"Get up, you worthless waste of stinking flesh! If you aren't out here in five seconds, I'm going to leave you to rot for another six months!"

I had to resist from groaning aloud from hearing that familiar voice.

"Five..."

Reluctantly, I stood up.

"Four..."

I dashed over to the open door. I didn't want to be left inside. I only got to leave that wretched cell twice a year!

I glared at the guard as I passed. Garrison... that was his name. This prison, it was like a pool of water, silent and unmoving. Garrison was the stone thrown into the pool, the one that disrupted the calm and sent it into a spiraling chaos.

We despised each other. I don't know what is was, but the moment Garrison learned of my presence is Barrin's Keep, he clung onto me like a parasite. He wouldn't leave me alone.

Now, if Garrison ever laid a paw on me and the warden found out about it, he would be out of the prison quick as a snap, and he knew it. That's why he tortured me in more... subtle ways. Some days my food just wasn't delivered to me, others he taunted me mercilessly.

But the worst part was that if I attacked him, verbally or otherwise, the repercussions would far outweigh the benefits. Garrison had all of the power. I was nothing.

I sighed as we went through the usual procedures. The metal collar that was used when we were led to and from anywhere was snapped on my neck and the blindfold was tied around my eyes so that I would not be able to see the prison. This was a preventative measure to stop the prisoners from seeing the prison and being able to plan an escape route.

I can remember that feeling I get when I just know we're getting close. It's like a rush of exhilaration, an instinctual feeling that you're almost there, and something just wells up inside you. When the blindfold is pulled off and I'm standing in front of those great double-doors and waiting, waiting with the crowd of other prisoners and even guards who are just as excited as I am, I feel like I'm going to explode before the doors open.

And then they do.

I shielded my eyes that were unused to the bright light cast from the sun. The prisoners and I were like young hatchlings, afraid to take those first steps into the world.

"Hurry up and get out there!" Garrison yelled. That was all it took to break the uncertainty shrouding us. We stepped forward and dispersed once we were in the courtyard. The doors slammed shut behind us and we were free.

I breathed in the air, savoring the freshness of it compared to the musty air inside the prison. The air was thick with volcanic ash, but it was like a dream to me.

The courtyard was very large, large enough to allow the hundreds of people to spread out. A tall stone wall framed the area. Guards were everywhere; some were on ground level, while others, bipedal creatures with bows, patrolled the wall and dared any dragons to take to the air.

I trudged through the dirt and over to the wall, stopping to scan over the other prisoners. A few were arranging a race. Racing was somewhat of a tradition in the prison. All you had to do was run three laps around the courtyard. First person back won. Better than walking in circles, anyway.

"Hey," a male said. Not thinking the person was speaking to me, I ignored the voice.

"Hey," the voice said with more force. "You, girl!"

I blinked and looked around. My gaze fell upon a dragon, perhaps of the wind or healing element. He was older than I was, towered over me, and very muscular. He was a dirty grey with darker grey highlights and his eyes were a bright blue color that reminded me of my sister's eyes. He was, of course, wearing a metal collar.

"Yeah, you, girlie," the dragon said.

"What do you..." I cleared my throat. I hadn't talked in about a week; my voice was hoarse. "What do you want?"

"I wanna talk. Is that a crime now?" the dragon asked. I snorted at the irony of that statement.

"I'm not one for talking," I said coldly.

"No lollygagging," one of the guards that was standing nearby said to me. I stood up and walked away. To my annoyance, the dragon followed me.

After a few minutes of this, I spun around. "Will you go away?" I demanded angrily.

"No. Not until you tell me what your name is," the dragon said calmly.

"Does it matter?" I asked incredulously.

"You should hold on to who you are. This place takes everything and don't give you nothin' back—the only thing you've got is yourself. And if you don't fight to keep that, this ancestors-forsaken place will take it away. So I'll ask you again, what's your name?"

I plopped down on the ground. "Crystal. You?"

"I don't know. That's what I was rambling on about a few seconds ago. This place took my very self away from me."

I paused for a second. "I think I'll call you Jayred. The name belonged to a... let's just call him an old friend of mine."

Jayred raised his eyeridges, but said, "Alright, then. Jayred it is."

"How long have you been here, anyway?" I asked.

"Fifteen years. How about you?"

"Six. I'm eighteen now."

"Funny. That's how old I was when I arrived. But you mean to tell me they threw a twelve-year-old in this place? I've heard of bad, but you must have done something horrible." Jayred grinned. "Since you're not dead yet, I'm guessing you're in here for life?"

"Yup. Forever is a long time, you know." I sighed and shifted.

Jayred chuckled ruefully. "Tell me about yourself, kid. Got any family outside these walls?"

"Yeah, actually. Two brothers, a sister, and my parents."

"What's your sibling's names?"

"Maggie's my sister. I'm sure you've heard of Spyro. And then there's Sparx."

"Sparx? That's a strange name for a dragon."

I laughed despite myself. "That's because he's not a dragon. He's a dragonfly."

Jayred's eyeridges shot up again.

"Oh, quit it. It's a long story and we've only got less than an hour."

"That depends. What's your cell number?"

"Thirty-seven, first floor." I recited what I had heard from the guards.

"My cell is thirty-eight, first floor."

I blinked and looked up at Jayred.

~~...~~

I was dead if I was caught. Literally. That's why I was quiet.

I breathed a stream of ice at the wall, cringing at the whoosh noise. I covered my mouth with a paw and cringed, but no guard came bursting through the door, so I continued to do this to wear away at whatever held the stones together. Luckily, the noise was minimal. I breathed ice one last time and pushed the rock; this time it went through.

I silently thanked my stars that the ground was dirt and not stone. Had it been stone, the rock would have screeched.

I lowered myself to the ground. "Hey... Hey, Jay, can you hear me?" I whispered through the hole.

"Loud and clear." Jayred's deep-throated whisper came from the other side.

"Isn't this a bad idea? What if the guards hear us?" I asked anxiously.

"They won't if we keep our voices down. And so what if they do? What more could they possibly take away? They can't kill us for talking. Technically, this isn't even against those ridiculous rules."

"Let's not tell Warden Khadi that."

"Agreed." Jayred chuckled quietly. "Alright, so you best get started on that long story of yours. It's always nice to learn a little history."

"I better start at the beginning..." I said.

I told him everything—what happened, how I felt about it, right down to every detail. I even told him about Jayred Ice-Heart. I started with that fateful day in the Swamp and just kept going on and on until the second defeat of Malefor. When my story was done, I took a breath.

"...Wow," Jayred said.

"You haven't spoken a word in the past two hours and now all you're going to say is 'wow'?" I wondered.

"I'm just... surprised. How is it that one day you're a hero, and the next you're—"

"'Criminal scum'?" I asked bitterly, quoting Khadi.

"Exactly."

"That's a long story as well, one I don't care to tell."

"Alright."

I waited for Jayred to say more, but he didn't speak. "I think I'm going to get some sleep. Long day and all.

"Night, Crystal." With that, the rock was inserted back into place.

I sighed and scooted away from the wall. What an exciting day... although, then again, all outside days were.

I began to look forward to the days ahead. Jayred was wrong. This prison did give things back. It gave me a new friend, and that friend gave me hope. That was enough for now.

~~...~~

I was startled out of my nap as the door to my cell swung open. "If you're here to search my cell, you're not going to find anything, just like the last time and the time before that," I said tiredly, not looking up.

"What are you talking about, purple girl?" a very familiar voice said.

"SPARX!" I screamed, hopping to my feet and nearly tackling the poor dragonfly.

"Hey, glad to see you too," Sparx laughed, hugging me the best he could.

I then turned to see Spyro standing in the open doorway. He offered a sad smile.

All my anger had melted away long ago. I was very sorry for snapping at him like I did. With that in mind, I rushed over and hugged him as well.

"I'm sorry..." I said, breaking away.

"I know you didn't mean what you said," Spyro replied, smiling. Just like that, the ice between us melted and everything was back to normal.

The guard posted outside pulled the door shut. "Ya got an hour!" he called as he continued his routes. Thankfully, Sparx's glow lit up the dark room, not that there was anything to see.

"Man, how do you live here? This place smells like the Well of Souls," Sparx said.

"The bad smell is the least of my problems here," I said with a short laugh.

"How are you coping?" Spyro asked.

"Well, it's not as much of a nightmare as it used to be, thanks to a friend," I said.

"A friend?" he echoed.

"You want to meet him?"

"How?"

"Shh," I whispered, walking over to the wall and tapping three times. One tap answered me. I tapped four times and the loose stone was pushed toward me.

Our code system worked as so. One tap is 'Yes', two is 'No', three is 'Are you there?', and four is 'I want to talk'.

"Crystal? Who's in your cell?" Jayred asked me.

"My brothers. I wanted you to meet them," I whispered, leaning down to the crack.

"Will they tell the guards?"

"Of course not." I straightened. "Spyro, come here. Just lean down and whisper into it."

I stepped out of the way as Spyro walked over. "Hello?" he whispered.

"Hey. You're Spyro, right? My name's Jayred. Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

"I'm Sparx, the former god of Tall Plains," Sparx whispered.

"It's been nearly ten years and you still call yourself that?" I asked, smacking a paw to my face with a laugh.

"Hey, they did worship me!" Sparx exclaimed, grinning.

"It's not you they were worshipping, Pixie Dust," I teased.

"Hmph, Pixie Dust. I haven't been called that in... well, six years," Sparx said.

"That's just 'cause I haven't been around to keep you in line..." I said soberly, all the humor gone from my voice.

"Is this going to turn into an angst party? Because if it is, I can just leave now," Jayred said.

I snorted with amusement. "No, Jayred, you can stay."

The next fifty minutes were the happiest I had had since I arrived at Barrin's Keep. Spyro, Sparx, Jayred, and I talked the whole time. But the minutes flew like seconds, and before I knew it, a guard knocked on the door. I had to quickly shove the stone back into place. It was hardly in before Garrison, of all dragons, walked in.

"Time's up," he said.

"Can't we have a little longer?" Spyro protested.

"Warden says an hour. Time's up."

"Don't make the warden mad... we'll both regret it." I laughed nervously at the thought. No food for a week wasn't pleasant last time and I hated to think of what worse punishments that could be inflicted on me.

"Alright. Bye, Crystal," Spyro said, giving me another hug. Sparx hugged me as well.

"See you guys in three years..." I said sadly.

"Hurry it up! I haven't got all day," Garrison complained. I bit my tongue to keep back a rude remark.

"We're coming," Spyro said, glaring daggers at the guard and heading out the door. Sparx turned one last time, waved, and disappeared as Garrison slammed the door shut.

After I was sure he was out of earshot, I tapped on the wall and pushed the stone in. "Sorry, Jayred. Garrison walked in with little warning."

"It's alright, Crystal. You know, I like those two. They're not so bad."

"Too bad I won't see them for another three years..." I murmured, closing my eyes. I was dismayed to find that their faces in the memory-pictures had blurred already.

"Hey, it's not so bad." Jayred's voice held a soothing tone to it.

My eyes snapped open. "You're kidding, right?"

Jayred laughed. "Yeah, it's bad. But you still have your family, don't you?"

"Yeah... yeah, you're right. And myself, huh?"

"Look at it this way: At least you're not like me."

"Nonsense. You're Jayred, aren't you?"

"Yeah, kiddo, I guess I am. Now get some sleep. You must be tired."

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me, and sighed as he put the stone back in place. I was glad that I had reconciled with Spyro, but his words from six years ago still weighed heavy on my heart. And it was nice to see Sparx again, of course.

But there were three I was still aching to see. Mom, Dad, and Maggie. First of all, with Mom and Dad... what could they possibly think? They were probably horrified... I wouldn't blame them if they never even wanted to see me again. And Maggie... although she was twelve, she was six when the incident happened. Of course, Spyro probably had never told her, so hopefully she wouldn't know for a long time yet.

I closed my eyes and squinted, trying to remember home. After a moment, the picture popped into my mind. I could see the Swamp clearly. I smiled slightly, and even though I knew I shouldn't lie to myself, I pretended... just for a moment... that I was going home.

A/N:

River, if you're reading this, I PUT JAYRED IN A STORY! Happy now? :'D Okay, just kidding with you. I'm keeping my promise like I said. XD Also, title credit to whoever created the game of the same name on Kongregate.