#4: Motives

Tempest had retired to her quarters shortly after Cynder had left, she sighed as she looked at a map of the entire continent hanging in the wall. It was old, ragged, torn in several places. But to her it had meaning, a purpose. Tempest had sent Cynder to kill Novak for a reason, just just because he was a terrible person. But also because she had a plan in mind… the return of the Dragon Kingdoms.

The wind dragoness had been planning such a thing for nearly a year now, of course others had tried such a thing before. All of them had faced a swift death from the Dark Master's minions. But Tempest wasn't outright challenging Malefor, instead she was slowly gaining power. Planning and thinking, planning and scheming. What the people before her had always failed to do, they had thought that their belief in the Ancestors would guide them. Or that their strength alone was the answer. They were all wrong, it was time. Time was the answer… for so long as the dragons remained scattered Malefor simply yet everyone be.

So she let the Dark Master believe that he had no rivals in Vargoth City, she simply let him believe that she was nothing more then the owning of a brothel where pleasure and gems flowed freely. That was fine with Tempest, it gave her even more time to plan. Now that she had gained the services of the shadow dragoness Cynder, slowly her plan was coming together.

The sound of someone entering her quarters broke her from her thoughts and she smiled "what did you think of her Ember?"

"Cynder? She's powerful, lovely on the eyes."

The whore, Ember walked to be beside Tempest as the wind dragoness chuckled softly "yes, your right about that. Now that she's off to kill Novak we can begin rallying dragons together in the Underground. It's from there that we will stage our attack."

"And what of Cynder? Will you tell her the truth of what we are about to do?"

Tempest nodded and turned to the pink dragoness "in time, but just having her on our side isn't enough. When the dust clears and the Dark Master lays dead we will need a leader. A Queen… to rule over the world of dragons."

Ember nodded and smiled, then she bowed her head "she doesn't even know who you are Princess Tempest. You would be the rightful ruler."

"I would… With Cynder as my bride." Tempest answered as she turned toward the door.

Ember looked away slightly realizing the plan the her lady had in mind "but… what about me?"

Tempest turned back to Ember and smiled softly, then she leaned close and kissed the dragoness. Their eyes met for a moment and Tempest whispered "I haven't forgotten about you my dear… I'll need you in the dark times to come."

The two dragoness's exchanged kisses once more, this time a bit more heatedly. Then Tempest slowly pulled away "once Cynder has ascended to the throne, it will be a marriage of circumstance. Not love, for my heart goes only to you."

Ember blushed deeply at her words and nodded in understanding "Cynder was once considered a great evil, do you truly think dragons will rally behind her?"

"Not at first, but they will rally behind the memory of the purple dragon Spyro. Cynder was his friend, she was there when he died. Now she alone shall be our weapon against the Dark Master."

Ember blinked and glanced out the window, the twin moons were high in the sky. She glanced at Tempest and smiled "my shift is over, we have the night to ourselves."

Tempest nodded and beckoned Ember to her sleeping mat "indeed… the night is ours."

…..

Cynder landed on one of the ruined towers that had once been a grand structure of many that the old Warfang City had once guarded. Now most of the towers were nothing more then ruins and tombs for those who had been caught within them when the city fell. But the ruins didn't bother Cynder, they hadn't bothered her for the last four years. She had after all, witnessed the destruction first hand when everything broke apart.

At the moment it was the dragons patrolling the ruins that bothered her. They were all midnight black with green glowing veiny lines on their bodies. Cynder swore under her breath at the sight and shook her head "shadow magic… Novak is a shadow dragon."

She sighed and used her back feet to kick off of the tower and she took to the air, scouting out Novak's territory. The area wasn't really much, most of the buildings were destroyed or on the verge of collapse. She frowned unsure as to just where Novak could be, surely if he had empowered his minions with dark magic he would have a lair somewhere near them. But Cynder found nothing, she landed again on the roof of a small building and swore again "damn, where is he?"

She was about to take off again, when suddenly the building she was on began to rumble. Cynder took a step and gasped as the whole structure began to cave in. She cried out as she fell through the roof and the rest of the ceiling fell down around her...

Author's Note: As always thank's for reading! Tell me what you think, and do you think Tempest can be trusted? What other plans does she have in store?