"How are you feeling?" Flame asked as he walked ember to his living quarters that evening.
"I'm exhausted." Ember mumbled. She was one of the few who had been lucky enough to be carried and get some sleep on the flight over. "I don't think I can be of any more use until I can recharge my body."
Flame smiled. "I'd give your body a recharge if I wasn't so pooped myself." He let Ember curl up onto his pile of cushions first. The dragoness smiled flirtatiously at him as she nestled down into the soft cushions.
"Perhaps later hot shot. But just being with you is a blessing in itself."
Flame's cheeks burned and he lay down beside his dragoness and licked her cheek slightly. "I couldn't have said it better myself." He whispered before yawning loudly. "Goodnight my beautiful dragoness."
"Goodnight my handsome Flame." The two fire breathers snuggled close to each other and were fast asleep in a matter of minutes.
Spyro sighed softly to himself as he stared into the darkness. Sparx and Cynder lay to either side of him and were throwing up a line of Z's. Cynder was exhausted from the long flight as well as the short battle, and had fallen asleep almost as soon as she hit the pillows. The warmth of her body and gentle sound of her breathing relaxed Spyro but not enough for him to fall asleep.
Outside the noise of the city had died down considerably; but the sounds of dragons calling out to one another and wings soaring just over the roof of their pavilion were enough to keep the purple dragon's mind racing. His mind was saturated with the thoughts of how the wolves had savagely attacked the cheetah tribe and now a dragon city from out of the blue and unprovoked. He still had the twisted feeling in his gut that something terrible was about to happen.
Spyro was not the only one awake. Across the hall in another small pavilion, Tremor sat staring out at the hallway. The lights from the lanterns gave a warm glow to the pale rock walls dug out from the sides of the cave. But with everything that he had seen throughout the past several hours made the torchlight look like the distant glow of what fires were to come. The earth dragon could feel the tension in the air which put his nerves on edge even more. After several hours of lying awake he got up, leaving his sister alone on the cushions. He draped several of the pillows he had been lying on over her to help keep her warm. The earth dragoness cooed in her sleep and curled into a tighter ball.
Tremor smiled at her and gave his sister a light kiss on the cheek before sneaking out of the room.
Candice heard the sound of heavy wings go by over the pavilion rooftop. She glanced up at the ceiling and groaned. She couldn't understand how Stella was able to sleep with all the outside racket going on. She looked at the sleeping lightning dragoness beside her and sighed.
"How does she do it?" She pondered to herself. It was then that she spotted Tremor walk by their pavilions entryway. The earth dragon didn't even so much a turn a scale in her direction and continued down the hall. "What is he doing up at this late hour?" The ice dragoness rose up off the cushions and started to leave when Stella rolled over in her sleep and grabbed her hind leg.
"Mmm...I love sheep's thighs." She drooled and licked Candice's leg. The ice dragoness stifled herself from yelping at the tickling sensation and did her best to gently pull her leg free from Stella's grasp. As she moved towards the doorway she looked back at her roommate to see her chewing on one of the pillows.
Candice couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Even when times seemed down, Stella was always able to put a smile on her face with her silly antics. With that final thought she slipped into the hallway.
Spyro yawned again as he stared at the far wall. Even just lying here, as tired as he was, he couldn't fall asleep. He thinking of taking a walk when he heard footsteps outside the pavilion. He turned his head to see Tremor pass by and a few seconds later Candice followed him.
"I guess I'm not the only one not getting any sleep." He thought as he tightened his curl around Cynder and closed his eyes, hoping for sleep.
Tremor made his way through the hallways around the pavilions and finally came to a stop at a small outcrop in the cave wall. The larger dragons could barely fit themselves onto the ledge but for a young dragon of his size he had no trouble finding room to make himself comfortable.
Tremor sat down on his haunches and stared lazily out at the underground city. Dragons were still going about their ways rebuilding the city structures that had been damaged and changing the guard.
"Shouldn't you be trying to get some sleep?" The earth dragon's head snapped around to see Candice walking up to him.
"You should be one to talk." Tremor said, surprised to see that she was even up.
"Well I was trying until I saw you get up."
"You were watching me?" Tremor raised an eyebrow.
"No!" Candice snapped. "I was trying to sleep when I saw you walk by! That's all!"
"Yeah, sure." Tremor smirked.
Candice could feel her face getting hot with anger. "Tremor, instead of sitting here awake and being a smart ass, you should be trying to rest up! You're not going to do your home any good if you're tired while fighting!"
"I'm not stupid, Candy." The ice dragoness narrowed her eyes at him. She hated that he had come up with that new nickname for her. "But I'm sure if you were in my situation and this was your home, you would be wide awake and just as nervous."
"Tremor, I'm smart enough to do what needs to be done for my home. I'd still be trying to get some sleep. Not sneaking out in the middle of the night."
"Oh really? Should we have the wolves attack your home and see how you react then?" Candice jerked as if she had been slapped. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Tremor realized what he had just said and hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that in the slightest." He turned back to look out over the city. "It's just, this has been my home ever since I was a hatchling with Gaia. I know we'll be residing in the dragon city for some time, but you never forget where you came from. You know?"
Candice's temper subsided and she sighed deeply. She was feeling more exhausted now than she was before. She walked closer and sat down beside Tremor. The two watched the other dragons go about their duties. The walls were being built back up by the earth dragons while electric sentries stood watch. Far beyond the wall, were the residential pavilions. Beyond those were the dragon temples and beyond those were the shelters. Candice found herself somewhat impressed with the city's size for being carved underground.
"I'll help you protect your home." She whispered, still staring ahead.
"What?" Tremor turned his head towards the ice dragoness.
"I said I'll help you, Gaia and Flame protect your home." Candice turned to him. The two dragons locked eyes. Tremor found himself almost lost in hers. The dragoness had bright purple eyes like Spyro, but she carried a fierce feminine fire within them that made her such a strong dragon.
"And I'll return the favor should it ever come to that." Tremor bobbed his head slightly. Candice felt a slight smile tug at her cheek.
"So does that mean you're going to get some sleep now?" She asked hoping he would say yes and they could go back to their pavilions.
"I think I'm going to wait here." Tremor shook his head. "If I fall asleep then I'll do it here."
"And what if the wolves attack again?"
"Then I'll be able to see them coming." Tremor replied and turned back to the city.
Candice sighed and shook her head. "You're such an idiot."
"And you're a kiss-ass." Tremor snickered.
Candice glared at him. She debated freezing him over to teach him another lesson but decided against it. "Fine then." She said after a long moment. "If you're going to stand guard up here, then I'm going to help. It's not a good idea for you to be alone when there might be danger lurking about."
"I can take care of myself Candy." Tremor snorted, but then a smile spread across his lips. "Thank you."
The dragoness just stared at him sternly for a long hard moment. "You do know that's not my real name."
"Yeah." Tremor's grin grew wider. "I know."
Unbeknown to the two dragons, a pair of golden eyes watched them from behind one of the pavilions. Stella smiled to herself before slipping away into the halls.