I'm ready to go."
"Do you think he'll come back?"
"You should worry about if he doesn't." She didn't mean for it to sound like a threat but she went after Aurora before he could respond. Part of her want to scream at Spyro, telling him how much she hates him for letting jealousy control him and chase away Eclipse. The other part knew better than to kick him while he's down, he knew the magnitude of what he's done.
The storm attempted to throw her around, throwing strong gusts of winds into her sides and back. Heavy rain crashed on her back, soaking her black scales and red wings. More thunder clashed over her head as if telling her to turn back. This storm seemed to be more hostile than the previous ones. Maybe the spike in dark energy is causing this?
She managed to set down on the small balcony with some difficulty, the storm almost pushing her into the wall. Lightning lit up the dim room for a moment, allowing her to see Aurora's silhouette. She braced herself for the conversation ahead of her then opened the glass door.
Aurora didn't seem to acknowledge her entrance, simply staring into the flickering fire. She studied her while closing the door behind her. She didn't seem to be depressed or angry, almost in a cold calmness. That cold calmness seemed to form a sheet of ice between them, she didn't know what to say. Apologize? Ask if she's alright?
"He's never really run like this before." She spoke over the pounding rain drops. Her voice seemed to be empty of any emotions that Cynder thought she would be having. "No matter how bad it got or how hard it was to fight it, he always stayed. Yes, he would walk off to be alone but this is new."
"I'm sorry for letting it go too far." She sat next to her, deciding it was best to not to make eye contact yet. "I should've put a stop to it. I just-"
"There's nothing to apologize for. He made the decision to take the approach he did, not you." Aurora cut her off, grasping her nearest paw. "If anything it's Spyro's fault for taking it that far."
"I should've done something to stop them. I just let them fight."
"What could you have done. If you had stepped in, you would've certainly died. What happened down there was a clash of titans to say the least." She lightly patted the top of her paw.
"I should've put an end to it though, he started it because of me."
"Something tells me that isn't the case Cynder. While you were a catalyst, Spyro has more reasons for wanting to fight or kill him." She reassured her. "None of it was your fault."
"Everything that's happened between them is my fault."
She sighed. "It's no secret that you and Eclipse still have some sort of connection. It's also not a secret that Spyro does have feelings for you and is quite jealous of Eclipse. They both care for you, deeply. It's just that Spyro feels that he's going to lose you and that thought scares him. You're the last thing he lives for, you know this." Memories of their final confrontation with Malefor appeared in her head, his words reverberating around with an echo.
"I guess I've forgotten."
"Do you love him? Do you truly understand what it means to be with this version of him?" She met her eyes. "I understand the past you share with him, but the past is the past and he's not who he once was."
"I do."
"You do what? I need to hear you say it." Her voice was suddenly more rigid than she's heard from her.
"I do love him. He's strong and gentle, dedicated, understanding, brave-"
"I know what he is…" Her aggressiveness cut her off. "...but the battle he's fighting, the one he fights everyday and everynight. I fear that most people don't understand it, how much it drains him and how dangerous it is."
"You don't understand what it's like to have someone else in your head."
"You're right, and truthfully I don't want to, but the difference between you and him is that you had the luxury of the corruption not trying as hard. It was like a switch in the first month, he would be calm one moment then holding his head on the ground in the next." She explained, looking back into the fire. "He told me it was like a constant headache, as if someone was grabbing his head and trying to crush it."
"What about now?"
"He told me that he hasn't really experienced them. He would rub his head and get a little irritated sometimes but nothing compared to what it was like before." She sighed.
"Why all the concern then?"
"Because of what happened today, all the built up stress and the drain finally broke him. Listen, when he comes back and you want to pursue him, I won't stop you. You have more in common with him than I do." Her smile caught her off guard. "Just respect his wishes if he comes back and would rather stay with me, or even go off with someone else."
"You think he'll come back?" The question dissolved Aurora's smile along with her entire comfortable demeanour. She shifted, adjusting herself to fully face her.
"He'll come back, he always came back before. Why would he stop now?" She tried to hide her uncertainty but Cynder knew what was really going through her mind. The same thoughts ran through her mind, debating amongst each other on whether he will come back. "You're worried, aren't you?"
"Shouldn't I be? I just saw two of my best friends fight over me, both of which were perfectly ready to kill each other." She snickered a little. "I wanted it to be a nightmare when I realized they were actually going to fight."
"If only we were so lucky." Silence followed shortly after, rebuilding a barrier between them. She stared at her for a moment, trying to decipher what was going on in her thoughts. She's so calm, as if nothing had happened today. How can she be so collected? Her eyes drifted to the fire, it's crackling becoming the only noise in the room. She jumped back as her eyes landed on the strange white flames.
She didn't know that fire could become such a pure white color, almost like the snow from Dante's Freezer. It behaved like normal fire, giving off the same amount of heat and light, but it felt strangely comforting. As if it was trying to burn away all the stress and pressure she was feeling.
Aurora stared blankly into the dancing flames, her eyes becoming encased in it's white glow. Her smile had once again vanished and was replaced by a cold seriousness. The wind picked up outside, howling in anger outside the windows. Another lightning bolt struck somewhere outside, followed quickly by more booming thunder. She didn't react however, instead continuing to stare into the fire.
"Aurora?" She didn't respond to her. "Aurora." Cynder shook her shoulder but she continued to be ignored. She stood in front of her and shook her more violently. "Aurora!"
She blinked at her, bringing her paw to rest on her forehead. She winced slightly while shaking her head. "I guess I zoned out."
"Yeah and the fire turned-" Looking back at the fire, she noticed that it had returned to deep orange. "...nevermind. You're okay right?"
"I'm fine. As I said, I just spaced out a bit." She laughed embarrassingly. The storm died down outside with the wind calming down and the rain came down more sparingly. "I hate storms, especially thunderstorms."
"Same, they make my wings feel heavy when I have to fly in one." Cydner giggled with her.
"Eclipse is afraid of the thunder, told me that it reminds him of the sound of Malefor's steps. He would always hold me tighter when there was a thunderstorm while we slept." The two laughed again.
"We never had the time to sleep together after we were promoted, we were either doing some task for Gual or on the opposite sides of the realms." The fond memories brought on a small smile.
"I'm surprised he slept considering how horrible it was in the army."
"He didn't really sleep, it was more keeping guard while pretending to sleep. I guess that's why he's such a heavy sleeper, perhaps the sixteen years of little sleep is catching up with him." She remembered watching him all night, waiting to see if he would actually fall asleep. Instead he stayed awake the entire night, waiting for her to fall asleep.
"Where do you think he is?" She asked.
"I would like to think he's somewhere thinking everything over, but something tells me he's doing something foolish." Cynder's predictions erased her light smile.
"He's alone, hurt and probably a little scared. I'm worried about him." She voiced her concerns and Cynder subconsciously agreed.
"So let's go after him." Frost quickly shut the door behind him and Ardere, the rain pelting the door after them. "We have to."
"During this storm? We would never find him in this." Cynder motioned to the increased volume of rain.
"The four of us flew through worse on our way here." He showed her a cocky grin.
"He's right, this is nothing compared to the other side of the continent, or the storms." Ardere elbowed Frost with a laugh.
"All joking aside…" He elbowed Ardere the same way. "... we owe him our lives. He would go after any one of us if we ran off, so why shouldn't we?"
"Listen, I'm more than happy to go get him, but as your instructor I can't bring you out there. The dark army is still out there and this storm makes it hard to fly and see, it's too dangerous." She rose from her seat on the floor.
"Don't go pulling rank on us now. We're both older and more experienced in handling storms like these than you." Ardere deadpanned with a lazy glare.
"Guess you have a point there."
"Well Aurora. You going to help us find him?" He offered. She looked back into the fire and for a moment it flickered white.
"You're asking as if I'll say no." She got up and walked over to the door. It swung open, revealing a drenched and panting Spyro. He tried to step into the room with them but Aurora stood in his way.
"If you're going after him, I'm coming with you. I owe him that much."
"You owe him more than that." She shamed him, causing him to droop his head. "I should've let him kill you."
"Aurora?" Frost forced her away, letting him in.
"He comes with us." She moved past them and onto the balcony, quickly leaping off. Ardere and Frost soon followed, jumping into the raging storm.
"You'll be lucky if she forgives you." She pushed past him.
"I know." He closed the door behind them, keeping the storm out of the room. "I-"
"DON'T." She sighed. "I can't stand to listen to your apologies right now." She left him there, flying after the trio. His wing beats reached her ears but he didn't say anything to her. They caught up to them above the ruined battlefield, with Aurora holding a paw over her mouth as she saw the extent of the damage.
She counted seven of the student's bodies, each of them bloodied and mangled in different ways. Riddled with arrows or cuts, horns cracked, limbs twisted in unnatural ways, one was even missing his entire wing. They decided to land for a moment, Ardere and Frost grimly helping recover their friends. She could see how hurt the two were but they said nothing when they lifted off a short time later.
It was silent leaving Warfang, or at least she didn't hear anyone talking. She didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment anyway. The realization that in the first battle, at least seven of her friends died. The war now held a darker presence in the back of her mind and the thought of losing more weighed heavy on her heart. She hated being a leader, she didn't like feeling this amount of grief.
The storm continued it's assault as they flew, gusts of wind and rain alike tried to steer them off course or knock them to the ground. Spyro struggled to keep up with them, he was still feeling the after effects of facing Eclipse. His flaps were more rugged than usual and his limbs were more hanging than being held up. He gave her a small smile and if she wasn't furious with him then she returned the smile back.
Ardere and Frost started to whisper to each other ahead of her, with the rain and thunder it was nearly impossible to hear them. Though she knew they were talking about what happened after the battle, their occasional looks back at Spyro told her that much. There was also the slight steam that came off of Ardere as the rain landed on his back, he was angry but he didn't want to show it.
Aurora began to dip towards the ground without warning. They followed her into the tree canopy, quietly landing on the branches. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and through the leaves she saw why they had stopped. It was Armavir with what looked like a few of the larger grublins, he was talking to someone she couldn't see.
"Why are you so slow?" He complained. "Well could you hurry up? The sooner we get there, the sooner you stop being my problem."
"Stop rushing, it's not like they can afford to face your army after the battle." It was Eclipse, he finally walked within view. He didn't have any chains, nothing was keeping him with Armavir, he wasn't a prisoner. She saw Frost and Ardere nod at each other but they didn't say anything. Aurora had covered her mouth with one of her paws.
"You need to listen to me, you're supposed to be my prisoner." He demanded but Eclipse laughed at him.
"We both know that he won't believe that you managed to capture me. So when you bring me to him, be a good lap dog and shut up while we talk." Eclipse tried to keep walking but he stopped him.
"I am no one's lap dog." He snarled.
"I find it hard to believe that a full siege was your idea." He taunted further.
"I could kill you." Armavir brought his talons to Eclipse's throat. "It would certainly save me the torture of hearing you talk."
"Now that wouldn't be any fun would it?" With a pat on the cheek, he turned away. "As amusing as it would be to see you try to kill me again, I'm afraid my life is already reserved for someone else."
"I don't care for some obscene prophecy." He moved in front of him. "I will end you here if you continue to slow me down."
"With the amount of times you've threatened me…" Eclipse walked past him, out of her sight
"I'm not scared of you or him!" Armavir charged after him, leaving her sight as well.
They waited for the rest of the army to pass where they were hiding, staying completely silent as the army trudged by. Spyro was the first to drop to the ground, followed by the other two. She looked at Aurora, moving closer to speak to her but she gave her a strange look before joining the other three.
"He's a traitor." Spyro told them as Cynder dropped to the ground.
"I refuse to believe that it's that simple." Frost shook his head at the ground.
"Well it is, we should head back and inform the Guardians."
"Stop trying to impress them. Ancestors, you're just as bad as a antsy dragonet with its parents." Aurora pushed him to the side. "I know that there's a reason for this. I'm going to find out what it is with Cynder and if you want to help be my guest." She looked at Frost and Ardere. "I don't care what he does, but if either of you leave for Warfang, you'll both be dead to me."
"Are you okay? You're usually not this…"
"Aggressive." Ardere finished for him.
"I'm fine, I would just rather go get Eclipse than sit here and debate on which part of the guardians I want to lick." She glared at Spyro who quickly shied away.
"C'mon Aurora, give him some slack." Frost stood between them.
"Give him slack? I don't see why I should, sorry I'm not exactly being like the little sister you want me to be but I'm not going to forgive him for this. What if he did this to Nathora, huh? Would you be so quick to forgive?" She pushed herself against him.
"I don't see how that applies here."
"I don't see how you can defend him! You're going to choose him over Eclipse? After everything he's done for us, you turn your back?" She started pushing him with her chest.
"I'm not turning my back on him, all I'm saying is stop badgering Spyro on something he very clearly regrets!" He put his head over her, pushing her back.
"I don't care if he regrets it. He needs to know that it wasn't right what he did and I'm going to make sure it gets through that thick skull of his so he doesn't do it again!"
"Both of you stop!" Cynder pried them off each other, looking between them. "Let's worry about Spyro after we figure out what's going on with Eclipse."
"There would be nothing to figure out…" The dragon in question appeared before them. "...if you paid attention." He let a dark smile lay across his face as a dart struck Spyro's neck. He wobbly started towards Eclipse, but he collapsed to the ground within two steps. More darts shot out of the trees, finding everyone else's neck. She quickly pulled the dart out then threw it at him. The dart was swallowed by the darkness before it could hit him, making him smile more. The world started to spin and turn while her legs got more and more weak.
She tried to speak but nothing came out as she fell on the ground. Grublins emerged from the trees with blowsticks in hand. They began to pick up their catch, one by one, everyone else was carried out of sight. He stopped them from picking up her and Aurora, waving them off before they touched them. He leaned down and caressed Aurora's check before looking into Cynder's eyes.
"You should've stayed away." He whispered, closing her eyelids with his talons. She was too weak to reopen them or resist when something hoisted her up.
The sounds of movement was the only indication that they were being moved. It wasn't obvious how much time passed or where they were going but wherever it was, it was far away. The rain came to a sudden stop, instead being replaced by cold and stagnant air. It felt like she was being taken down, she was in the caves. It was cold at first but as time went on, the faint traces of heat told her that there was torches along the walls.
"You're far too protective of her." Armavir's voice broke through the silence. From how close it sounded, she guessed that he was carrying her on his back. More sounds made their way into her ears, waving fire and heavy steps surrounded her. Her eyes remained shut however, denying her the ability to see anything.
"I can extend my veil over anyone I want." His voice was defensive and low, but it was comforting to know that he could still care.
"You protect a coward and a traitor, Ma-"
"You will lose your talking privileges if you don't stop calling them that." The rough growl sent shivers down her spine.
"Your threats mean nothing. I would've killed you if not for your 'friends'."
"Last time, you used underhanded tactics. Hardly a fair fight." He kept his voice rough.
"You worry about honor too much."
"It's not honor, its called integrity. Something cowards know nothing about."
"I'm no coward." Armavir's growl was deeper than his but held less weight behind it.
"Let's have master decide on that." Her eyes opened and the dull orange ground greeted her. It was like the rest of her body was shut off, she couldn't move anything else than her eyes.
Aurora was indeed being carried by Eclipse, her unconscious body slung over his back and lightly bounced with every step. The others were somewhere ahead of them but the closest thing she could see was the end of Spyro's tail. Something cold grabbed her chin and made her look at Eclipse.
The first thing she noticed was his eyes, they were silver. He's here willingly, he's doing this willingly. Nothing about his appearance suggested that he was under the influence, he even smiled at her. It made her feel strange, like she wanted her heart to skip a beat but didn't want it to at the same time.
Armavir dropped her on the rough floor before proceeding further. The others soon followed, still unconscious from whatever was in those darts. Most of her body began to slowly wake up and letting her get a greater view of the room.
It was a large cavern with several support pillars dotted around the space. Torches circled around the pillars, providing light for most of the central room. The group laid at the foot of an ascending set of stairs that lead to a large stone throne. Braziers paralleled the side of the throne, illuminating the dark crystal in front of it.
Eclipse looked back at her before joining Armavir on the rising steps, it was a look of apology and regret. They climbed together, step by step, until they were just below the dark crystal and it's platform. Armavir went down into a bow, dipping his head to nearly rest it on the steps. He looked down at her again before following the example, almost perfectly matching his posture with Armavir's.
The crystal flickered dimly with light, an image was struggling to be projected. Orange fire changed to violet within the braziers and a select few of torches. All the affected flames were drawn towards the crystal, almost jumping towards it. The flickers grew brighter and stronger, before cutting out entirely.
Everyone else started coming around, adjusting themselves after their forced slumber. She caught Aurora as she stumbled sideways into her, bringing her eyes to meet with the bowing dragons. Spyro, Frost and Ardere followed their gaze upwards, they to finding both Armavir and Eclipse on the altar.
"Eclipse?" Aurora called out but he stayed down. "What are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" A disembodied voice echo through the cavern and caused both Armavir and Eclipse to rise. The crystal renewed its flickering, quickly growing brighter until it seemed to rival the sun. The group looked away, shielding their eyes from the blinding light. An explosion replaced the light, sending shards of the dark crystal outwards and into the cavern. Cynder looked to where the crystal once was and saw yellow eyes staring back. "He's bowing to his new master."
"The ancestors sealed you in the realms core. How did you escape?" Spyro shocked and confused eyes matched what Cynder was feeling.
"I have to thank you and Eclipse for that. If not for such a massive influx of dark energy, I would've been imprisoned for a much longer than a few months." Malefor slowly descended with Eclipse and Armavir behind him. "If not for you, then I wouldn't have my wonderful Eclipse with me either. I must express my gratitude for you Spyro, I can now pick up where I left off without losing much time. So as a reward for helping me seize my power again so quickly..." He looked to Armavir as they reached the bottom. "How should he die?"
"Master?" He cocked his head.
"Your incompetence for not taking the city or dealing with the traitors must be punished. If not for Eclipse returning to my service then I might've let you live. I digress, tell me Spyro, how should he die?" The Dark Master shoved him forward with his tail, presenting him to the younger dragon.
"Let me kill him master! I can make it as painful as you want!" Eclipse's sudden excitement caught her off guard, as well as the conflict in his voice. He stumbled backwards and shook his head, almost tripping on the stairs. "No!"
"You'll come around eventually." Malefor watched as he struggled with himself before turning back to them. "I'm quickly growing impatient. Tell me now or I do it myself." He pushed Armavir down, bringing his talons to rest on his throat.
"Let Eclipse do it. He deserves it."
"Spyro!" Cynder protested but he silenced her with a defeated look.
"You heard the dragon Eclipse! End him however you like." He commanded, letting Armavir up.
"Of course master, with pleasure." His stumbling stopped, instead he stalked towards his target. Wisps peeled off his scales as he slowly approached, slithering ahead of him.
"Master! Please! I can make it right, let me kill the imposter or the traitor. I'll do anything! Ju-" Eclipse pounced on him, toppling the larger dragon onto his back. The wisps wrapped themselves around the dragons limbs, foiling his attempts of escape. Panic spread to his white eyes as his struggles increased. Eclipse licked his lips and stared down at him in a strange, hungry way. His talons sunk past the dragons scales, blood spurting onto the black surfaces. Armavir cried in pain, further increasing his attempts to get away.
Aurora hid her face into Cynder's shoulder and she covered her with her wing, trying to block out what was happening before them. Spyro, Frost and Ardere watched on, a mixture of disgust and interest covering their faces. She didn't know what to make of the scene. This was supposed to be Eclipse, the loving and caring dragon that wanted nothing more than to be accepted. At the same time, something was almost definitely wrong with him, the way he was torturing him suggested that much.
"I, however, would rather deal with our esteemed guests sooner rather than later." Malefor sighed, picking bits of red scales out of his talons.
"Fine…" He sounded almost disappointed at the command. "...I was just having fun too."
"MERCY!" Armavir pleaded.
"Mercy?" He leaned down. "You don't deserve to say such a word after what you've done." A dark smile sent more shivers down her body. With lighting fast speed, he brought his mouth down on Armavir's throat then ripped it out. He spat it out in utter disgust before jumping of the body and returning to Malefor's side.
"Now that that's over, we must return to the business at hand."
"Why? Why didn't you come back? Why go back to him of all dragons?" Aurora questioned, breaking away from Cynder. "We could've gone through it together, just like everything else."
"You are naive girl, can't-" Malefor stooped when Eclipse stepped in front of him, slightly smiling. "Tell them the truth."
"He can cure me Aurora. He can get rid of this 'thing' inside me that's breaking me down. Isn't that what you want as well, for us to be normal and happy. It will make me whole again, it can-" He stopped for a moment, as if to search for words. "I can finally be free. He owes me that much."
"You've grown shy of admitting your past. You use to be so proud of where you came from." Malefor laughed behind him.
"Don't."
"Don't you think that they deserve to know what you are? After all these are the dragons that look to you for guidance." He continued casually.
"What does he mean Eclipse?" Aurora tried to look at his now hung face.
"You mean to tell me that she doesn't even know? How can this relationship blossom if you had such important information from your other half?"
"I-I was going to tell you at some point. When we were alone and when i felt you were safe enough."
"What do you mean when I was safe enough?" She stepped closer.
"When you were safe enough from me and my history."
"You want to know why he came to me, dear Aurora?" He leveled his face with hers. "Because when concerned with such matters…" He drew out the end of the word like a snake. "... a son can really only trust his father."