Blue beams of sunlight peeked in through the curtains over the windows. They illuminated the bits of her sleeping form that weren't hid by his wing. The two of them laid in peaceful bliss, enjoying the company of one another. Normally, she wouldn't allow him this close but some nights she just wanted someone to be that close. His presence around her put an end of the night's terrors.

The nightmares had only gotten worse as the days and nights rolled past. Her mind tortured her with visions of possible futures and broken fragments of the past. All the sounds and feelings would come running back like sick nostalgia. Hopelessness would fill her when she realized what her mind had prepared each night.

Silver eyes and wide smiles would turn to dust under ruby and maroon, happy thoughts would shatter with the sound of thunder. Honied words filled with snake venom, warm touches chilled her to the bone. Joyful laughs woke her to fearful screams and relaxing smiles flooded her eyes with salty tears. Eclipse was gone, yet he wouldn't leave.

With a groan, his warmth left her. His shuffles to get up without disturbing her was amusing but she hid her smile. The door to the balcony opened and fresh air rushed in with excitement. Glorious smells from the market mixed in with the cool air, filling her with silent contentment. Emerald eyes opened, looking around the room for where her warmth had gone to.

Spyro sat alone on the balcony, head to the sky and listened to the city breathe. The scar along his side, proudly showed the world of his past actions. Out of everything he's done, every battle he fought, the worst one was the only one to leave him scarred. His once perfect purple scales, now twisted awkwardly around the old wond. It showed his imperfection, his weaknesses, but she didn't need to see it to know that.

They didn't talk for the first two weeks after everything happened, they decided to give each other some space. That all changed one night when he decided to visit her, instead he found her in the middle of a nightmare. He had laid down next to her, comforting her with his wing before he too feel asleep. She allowed him to sleep in her room after that, only allowing him to actually sleep next to her if she had a nightmare.

Various limbs popped as she stretch, a satisfied sigh escaping from between her lips. She smiled back at him, when she saw him with a small grin. He moved over for her, giving her enough space to sit next to him. She refrained from putting her head on his shoulder, much to her heart's requests.

She's slowly been warming back up to him since he closed the tunnels, but there was too much on her mind to ask him. The feelings were still there, the skip in heart beats at his smile and the joy in feeling him around her, she simply didn't feel right acting on them. That didn't stop her from placing a paw on top of his however.

He flinched slightly, trying to casually look down to see if it was real. "Last night seemed to be the worst one yet."

"Yeah, it was. I'm sorry if I woke you." She saw Aurora's room from where she sat, there was little signs of life in the room.

Aurora miraculously survived her injuries from Malefor, but she was still healing from what Eclipse left. His death broke her as much as it broke Cynder, she doesn't leave her room often. Usually she'll come out with them for food or to walk around the city, nothing more. The few instances where she's spoken about him, she's suggested that she too has nightmares.

"You weren't loud, mostly just mumbling and twitching. It just scared me how violent you were moving and the words that were I was able to hear clearly weren't exactly happy." His explanation didn't ease her mind in the slightest.

"I don't feel like teaching today." She huffed, making Spyro laugh. "Do you even know what day it is today?"

"I know, it's officially been two months." His laugh quickly died. "At least we're not being forced to fight again right?"

"Easy for you to say, you're the one teaching history today. I need to go through combat training with Ardere's firecrackers." She grumbled, another laugh making her look at him. "Who's idea was it to give him the youngest students?"

"I believe it was yours actually. You said it would 'calm his temper'." She lightly hit his chest.

Since Eclipse's death, the Academy was taken over by Spyro. His idea was to carry on for him, as his personal way to honor his sacrifice. Normal classes such as history and writing were being mixed to greater suit the time of peace. Of course they were still teaching their students how to fight, but it wasn't the main focus anymore.

Ardere, Frost and Nathora decided to stay and become instructors. Each of them taking on their own respective flights, ultimately allowing the Academy to accept more students. Together the four of them have stayed good friends, with them slowly bringing Spyro into their little circle.

Ardere is also being groomed to become the Elder Fire Guardian to replace Ignitus, he's slowly being taught by Terrador on what being an Elder Guardian means. He's also been getting more and more friendly with others, a side effect from being part of the Academy. Something about seeing him laugh more often than he used to makes her smile.

Frost has been training with Nathora whenever they're not at the Academy, he's attempting to become a scout like her. The two of them are inseparable outside of teaching their flights, much like how he was with Ardere when they first arrived. She's happy to see that he's blending in to the city just as well as Ardere.

Both her and Spyro decided to also disband the Onyx flight, Eclipse's flight while he was still here. Even though Ardere had volunteered to take the flight over, it was decided not to put him through trying to live up to him. He does however teach various smithing skills with Eclipse's old forge. The students still love to go out for the materials, even though these no more exciting action in them.

"You wanna go get her for breakfast? I'll meet you down there with everyone else." Spyro unfolded his wings behind her, the golden leather almost blocking out the sun.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys there." He took off in the direction of Ardere and Frost's room a moment later. She prepared mentally prepared herself for Aurora as she watched him fly away and disappear behind a handful of tall buildings.

Aurora has been sleeping more than usual lately, she's also been going through random mood swings. The white dragoness seems to get particularly nasty whenever Cynder or Nathora are around. She doesn't do anything such as trying to hurt them, she just acts abnormally harsh towards them.

As she landed, she heard Aurora's voice from inside. "Who are you?" That set off red flags instantly, she didn't want to wait. She threw open the door, only to be blinded by a intense flash of bright light. Her eyes adjusted to see that no one was there besides Aurora herself. "Cynder?"

"I heard you from outside, I thought someone snuck in and was trying to harm you." She closed the door behind her, paranoia making her check outside for anyone that shouldn't be.

"I'm not defenseless, I can handle myself reasonably enough." Her expression didn't share her confidence.

"I know that, I was just worried about you." She gave her a harmless smile. "Ready for breakfast?"

"Yeah, let's go." Aurora stroud past her and out the door. Cynder felt someone staring at her, but when she casted a glance over her shoulder she saw no one there. "You coming Cynder?"

"Yeah." Cynder smiled at her again, satisfying her enough to start towards the grand hall.

She however, stayed for a moment. A quick glance around the room showed nothing out of the ordinary, yet the feeling of being watched seemed to be coming from the room. It wasn't long before she closed the door behind her, accepting it as her own paranoia. The thought still stayed in her mind, that something was in there and it managed to vanish into thin air.