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Chapter 15

Trust in Strangers

Sera looked at him as if waiting for a reply, and when she found it, she just chuckled and turned around. Malefor was still dumbstruck at his realization, and he was just left to stare at her as she walked away. She really was flirting with him. Malefor couldn't remember the last time someone flirted with him. It must have been way back, back into the time he was still learning at the Dragon Temple. When everything was still alright…and the Dark Essence had taken over him.

He just shook his head as he followed behind her. He wasn't sure if he was…ready for this yet. He still was in the process of recovering from everything that had happened. He even was unsure if he could actually get back to the regular routine all dragons do in their daily lives. Drowsiness and exhaustion soon began to take its toll on him and he found himself yawning every now and then as he drew closer to her cave.

It wasn't big, but it sure was definitely different.

There was a large cushion at the middle of the cave that could easily fit a family of dragons that consisted of four members. A small fire was crackling at the side, the tinder being slowly burnt as it was surrounded by the stones to secure it. It gave a warm light glow to the interior of the cold cave that protected them from the uncaring cold night. The former details were a common furnish found in homes by dragons but the large cushion signified something else. Normally, a cushion that size would be found in a cave by a family of dragons; but in this case, Sera would seem to be the only occupant. It didn't fit that she'd have a clearly oversize bed for her. There must have been another factor that Malefor didn't know yet.

Malefor's thoughts were put to a halt when he heard a chuckle. Sera was lying lethargically on the cushion, giving Malefor a clear view of her body. A cheeky smile was plastered across his face as she motioned Malefor over to the side of the cushion.

She patted the part of the cushion next to her. "Are you just going to stand there? I thought you were tired."

Malefor shook his head, dismissing her clear and frontal advances on him. He still was on debate on how to respond to her advances. For one thing, he couldn't actually do it, for the risk of being thrown out. It was the dead of the night, and creatures stalked and lurked outside. It would have been dangerous for him to be walking around, trying to find shelter at his current state of condition. On the other hand, his conscience was berating him. Sera didn't truly know who he was, and she didn't exactly know what she was getting herself into by starting a relationship with him. He felt he was taking advantage of her, because of her ignorance to who he truly was. The only way for him to reciprocate her advances was to be honest with her, and that started with telling her who he truly was. And the consequence of that…he was still unsure how she would react in the first place. For all he knew, everyone would turn hostile on him, and that was the last thing he wanted right now.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Malefor mentally shook himself, going back down to reality. "Sorry…I was…just thinking of things."

He walked towards her, and was taken aback. Her tail was resting beside her, exactly at the spot where she motioned for him to lie down. Now, he truly was sure her intentions were clear. She really did want a relationship with her. Biting his lip, he gently eased her tail off, and sure enough, she didn't react. In fact, she giggled.

In dragon culture, that could only mean one thing. Dragonesses never let anyone else, aside from their close friends, like family, best friends, consorts and mates, touch their tails; ever. It was because of the fact that female dragons, unlike males, don't have a covering that conceal their genitalia. Theirs only have just enough covering, usually just enough for it to be not noticed by someone who's actually trying not to look. Most of the cover, is the done by tail. Letting someone touch their tail, was a sign that they trusted them; even more so, if they let them move it around. The latter trust is only reserved for potential consorts, mates, and family members.

In Malefor's case, it would seem that Sera viewed him as a potential consort.

"I do hope that the accommodations suit you?" she asked, turning around to face him.

"Is this how you treat all your guests?" he replied.

"Not all of them. You're probably the first as far as I can remember…" she said, raising a brow, looking up as if the answers were there.

"Wow…I guess this was a lucky find for me then."

"You could say that," she said, as she rested her head. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he replied back.

Malefor let out a deep sigh as he watched her close her eyes. The sound of the fire's crackling embers were the only white noise to him, apart from the rhythmic sound of her breathing; thoughts of today's events buzzed by Malefor's head as he closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep.

He wondered what the new coming day would bring him.

0 0 0 0 0

Dawn broke.

The cold breeze swept through the air, carrying the smell of the morning dew. A tangled heap of bodies lay next to each other, as one slowly woken up. Purple amethyst was greeted by the morning sun, as he awoke from his slumber. Spyro groaned, realizing he had slept quite close to Cynder that night, as apparently she was resting her head on his chest. Sparx was still snoring, and Izrayl was…

Izrayl wasn't there.

Spyro rubbed his eyes, checking to see if his eyes were deceiving him. They weren't. He slowly got up, joints cracking back into place as he stretched like a cat.

Where in the world was that blue dragon?

He stepped outside their hut, and soon found what he was looking for. Izrayl was sitting at the edge of the cliff, examining the Atlawa tribe as they continued on with their daily routine. His eyes followed their movements, as some continued to repair the huts that were destroyed by the attack of the apes, whilst others began to leave in groups, to forage for food.

"Hey," a voice greeted him. He turned his head, and saw Spyro sit next to him.

"Oh, Spyro, you're awake."

Spyro yawned. "You're up early."

Izrayl shook his head. "Couldn't sleep properly."

"Why?"

"I had a nightmare…" he said, looking distressed.

Spyro's brow rose. "…Want to talk about it? Talking always helps."

"I guess so…"

Izrayl took in a deep sigh.

*REMINISCING*

=It was horrible, Spyro. The Dragon Temple at Warfang…it was on fire. Destruction was literally everywhere. Chaos, panic, you name it.

Izrayl was shocked to see the state of the Dragon Temple. It looked like it was the subject to a riot. Shouts, screams and roars were bombarded into his ear as he ran down the halls of the Temple. Wild fires, big and small, were slowly burning down the Temple. He even passed by dragons, no doubt students at the Temple, that were clearly wounded. Some were bleeding from scrapes and gashes. Others looked panicked and flabbergasted. Soon, he found himself running down a hallway that allowed him to peer into the Temple Grounds below.

=That was when I realized that…the apes had attacked the Temple. Everyone was fighting…fighting a losing battle. The Guardians, Flame, Ember…and even Rave; they were all there in my dream, trying and fighting valiantly to save the Temple from the sudden army of apes that attacked. Much like how it happened here, I soon later found out that…they were searching for something.

Izrayl could only watch in horror as his friends tried to fight the oncoming onslaught of the apes. Fireballs, lighting strikes, icicles and even boulders were being hurled everywhere, hitting every ape it was aimed at. But it would seem they just kept coming and coming. For ever one ape, two would replace it. It was an endless stream of them.

Izrayl himself tried to join in on the fight, but it would seem he was just a passive observer in this scenario. He couldn't use his ice element, and the apes ignored him. More like, he wasn't there exactly. One ape ran at him, and literally phased right through him, telling him that he was just seeing what seemed like a vision of sorts. He was a ghost, watching the events unfold. Just when things couldn't get any worse, it took a turn to the worst.

The top of the Temple stairs exploded, sending its debris flying everywhere. Apes and dragons fled out of the way, but continued fighting nonetheless. Out of the smoke and ashes, came out a dragon. His features…were all too familiar.

=Who was it Izrayl? Who did you see?

Izrayl looked up in horror to what he saw. It was him; himself. It was himself standing at the top of the stairs. At first he wondered what he was doing there, and thought that maybe he came to the rescue of the Temple and helped in the fight. But it would seem that his dream self had different intentions. His expression was stoic, calm, and completely different from him; the dragon looked like him, but something was off. It was like looking into a mirror that had a slight distortion in it.

Then his dream self spoke.

"…Kill them."

It was cold, heartless and monotone. It echoed across his ears, drowning out the sounds of fighting all around him, just to let him hear it vividly.

That was clearly not him.

As if responding to the order, apes began to pour out of him. It was quite clear what his role there was. He was the General, and he was leading the army of the apes. His friends were flabbergasted, and utterly confused. Looks of betrayal, anguish and distress were plastered across their faces, as they prepared themselves for the apes that had come as reinforcements.

*END OF REMINISCING*

"Then…that's when…I woke up," Izrayl croaked.

Spyro stared at him, feeling sympathy for him. It was bad enough that he was being labelled as a bad dragon, for supposedly leading the attack at the Atlawa tribe. But now, even he himself was dreaming up crazy scenarios of him actually doing it. Spyro carefully chose his words.

"…It was just a dream Izrayl. Don't let it get to you," he said, patting him at the shoulder.
"A-are you sure?" he asked. "What if it's true? What if it's trying to tell me something?"

"If it is, it's telling you the wrong message. You're obviously disturbed from what happened yesterday. Like I said, don't let it get to you."

"I understand. Can we keep this between the two of us?"

Spyro smiled, trying to ease his friend's distress. He nodded, happy to see that Izrayl trusted him now.

"I guess you're right Spyro…I guess I'm not the only one in this kind of situation…"

"Yes. Cynder can definitely empathize."

"What about me empathizing?"

The two turned around and saw Cynder walking towards them. Sparx was sitting on her head, yawning.

"Were you talking about me?" she asked, looking at the two of them.

Spyro looked at Izrayl.

"No. We were talking about what to do today."

Cynder looked at Spyro, as if trying to discern if he was lying.

"Okay…what are we going to do today?"

Izrayl looked at Spyro.

"Easy, we're going to ask Kane, if he was any leads for us to follow about the Purple Lights. Come on, let's go find him. The faster we know something, the faster we can get to the bottom of this."

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