Spyro woke up curled near Cynder. He looked around himself, but he couldn't see much, because it was still night-time. He laid his head onto one cushion, trying to go back to sleep, but no rest came to him. Groaning, he stood up, directing to the balcony. He sat on the stone floor with his nose aiming up in the sky and his gaze lost in the stars. He could have passed the rest of his life admiring them, counting them. He was told that every celestial body was the soul of a valorous dragon of the past, illuminating the darkest of the nights with their light. One particular star caught his attention, it was brighter than the others, its colour shifted form a warm white to a reddish tone. His thoughts flew to Ignitus once again, his eyes now closed.
"I hope the Ancestors welcomed you at open arms."Spyro thought, leaving his feelings taking on.
He then felt a presence, a warmth beside him, like an emanation from a body.
"Spyro, my boy…"A familiar voice called for him.
A swirl of emotions grasped Spyro's chest as he opened his eyes to look for the source of the call, but what he saw stunned him. He glimpsed his own body, staying still on the balcony, illuminated by the dim lights of the Celestial Moons.
"Spyro…"The voice called again.
The purple dragon turned around and he finally saw him.
An elder dragon stood in front of him, his scales were of a light blue, shifting to white in some parts. It took a moment to Spyro to realise that Ignitus was in front of him, right now.
He ran towards the blue dragon, hugging his left foreleg tightly, tears of joy streaming form his eyes.
"Ignitus is that really you?"Asked Spyro sobbing.
"Yes my boy, it is I"He said smiling.
"But I thought…we all thought we lost you in the Belt of Fire…how…"Spyro was speechless.
"I'm sorry Spyro, I actually died in the Belt of Fire, but my soul was saved by the Chronicler. Which passed to me his duty for this age. Now, I keep watch over all of you."Said the elder gazing the stars.
"That's amazing, Ignitus…"The purple dragon said astonished.
"Oh my boy, what is truly amazing is what you and Cynder have accomplished. As I told you many times, you never cease to amaze me."Said Ignitus.
They stood together for few moments, before the elder spoke again.
"Spyro, I'm extremely sorry, but I have to leave you now."
"But why, you just arrived."Said Spyro, almost begging.
"I know, but this ethereal form doesn't permit me to stay here for long."He paused.
"Remember, young dragon, I will be by your side, now and forever. You need to stay strong for all of the world, you're the only light in these still dark times. Never lose you strength and faith in the ones you love…"Concluded Ignitus, his form fading away.
Spyro opened abruptly his eyes, panting heavily. Was it just a dream or he really did met the mentor he thought he had lost forever? With his head now full of thoughts, he went back on Cynder's bed. He admired her once again, Ignitus's words floating back in his mind. "Never lose faith in the ones you love… It will never happen, I promise."He said in his head.
He then licked the black dragoness forehead and posed his head on one cushion, drifting into sleep.
The morning came as soon as he closed his eyes. Birds' singing coming from the open window, as a timid ray of sun filtered trough the black curtains. He felt Cynder beginning to stir beside him, as she too was waking up.
"Good morning Cynder." He said, nuzzling her cheek.
She grunted pleased, as she reciprocate the cuddling.
"Good morning, purple boy."She said giggling.
"So, by which time you need to be in the infirmary?"She asked wearily .
"I don't know, maybe I should ask Auros if he knows-"He was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door.
"Miss Cynder?"A voice called.
The two young dragons watched each other silently.
"Yes?"She answered, nudging Spyro to her bathroom.
"Do you know where's Master Spyro? He isn't in his room…"Continued the voice coming from behind the entrance. Cynder approached the door and opened it, revealing a mole with a worried frown on his face.
"No, I don't know where he is, maybe he just woke up early…"She said, Spyro silently giggling to himself.
"I looked all around the Temple but I didn't find him. Should I alert the Guardians?"Asked worried the mole.
"Maybe he doesn't want to be found. I'm sure he will be back soon." She said smiling.
"Ok Miss Cynder. If you see him, could you tell that he's expected at the infirmary in thirty minutes for his check-up? I already notified the other young dragon."Stated the mole.
"Yes, of course. Thank you for telling me. Have a nice day." Said Cynder, closing the door.
"You too, Miss Cynder."Concluded the mole.
As soon as the door closed Spyro came back from the bathroom.
"Well, at least I know when I have to be there."Said Spyro shrugging.
"And we almost got caught. I don't think that the Guardians would approve us sleeping together."Said Cynder frowning.
"Yea, you're right. Now I should get going, I don't want to be late. Would you like to accompany me?"Said the purple dragon.
"Sure, if you want it."Replied Cynder.
"Of course, now we got to fetch Auros and we should be good to go."Stated Spyro, reaching for the door.
Once opened he found the white dragon waiting outside his entrance, in the process of knocking.
Auros turned around, a surprised smile tinted on his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I…Interrupt something?I was coming to ask you if you wanted to come with me to the infirmary."Said the white youngster.
Both Spyro and Cynder flushed red, their glances parting.
"We were actually coming to get you before leaving."Said the purple dragon."And no, you didn't interrupt anything…"He continued smiling.
"Oh, ok."Answered Auros." I think we should hurry, though, it will take some time to walk to the infirmary from here."Said the white dragon.
Without another word the three youngsters left the temple with a speedy pace.
They crossed the courtyard, directing to the main street. Meanwhile two lone figures where watching the trio from above.
"There she is, perfectly directing to our trap."Said the first one.
"Yea, but there's also the purple dragon with her, you think it's still safe to proceed?"Asked the second one, a bit scared.
"Totally, the purple whelp may be strong, but now he's still recovering. He won't be much of a problem, if he's smart he will stand aside. Now come, let's follow them, we need to stick to the plan." Answered the first one.
The two dragons darted up in the air, maintaining the distance from their target.
In the meantime, the three young dragons crossed one of the main squares of the city, and directed to the big garden that preceded the infirmary.
They entered the place, where an adult dark grey dragon was waiting for them.
He walked to the trio, which already noticed him. The dragon stopped in front of them.
Before he could talk, Spyro intervened:"Sorry, my friend, but we're a bit in a hurry. We cannot stop right now."
"Oh, I think you will instead."Retorted the dragon.
He slammed his forepaws to the ground. In front of him, three pillars of rock erupted from the earth and just few centimetres from the young dragons.
They tried to back up, but other two dragons landed in front of them, stopping their escape.
"Where do you think you are going, little whelps?" A dark red dragons menaced.
The trio recoiled and stepped back to the middle of the garden.
"What do you want from us?"Asked Spyro snarling, assuming the best defensive pose he could manage to do, his companions doing the same.
The three dragons where in front of them, moving closer.
"We're not here for you, purple whelp, but for the black monster behind you." Answered the grey dragon snarling, his glare fixed on Cynder.
"Give her to us, and nobody will be hurt." Intervened the third pale-green dragon.
"Why should I come with you?" Asked Cynder.
"To answer for your crimes!" Retorted the red dragon.
"I think you don't know who you're talking to."Stated flatly Auros. His wings also now raised to a defensive position in front of Cynder.
"Shut up you whelp, or I will close that mouth of yours for a long time."Snarled the pale-green one, moving to his right.
"Basalt, we should make this quick, before anyone notices their delay."Suggested the red dragon.
"Right…"Said the grey dragon, inching closer to the young ones.
Cynder was actually paralysed, three unknown dragons were menacing her friends because of her and she was doing nothing. She thought how they could escape this situation, but failed to see any way. She couldn't use the shadows because she could carry one dragon at a time, and they were almost completely surrounded, as the wall of the garden was getting closer during their retreat.
"Cynder!"Spyro's call broke her train of thoughts.
The fight had already begun. The grey dragon was threateningly slashing his front paws to the purple one, who was deflecting the hits with his horns. Auros too was defending himself with his horns and wings, not daring to attack.
The red dragon attacked Spyro on the left, forcing him to leave down his defences on the centre.
Basalt caught the occasion and swinged his right paw towards Cynder, Spyro noticed it and moved his head in front of his black dragoness taking a direct strike on his left cheek.
The purple dragon tumbled on the green grass of the garden, as silence fell over the place.
"SPYRO!" Screamed Cynder, running towards him.
"Basalt! Are you out of your mind? We said not to hurt the purple one! We're screwed!"Said the green dragon."I'm leaving before the guards arrive!"He continued.
The grey dragon was sitting still one the grass, gazing at his right paw, droplets of blood staining his talons.
"I'm leaving too…"Said the red dragon darting up in the air, behind his green companion.
"Wait, you idiots, come back here!"Roared Basalt. Noticing his sudden inferiority, he turned to leave, but he was stopped by a pillar of fire erupting in front of him.
"You are not going anywhere."Shouted Auros. He then spit few globules of ice towards the grey dragon's paws, immobilising him.
"What the fuck!?"Roared Basalt.
The white dragon ignored him, directing towards his friends.
"Spyro are you ok?"Asked Cynder to the purple dragon.
"Yea…. My head is spinning just a little."He said standing up, some blood running down from the gashes on his cheek.
The white dragon puffed a small layer of ice over his wound, before addressing them:"Guys,I think we should leave before he frees himself."Suggested Auros and without wasting anymore time they left the garden running as fast as they could, leaving behind a roaring grey dragon.
The small group arrived panting at the infirmary, welcomed by a clearly concerned Aramis.
"My dears, why are you so weary?"She asked softly. She then glanced to the purple dragon, who had those three gashes on his cheek, just below his eyes, patched with a thin layer of ice that contained the bleeding.
"By the Ancestors! What happened to you?"She asked worriedly, getting closer to Spyro to inspect the wound.
"We were attacked by three adult dragons, they wanted to get Cynder and 'make her answer for her past crimes.'"Said Auros, watching apprehensively his friends.
Aramis gasped, a deep frown etched on her face as she called two moles nurses to help Spyro.
"Go with them, they're going to fix you up and complete your check-up, young Auros you should too go with him. I'm gonna notify the Guardians."Stated the light-grey dragoness.
The two young dragons nodded and followed closely the moles, while Aramis remained with Cynder.
"Young dragoness, would you like to accompany me to the Temple to describe what happened?"Asked gently the medic.
It took Cynder few instants to answer, then she finally nodded.
"Perfect, now let's go, we have sometime before my medics finish with your friends."Said Aramis.
The two dragonesses left the building, taking flight and directing south towards the Temple.
Spyro and Auros were brought in a similar room to the one they both had during their convalescence, the doctors made them sit on a cushion and exited the room, leaving the two young dragons alone. Both remained silent for few instants, before Spyro broke the calm.
"Thank you for your help before. I thought I could handle those three and make them leave, but the situation escalated rather quickly. So thank you for helping us."Muttered Spyro.
"No need to thank me, I just did what a friend would do, right?"Said Auros smiling.
"I guess so…"Paused the purple dragon.
"Another thing… Am I wrong, or did you use two elements during the fight?"Asked inquisitively Spyro.
"Well…yes. I have affinity with ice and fire. I really don't know why, but I think it's a way to balance my…Handicap with red gems…"Said the white dragon.
"Handicap?"Asked quizzically his purple friend.
"Yea, red gems have a weird effect on me. They actually cure my wounds, but the process is pretty painful and mostly unpleasant to say the least."Sighed Auros.
"I see, but why din't you tell us earlier about it? We could ask to Volteer if he has already seen something similar to your case…He may be able to find a solution in the future."Stated Spyro with a comforting smile.
"In addition, I think that he would be thrilled to work with a dragon that can wield more than one element and it's not a purple dragon. He's gonna study you from tail to muzzle, that's granted!"Chuckled the purple dragon.
"Actually, it would be the first time that my difference is not treated like a birth defect. You know, for the brief time that I spent with my family during my childhood, I remember that most of the other dragons saw this affinity of mine like something bad, that dirtied the ice-dragon bloodline of my family. Of course, for what I recall, my parents thought I was special or something and they always defended me. Let's say that those weren't pleasant times…But that's water under the bridge now."Stated Auros, his gaze fixed on the floor.
"I'm sorry to hear that, you know… I also had a similar experience during my own childhood. I was raised by a family of dragonflies and…"
"Dragonflies? Oh, now I understand why you knew that little one that evening."Interrupted the white dragon.
"Exactly. Anyway I was raised as a dragonfly and I legitimately thought that I was one of them… A big, scaly and purple one."
"I tried to live as a dragonfly, but anytime I tried to do something, someone got hurt or something got destroyed. Luckily for me, my parents loved me in spite of everything."He paused, watching his white friend.
"So trust me, I know how does it feel to be different."Concluded Spyro.
Auros gazed his friend with a grateful smile, before the door got opened.
Four moles entered the room, interrupting their talk, two of them with a handful of red and green gems. The first two directed towards the purple dragon.
"Well, young one, let's get you fixed up before we check out that wing of yours."Said the doctor.
He took some red gems and pushed them beside the dragon's cheek. The wound immediately began to close, as the gems slowly dissipated.
Meanwhile, another two nurses were inspecting closely Auros.
"Could you please stand up?"Asked the mole.
The white dragon nodded and obeyed the doctor. The physician moved closer to his hind legs, inspecting the scars. After some seconds, he began massaging the muscles, a frown etched on his face.
"Hmmm, the wounds are completely healed, but your muscles still remain tense and contracted. Let's see if we can soften them."He said, continuing to massage the white dragon's legs.
"Val, help me out with the other one."He added.
The other mole nodded and moved to his other side and begun massaging Auros's other leg.
"This may gonna hurt, but trust me, it's going to work."Stated finally the doctor.
A feeling of awkwardness was beginning to flow trough the white dragon, as those two moles were touching him were nobody ever did before.
Spyro chuckled watching his friend getting fixed up, while his doctor took up his wing and begun to examine it. The mole begun to finger the bones and the joints, to feel if the tissues correctly recomposed and the bones were all in the right place. After few minutes of careful observation the mole smiled at the purple dragon.
"Well, Master Spyro, it seems that your wing has healed correctly. I think that few red gems will be enough to permit you to fly again."Said the doctor, handling some crimson crystals.
Spyro felt as if a boulder was lifted from his chest, replaced by a renewed excitement. The mole pushed the gems to his wing, making them dissipate immediately at the contact.
The purple dragon exercised his right wing, feeling it more responsive and sort of lighter than before.
"You need to be careful and not strain it too much yet. I advise you to use them to glide and fly for brief periods of time during your training or to move around the city. In few days you'll be able to use them completely." Concluded the small mammal.
"Thank you for your help."Said Spyro, bowing his head to the doctor.
"I just did my job, young one."He answered.
The two young dragons bowed their head again to the medics, before leaving the infirmary.
They exited the door, the morning sun shining bright over them. Auros watched his purple friend smiling.
"I think we should reach Cynder and Aramis to the Temple."Stated the white dragon.
"Yea, good idea."Spyro watched his companion, a grin etching on his face.
"The last one goes against Cynder in training!"Said the purple dragon, darting up in the sky.
"Wait, what!?"Auros said confused. Soon he realised his lag from his friend and immediately took flight, chasing Spyro.
Cynder and Aramis arrived at the Temple in a couple of minutes after leaving the landed softly in the courtyard and walked through the staircase and to the two guards bowed their heads and opened the great door, letting in the two crossed the long corridor, before arriving in the main hall of the Temple, where Terrador and Volteer were discussing.
Aramis cleared her throat to gain the attention of the Guardians.
"Aramis, Cynder, good morning! What can we do for you?"Said Terrador.
"We came here for denounce an aggression, suffered by our young dragoness here and her two friends."Said Aramis with a cold voice.
The two Guardians immediately frowned.
"Aggression? Did anyone get hurt? By the Ancestors this is intolerable! Absolutely uncivilised and-"Volteer was stopped by Terrador.
"Calm down, my friend. Let the young dragoness speak."
The Earth Guardian inched closer to Cynder.
"Could you please describe clearly what happened?" He asked softly.
Cynder paused for few moments before she begun to talk.
"We were going to the infirmary, when a grey dragon stopped us. Spyro politely tried to shoo him away, but he blocked us with his Earth power. We tried to run away, but two other dragons landed behind, surrounding us. They told that they wanted me to go with them to answer for my…"She paused." My crimes during the war. Of course we refused and they begun to attack us. Spyro defended me and he got hurt."Her voice beginning to get feeble."After that two of them flee, while the grey one, Basalt was his name, was trapped by Auros. That permitted us to escape."She concluded, her eyes gazing the floor.
"It's all my fault, I'm sorry…"A single tear sliding down her cheek.
Terrador caressed her with one wing.
"None of this is you fault. Let us Guardians deal with those criminals."He said softly.
"Volteer, alert Baldur and tell him to have someone to look for this Basalt. He and his accomplices are going to answer for their aggression."
Volteer nodded and left for the door.
"Aramis" Called the Earth Guardian"Thank you for taking Cynder here. You're dismissed."He said.
The grey dragoness bowed her head and then left.
Terrador watched then the black dragoness standing in front of him, her eyes fixed on the marble floor. The Earth Elder sighed, sitting beside the young one.
"I have to confess, Cynder, that we Guardians feared that things like this could happen."He said with a miserable tone.
The black dragoness exhaled heavily."What do you mean, Terrador?"She asked, a tinge of sorrow still present in her tone.
"You see, lots of dragons lost everything during the war, mostly because…"He chose his words carefully."Of your actions as Terror of the Sky."He paused, now Cynder was watching him.
"After you and Spyro disappeared three years ago, Ignitus did his best clean your name and defend you. Unfortunately he did also foresee that some of them wouldn't change their mind, and that someone would even try to have their vengeance in some way."He said frowning.
Cynder gazed silently the elder while he continued talking.
"We Guardians don't minimally justify their action, but we can understand their reasons."
He then fixed his eyes on the black dragoness.
"But you, Cynder, are a Warfang citizen like all of us and so protected by our laws. You don't need to worry."He concluded.
Cynder stood silent for few moments, before she sighed:"I think I don't want to be a Warfang citizen if this gets my friends hurt."She answered.
Terrador watched her sadly, but his attention was caught by the sound of the opening door.
Some seconds later, Spyro and Auros reached the main noticed it too and ran towards Spyro.
"Spyro!"She said nuzzling his cheek."Is all ok?"She asked worriedly.
"Yes, the doctors managed to fix me up. Also my wing now is better, I came here by flight!"He said excited.
"That's amazing!"She agreed.
"That's amazing indeed, young Spyro, also with perfect timing for the beginning of the training."Said Terrador, getting closer to the trio.
"And about that…problem you got this morning, don't worry we're dealing with it."He stated.
The purple dragon nodded in response.
"Anyway, soon after lunch we will meet here and begin your lessons."Continued the Earth Guardian.
"You mean that the main hall can be used as an arena like in the old Temple?"Asked Spyro.
"Precisely, as you can see this place is a lot bigger than the Temple in the Swamp. It was originally built with the objective to train tens of dragons at time. Actually you're only five, but I hope that more of your peers will join in the future."Answered Terrador.
"Now off you go young ones, time for lunch! See you in one hour."Said smiling the Earth Elder.
The three young dragons saluted the guardian and left for the door. Soon after they darted up in the sky, directing towards the great hall.
It was a sensation that Spyro missed too much. The air rushing in his face, the wind flowing over his scales and in his wings, carrying him wherever he wanted. Everything from above seemed now so small and distant, while he soared free over the world. His eyes were barely open, a great smile etched on his face. Soon Cynder approached him.
"You missed it, don't you?"She asked grinning.
"You couldn't imagine it."He answered.
During their flight they glimpsed other dragons directing towards their destination. A sense of relief filled Spyro's chest in seeing more dragons populating the great, empty city. He was also sure that more will come in the future.
Soon the Great Hall came into view, as the three young dragons landed softly in front of the building.
They entered the place searching for a table, when they glimpsed two familiar figures.
Gaia and Nix were sit with the same two dragons that were at the temple the day before.
The trio approached the table, Nix recognised them and tapped Gaia's shoulder.
She turned and gazed the three dragons, a broad smile etched on her face.
"Dad, Narrius.."She called, the adult dragon turned around, facing the trio."Those are Spyro, Cynder and…"She paused"I'm sorry I don't remember your name-"
"Auros"Said Nix before he could talk, a shy smile on her face.
The white dragon kindly smiled at the azure dragoness, before gazing the two elders.
"It's an honour to meet the Saviours of our world in flesh and bones."Said the Earth dragon bowing his head. The Ice dragon did the same.
"Indeed it is. Thank you for everything you've done, young ones."Continued the Ice Elder.
The two heroes bowed their heads in unison."No need to thank us, we've done what we were meant to do. "Said Spyro.
"Well, young ones, thank you anyway. Now I'm sorry but I've got to leave, my patrol starts in a couple of minutes, see you later darling."Said the Earth dragon addressing to his daughter.
"Me too, I've got to help my wife setting up the new home. Bye young ones."Said the Ice one.
The two dragon left for the door, while the young dragonesses invited their three friends to join them at the table.
"So we heard that we're beginning the 'training' today. You guys have already done something similar to this?"Asked Gaia, addressing to Spyro and Cynder.
"I've actually been trained with the guardians several years ago, before we were trapped in the time crystal. They taught me how to master the four elements and the relatives furies-"
"Furies!?"Interrupted Gaia.
"You mean you mastered four different furies at twelve?"She asked astounded.
"Yeah?"Answered Spyro a bit confused.
"Wow, I never heard of someone so talented. No doubt you're the strongest dragon in the world."She said with a flattering tone. Cynder narrowed her eyes at the Earth dragoness, but she didn't notice.
"Anyway…"Continued the purple dragon. "I've got no clue on how they will train us this time. I guess there are lots of things that they didn't taught me back in the day."
"Well, I have to admit that I'm pretty excited. I mean… Training with the Guardians and you two… I really didn't believe my ears when Terrador asked me to join you." Said Auros.
"I hope to live up to it…"He then said, his tone a bit saddened.
"I'm sure you're gonna deal with it and if not, you're going to learn how to do it. It's called training for a reason."Said Cynder to the white dragon.
"Yea, you're right."
A mole arrived with five platters full of meat and posed them on the table. The youngster began to eat, before leaving for the Temple all together.