Chapter 3: Forced Attack
Sleeping soundly and listening to his heartbeat, Winter felt at ease as she had slept, but there was only one thing that had bothered her, If those dragons were after me, that must mean there will be more to come. Maybe... maybe it would be best if I left and sparred everyone the pain. After all, if it wasn't for me, Carith and Cynder never would've gotten hurt. Opening her eyes to the moonlit room, she frowned on what to do, as she didn't want to leave, but everything in her body told her not to. They didn't seem to care much about what had happened. Even after being attacked, Spyro healed them, and then beat those dragons. But what if he wasn't there? What if, I, wasn't there... Winter thought, pulling her head slowly back, allowing Ignitus's head to gently rest on his paws. Looking down at him, she continued to fight in her thoughts, You are the only reason I don't want to leave. Everything about you tells me not to. Would it be best if I leave...? I wish I could tell you what has happened... I wish... I wish I had never made the mistake I made. Moving her head down and slightly nuzzling his cheek as to not wake him, she pulled away with a small tear as the feeling from his scales made her feel so happy, but she knew she couldn't stay. I'm sorry... so sorry, Ignitus. I... I like you, I, I might even love you but, I can't put everyone at risk because of what I've done. Her body tensed up with every move she made, as she slowly tried to make her way off the bed, every move becoming more and more painful as she knew she wouldn't see him again. Standing on the side of the bed and looking at him as his smile turned to a frown, she clenched her teeth as she thought, Damn it! What do I do?! I can't leave him, I can't! I can't even make it out the room without him by my side now. I... I will just tell him... tell him... about what has happened. I... I know he will forgive me... I... But... I was the one who froze over his mouth... I almost... killed him.
"Alright, alright, enough, sheesh," A voice said from in her head. "Oh no..."
"Surprise! Guess who's back, and all because you just had to play the crying game about what to do. You know, to be honest, I didn't think you were this stupid. You clearly know I can control you, but when your around Ignitus, well, my power doesn't work so well." Flint chuckled. "Why do this now?! You could've control me back then, but why now?!" Winter growled, feeling Flint controlling her to move up her paw. "Because I thought a couple of simple idiots could take care of one. And once they get back, I'm going to have a long, deadly talk with them. But hay, good news for you, we are going to kill him right this time. So don't worry, he'll die quick." Flint joked, moving Claire back up onto the bed. Trying to resist, Flint chuckled once again, "It's funny how you're trying to resist even though by every second you get closer to him. If you resist when I put your tail blade in his heart, it's going to hurt like Hell for him so, you might as well let it happen!" Tears formed in her eyes as she was now right in front of Ignitus, and she begged for Flint to not go through with this, "Wait, Wait! Dark Master, please, I can, I can get Cynder for you, I can! Just, don't make me kill Ignitus, please!"
"You can't lie to me Claire, I can read your thoughts. You were just going to break free, snuggle up to Ignitus, and tell him everything, or, or, you were going to have all the Guardians ambush me. Well to bad, I've already moved to a newer, darker location. You can't get out of this Claire. So, any last words to him? No? Don't care," Flint chuckled as he raised Winter's paw up, and then down towards his chest. "Oh no wait! His brain, yeah, his brain would be much funnier to see!" Flint agreed with himself, raising Winter's tail blade above Ignitus's head. "You're, you're insane!" Winter growled, trying to get control over her body. "Hey, you have a chance to call for help. Come on, do it. Let's see how fast I can kill Ignitus before he will respond to your cry. As soon as he jumps up to help, Bam! tail blades right in his brain! Oh, it would be so good to see what Spyro will do to you when he sees this!" Pulling her tail blade down to his head, her blade neared his head, making her tears feel endless as she was to weak to stop him. "Almost there, come on, you got it," Flint teased her. As her tail blade almost touched his head, Ignitus mumbled softly with a smile, "Winter..."
Biting her lip, she used every bit of force and power she had to stop Flint. Throwing her tail blade away from his head, she still felt her tail blade rip through something before it fell straight into the bed. With a loud hiss from Ignitus, he put a paw on the side of his face. Opening his eyes, he looked at Winter to see she was in shock. Pulling his paw away from his cheek, he saw through the small light from the moon, blood. Even with her best efforts, she had still managed to cut his cheek bad enough for him to bleed. Looking at her, he shivered in fear as he knew if he said something, she would run, but he had to, "Winter..."
Quickly bolting off the bed and running out of the room, she threw open the door and ran, but not before hearing Ignitus cry, "Winter, Wait!"
"Damn it, no!" Ignitus cried again, quickly jumping off his bed to chase after Winter.
The Guardians all woke to see and hear Ignitus crying out for Winter as he ran out the door. The three quickly got up and out of their beds and chased Ignitus in case he needed help.
Slamming the doors open to the outside, Winter cried tears as she knew what she had done, and she knew what had to happen. Feeling the cold air and rain as it hit her back made her remember the time she had lost her lover in the rain, and now she was experiencing it all over again. Looking out from the top of Warfang, she cried, I never should've done this! I was so stupid! And now... now I have no one... not even Ignitus! Opening her wings, she burned that thought into her mind, but even as she tried to leave, she still tried not to. Her wings tensed, and with one flap of her wings, she stopped to feel someone's tail wrapped around hers. She looked over to see it was Ignitus. Clenching her teeth, she cried, "Ignitus, I'm sorry, I never wanted this to happen. I never should've come here, I never deserved to have anyone, and after hurting you, I've finally accepted that truth."
The Guardians peaked out the door to listen in on the conversation the two were having with one another. Ignitus shuck his head as he got closer to her. Sitting down next to her, with his body not touching hers, he asked, "Winter..."
"My name isn't Winter! My... my real name... my real name is Claire," She cried, Shaking her head, knowing how Ignitus was feeling right now, and all the hate he must have for her.
"Claire? But, why hide your name?"
"Because... There... Ignitus..."
Claire could feel Flint fighting back what she was saying, which angered her, but it also scared her, as she knew if she didn't say the right thing, she would never have the chance to explain herself. Putting his body against the side of Claire's, her eyes widened a little. Putting his wing over her body, he looked at her and whispered, "You don't need to be afraid, just tell me what happened. I will understand if you do or don't, but I'm hoping that what ever decision you make, it will make you smile."
She smiled slightly, feeling his now warm body, and the darkness was completely out of her mind once again, allowing her control over her body once again. She took the opportunity to finally explain what had happened and explained while she sat down with him, "I was told to come here to assassinate all of you. But, as I came to see who you all were and how nice you all were to me... I couldn't bring myself to do it."
"Why not?"
"Spyro has never done anything to me, and although Cynder was turned into her dark form, she wasn't the one that killed anyone I love, so I didn't have anything bad against her. Malefor is a different story, but seeing him laugh and smile with everyone, and for him to have a lover, I thought I was wrong to think Malefor was actually who I thought he was. I haven't forgiven everything he has done but, I know I won't have to worry about him after Spyro's words."
"And what about the Guardians?"
"Volteer and Cyril were getting along so well, and I've never had any hate towards the Guardians, not even Terrador. Killing one would make me hate myself because, thinking of them crying from one of their friends deaths, I couldn't bring myself to even attempt to kill them."
"And... what... what about me? Why... why didn't you kill me?"
"I never wanted to kill you! I tried to fight back the dark master's control over my mind, and when I stood up, he took over, and, I couldn't stop him. By the time I hurt you, it was to late, and the damage to you was done... I'm so sorry, I swear I am. For some reason when I'm under your wing, he can't control me at all. But, when I got up... I never should've come here... I shouldn't have."
Dark Master?! No, this only makes things worse. I was hoping their wasn't a dark master, but now this provides me with the truth! What am I supposed to tell everyone else when they know someone else has become the dark master?! Ignitus thought, but was broken from his thoughts as Claire begged, "Just let me go, please Ignitus, I don't ever want to hurt you ever again. I don't want to risk the fact that I could hurt you again."
Looking to the ground, she didn't want to struggle, as her mind told her that she would accidentally hurt him again, but her heart told her she would never do something like that ever again, so she didn't want to try and get away. Putting his paw on the other side of her face, she looked over at him and wondered what he was doing. Pulling his paw back, he whispered, "Let you go? Because of some darkness, for something you never had control over? If you're afraid of the darkness, I can take care of that, at a price."
Claire saw the smile on Ignitus's face, and she blushed as she said, "Ignitus... well... I'm... what... what's the... price? You mean like... me... And you..."
Ignitus's face turned red, just as red as his scales as he quickly took it back, "No no no, wait, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry, I'm not use to having to comfort someone like a dragoness."
Claire giggled from his embarrassment, and continued to listen to his words, "What I meant was... Claire, I love having you around, I really do. I want you to stay, and I can even get rid of the darkness for you completely if you stay... But, if you don't... I will still get rid of the darkness just... please be safe... I won't feel better unless I know you're telling the truth."
"You... you want the truth?" Claire asked, as her heart started beating faster as she felt like this was her chance.
"Please."
Claire giggled, seeing he was just as desperate for her to stay as she was. Please be what I'm thinking is going to happen. Ancestors, please, she thought, as she grabbed every bit of courage she had as she gave her response, "Well, I guess you taking away the darkness... Yeah, I can stay."
"Really!"
Carith smiled at the way he acted, making her wonder if he really did care about her, but the horror she felt, the apprehension that something bad would happen because of what she did to him, she murmured, "But, Ignitus, I don't know if I could even if I wanted to. After what I did..."
"Claire, I'm not going to blame you for hurting me when you never even had control over your body. And, there is a saying that my son has that makes me smile every time. When ever his lover says how she is scared of hurting him, he looks at her, with a warm smile, and with a soft voice, he tells her, 'The only way you could ever hurt me is if you left me'. Claire, that's how I feel right now... please don't leave."
"But..."
"Here, I will erase the doubt that you've said so far," Ignitus said, putting a paw over his cut.
Swiping his paw over, the cut completely disappeared. Claire was astonished that he was able to do something like that, and she watched as he put a claw right on her forehead. Tapping his claw on her forehead, he put his paw back to the ground, and asked, "So, now that the darkness and the cut are both gone, tell me, why are you so sad Claire?"
"What... how... I don't feel the darkness anymore... how? And, the cut, that I did..." Claire asked, completely boggled by what just happened and how he did such a thing.
"What darkness? And what cut? I don't see or feel anything. You must've been imagining this all along," Ignitus said with a smile and a smart looking face, seeing her completely confused, he knew this was the best time to try and get her to stay, "It's okay that you're scared, we all get scared, but there is always someone there even if you don't think they are. I want to protect you, Claire... But..."
He stopped, feeling her head nuzzle up underneath his, the two smiled from the feelings of one another.
"I already said I would stay. Sounds like someone would be sad if I left," Claire teased him, "Why is that I wonder."
"What, well, you know, it's just, there are to many guys, and having another female around wouldn't be so bad. Having you around is great because you understand most of my jokes. The Guardians usually just chuckle awkwardly, or act like they didn't even hear me. And, I know Carith and Cynder love having you around because you all get to hang out without guys."
"Don't you already have a lover around that laughs at your jokes?"
"A lover? Unfortunately, no."
Claire quickly pulled her head away and looked into his eyes to see if he was lying, and she even asked to make sure, "Are you sure, or are you messing with me?"
Ignitus smiled at her reaction, and it kinda confused him, but he assured her, "I don't have a lover. It was actually funny, I was going to find a lover two days ago until I ran into you. Everyone was talking about how I should find someone, but when you said you needed my help, I had to put everything aside to help you, which I'm glad I did, it was nice to meet someone like you."
"But... Spyro, he's your son."
"He's my adopted son. Me and him have gone through a lot, and he calls me father some times and I call him my son. I love having Spyro as my son because he's everything I would've wanted if I ever had a hatchling: Strong, caring for his lover, has lots of friends. I'm glad Cynder was there with Spyro. And, don't your remember? Spyro's parents were killed by the dark master, sadly, so I couldn't be his real father."
So he doesn't have a lover! And Spyro isn't really his son! So do I really have a chance?! But I hurt him... But his words... I have to ask him, Claire thought, blushing a little as she had hoped Ignitus wouldn't catch on to what she was really asking, "Ignitus, what will you do tomorrow now that you've freed me from the dark master's control?"
"That depends, what do you want to do tomorrow?"
"What... What do you mean?"
"Well, I was just thinking, and I don't really know what to do. Now that I've helped you, and we don't have to worry about anything for right now, I was just wondering if you would like to do something tomorrow?"
"But... Why with me?"
"Well, because, you've seemed like your were having a great time with everyone and smiling more then you did before I'm assuming. I want to keep you happy, and I thought us doing something tomorrow would be just as fun as any other day. You don't have to if you don't want to, I would understand..."
"No, no! I really do!"
"Then what would you suggest we do tomorrow?"
"Well... I've... I haven't had a problem just... snuggling up to you in bed. Would it be okay if we just did that?"
Ignitus chuckled with a warm smile and asked, "That depends, can you tell me what really happened last night? To be honest, I was, bummed out from what happened when I first met you. Apparently, the ice on my face wasn't from Cyril, so, I want to know if... I want to know if it was you."
She frowned, but from what he had said before, she felt better in being able to trust his better judgement, "Well, when I woke up, and I stood up, I was taken control over. I was forced to freeze over your mouth with my ice. The dark master formed a shard in my paw and told me to kill you. I'm sorry, I, I wanted to tell you but I knew what would happen if I did. I didn't want to tell you because, I didn't want to... I didn't want to have been banished from Warfang, and have everything taken from me... I needed you."
"Claire, remember what I said, about you being controlled?"
She giggled slightly, and said, "Yes..."
"Were you going to kill me out of the hate in your heart?"
"What?! Ancestors no. I have no hate towards you what so ever."
"I'm curious, what stopped you from killing me then? You barely knew me during that day, and I only helped you with those dark creatures. So why didn't you kill me, why fight back?"
"Because... It was the night in the room. When I was at the point where I was scared, and I felt like I should just get it over with, you were there for me. When you had shut the door, I thought you had left, but no, you just had to make everything so cheerful and calm with your oh so soothing voice."
The two shared a small laugh from her words, remembering the night from before.
"You really helped me through that day," Claire continued, "heh, and all though you did make a cute little mistake when you asked if I could sleep with you, I was glad you did. It was funny seeing you so embarrassed, and I really enjoyed seeing you smile. I haven't laughed in a long time... and, I haven't really smiled either... So, I thank you."
"I should be thanking you. You found me, I didn't find you. If you had found one of the other Guardians, things would've been way different, so I'm glad you came to me and not those other three."
"Why, because they are better then you?" Claire giggled.
"Wh, ugh, my heart... Why do you hurt me?" Ignitus chuckled.
"What do you mean? I haven't left you."
Ignitus looked at her with his eyes slightly widened as she looked at him a smile and a blush. He smiled back. Nuzzling her head back underneath his, they smiled as they closed their eyes, feeling as if they could easily fall asleep right then and there. But Claire knew that Ignitus would run out of energy from giving her heat at some point, so she asked, "So how long do you think you can keep this up?"
"Pardon?"
"Sooner or later, as enjoyable as this is for me, and I hope for you, you're going to run out of energy from keeping me warm. How long do you think we will be able to just sit here with one another?"
"Hehe, Well, as long as you want. Trust me, I have an, endless, supply of power, which I will explain later. It's just a little complicated."
"Fine by me," Claire agreed, glad she would be able to stay with Ignitus.
The Guardians looked away from the two and looked at one another, wondering what they would have to do, what they would have to say to Ignitus.
"I'm sorry Ignitus. And I'm sorry to the both of you but, I believe it would be best if, we separate the two from each other. Even if it seems like the darkness was cleansed by his claw, she could easily be controlled by this, New dark master, and she could easily be able to try and kill Ignitus again, and maybe this time she won't fail. We can't take that chance," Terrador suggested with a frown.
"It's true. As much as I hate to say it, we might not be able to trust her. Ignitus likes her, and we all know that, and that's why this is going to be painful. But it's going to be painful if he gets killed by her," Cyril agreed.
"As much as it was wounds me inside to consider such an act, it's superlative that we help Ignitus now before he has to suffer any further," Volteer agreed with the two, as they all had their minds made up on the situation.
The Guardians all frowned as they turned and walked back to the Guardians Chambers, hoping they were going to make the right decision unlike in the past times. Slowly opening back his eyes, Ignitus realized he had almost fallen asleep. Nuzzling the bottom of his head against the side of Claire's cheek, he whispered, "Are you awake?"
Claire slowly opened her eyes as well, and with a slight yawn, she whispered, "I was about to fall asleep somehow."
"Sorry."
"Ignitus, it's okay. I would much prefer a bed then standing out here and falling asleep and someone seeing us like this. But since I've almost fallen asleep, I think we should go inside and sleep for real this time."
"Alright," Ignitus agreed, stretching out his body slightly while Claire did the same.
The two stood up and walked over to the doors. Pushing the door open with his paw, Ignitus and Claire walked into the building. Taking his wing and his tail off her, he let her dry herself off. Before she could shake the water off, Ignitus had an idea, "Wait! Claire, I have a fantastic idea, since we are so soaked."
Looking at him, she asked with a slight blush, "What could that be? Nuzzling your wet scales with mine was a pretty good idea."
Ignitus chuckled, "We can do that again, I promise. But here, let me show you something."
Tapping a claw on Claire's side, Ignitus backed up as he pulled his claw back, grabbing all the water off her body and forming a big ball of water. She was in awe to see something so fascinating as she even felt dry now. He chuckled, and said, "Open the door real quick, I want to show you something."
She did as she was asked, and opening the door with her paw, she watched to see what Ignitus would do. Pulling his claw back, he threw the big ball of water into the open with a loud splash following it. She giggled and watched as Ignitus did the same thing to his body. Pulling the water bubble above his head, Claire shut the door and ran up to him. Popping the bubble with her claw, the water spilled all over Ignitus's body. Claire laughed seeing his smile as he was completely soaked once again. He chuckled as he shuck the water off his body, now getting Claire soaked once again. The two shared a laugh with one another. Looking at each other, they nuzzled each other on their cheeks. Pulling away, they smiled.
"We are never going to get dry are we?" Claire giggled.
"No, probably not," Ignitus chuckled.
Putting his body against Claire's, he draped his wing back over her while she wrapped her tail around his. The two smiled as they walked down the hallway, and Claire asked a favor, "Ignitus, would there be a way to wake everyone up real quick? I want to get this off my chest, since I still feel terrible about everything that has happened. I know what you said, and I thank you for your words, I just want to talk to the others and tell them what's happened. I know the girls will feel better knowing I made you happy."
"Sure. Just make sure never to tell Spyro or Cynder about this new dark master, okay?"
"Okay."
"Alright, I will try and get those others up. It shouldn't be to hard. If I wake up even one of them, they will all wake up. Or if I wake up say, Cynder, and Carith, both those two will be up in a matter of seconds trying to find their lovers, so this shouldn't be to hard."
"This is a, random question, random, out of nowhere, question. If you ever had a lover, should you do the same?"
"Of course I would. I might not be very good talking to the ladies, but, just like Spyro, no matter how hard someone would try to touch or hurt my lover, they would be long broken into the ground before that ever happened. That's why I agreed to let Malefor and Spyro go invisible as to follow their lovers and not get into to much trouble."
"Yeah, on the way back, Malefor was joking about how Spyro was crying because he was afraid something would happen to his lover."
"Haha. It's funny you say that because Malefor was actually the one who was freaking out so bad. Spyro was of course as well, but Malefor, he couldn't keep it together."
Cutting the corner and walking into the Guardians Chambers, Ignitus was surprised to see the Guardians were awake, "Hey guys. Sorry for waking you up."
Looking at Claire, he whispered, "Do you want to tell them what happened while I go and get those four?"
"Sure," She said with a smile.
Taking his wing off her and taking a couple of, he was stopped by her tail that was still wrapped around his. He looked at her as she said, "Don't take to long. Sleeping tonight, and together, is going to be one of the best nights I will ever have."
Ignitus smiled big at her words. She let him go by taking her tail off his. He walked out of the Chamber and cut the corner. Sitting down, he decided it would be best if he just woke the four up in their minds so he wouldn't have to be very far away from Claire. Looking at the Guardians, she saw they weren't in the best of spirits, so she tried to cheer them up, "So, me and Ignitus have had an eventful night. What about you three?"
The Guardians didn't know how to responded, making Claire feel as if she had done something wrong. Terrador decided he would break the bad news to her before anything else had happened, "Winter... Claire, we heard you and Ignitus talking, about the darkness, and how you tried to kill him, twice. We... We don't think it would be best if... if you stayed."
"What?!" Claire cried.
"Claire, we really do like you, you've made Ignitus smile a lot, and laughing along with you was great. But, we can't risk the fact that you could try and kill Ignitus again. Even if the darkness is gone, maybe a little is hiding away in your body. That little bit can easily be the death of Ignitus, and we can't change that. I'm sorry, I truly am," Cyril said sadly, feeling now as if maybe they should think of a different solution to handle this.
"I'm not going to leave Ignitus, I'm not going to walk away from this close to being with him."
The Guardians knew this was going to be difficult for them, but they tried not to stir up to much of a fight.
"Claire, even an outsider should know a big rule in Warfang, but if you don't, one of the biggest rules in Warfang is that; Attempt murder on a Guardian is punishable by banishment, and if the murder is successful in killing a Guardian then that act is punishable, by death. We don't want you to be killed, or Ignitus, and that's why I'm saying what I am now. Please understand that we do care, and that's why we are trying to protect you both," Terrador murmured, seeing the sadness in Claire's eyes as she sat down and looked to the ground.
"Is this really the best decision?" Cyril whispered.
"I don't know, but I know that this will keep both of them safe," Terrador whispered back.
"Maybe we should think of something else."
"Like what?"
"A new plan, obviously."
"Okay captain obviously, what is the plan?"
"Not go with this plan for starters. If Ignitus comes in here and sees her like this, who do you think he's going to hate?"
"We will tell him we are trying to protect him."
"Maybe we should let him decide. After all, they've, they've bonded pretty well, and I think Claire really does like him."
"Maybe you're right. I just don't know how to make a right decision. I don't want things to take a turn for the worse."
"What do you mean?"
"Claire knows the dark master, one wrong move, and everything could go wrong. Cynder dies, Carith dies, Malefor turns, Spyro turns. There is so much that can happen if we make the wrong decision so how do we know what the best decision is?"
"When you put it like that... I don't know."
Ignitus pulled the four into the dream world of his and watched as they laid together with their lovers. Not knowing the best way to wake them up, he thought of his plan before, "Spyro would kill me if I took Cynder away just to get him to wake up. And, he would probably kill Malefor first. So I can't do that." Looking at how peaceful and happily they were sleeping, he sighed, deciding it would be best to just do a frontal approach. Walking up and putting a paw on Spyro's side he whispered, "Spyro... Spyro it's me, Ignitus." Spyro grumbled in his sleep as he woke, "If this is about me and Cynder possible getting torn away from one another, I'm going to kill Malefor on the spot."
"No no no, this isn't about that. It's about something that Claire wants to talk to you about, or, you all," Ignitus said, backing up as he saw Spyro lift his head up and yawn. Opening his eyes and stretching his body, Spyro said, "Well, since I don't know anyone by the name Claire, I don't know what exactly I'm getting myself into."
"It's Winter, but her real name is Claire," Ignitus explained, "She found some, dark energy, nothing to be worried about I assure you. But some small left overs of the dark energy made it into her mind and she was controlled by it to kill me and everyone else. She fought back and I saved her and completely took away all the darkness in her mind."
"Darkness! You better be right about a small piece... then again, it could be those dark spots Malefor was talking about," Spyro growled as he stood up, "But now you confuse me. You can take away her dark power, but you can't take away Malefor's so I don't have to worry about him going full evil again?"
"The darkness was very, very small. And it hasn't manifested into her body completely, so I was able to extract it before it could. You two got your powers from the source, not Claire, so I can't take away that power as it will only come back a few minutes later," Ignitus explained, seeing Spyro look at him with a raised brow. He decided to forget about it for the time being and agreed, "Alright, fine, I will talk to her. I'm super tired so let's just get this over with. Seeming how every time I have a good day you ruin it with this awful place."
"Awful? I thought you would fined it cool and relaxing to look and feel as if you were in space surrounded by planets and stars. Is there some where else you would like me to make in the dream world to make you feel more comfortable?" Ignitus asked, feeling hurt as he actually liked it here. "No no, that's not it. It's just, coming here every time, doesn't bring back the best of memories. But hay, taking a Step forward in the right direction to forget about it."
Ignitus smiled at his positivity, as he was also glad he told Spyro about the little bit of darkness now since he is so tired and he would probably forget anyway. "So, let me guess, I have to wake up Malefor as well?" Spyro asked, walking over and looking at him as he slept. Walking around to Malefor's side, Spyro looked at him as Ignitus said, "Well, yes. I was hoping you would find a way to wake him up better then I did. My thoughts were, abysmal as Volteer would put it. I knew how bad it would be if Malefor saw Carith was gone so..." Interrupting his words, Spyro lightly kicked Malefor in his side and grumbled, "Hey, Malefor... wake the hell up."
"Not what I was going for but, that'll work," Ignitus said to himself. Malefor grumbled as he said, "Okay, you can stop kicking me." Spyro stopped, and walking back over to his lovers side, Malefor grumbled again as he opened his eyes and picked up his head, "Where are we... Oh, we're here. That Bastards use to take me here when ever something bad was about to happen with the apes or something... Is something bad about to happen!"
"Malefor, calm down, it's fine. I'm now using this place just to wake you up for something that isn't a super emergency. Long story made short, something happened, Winter is really named Claire, and she wants to talk to you all," Ignitus explained, earning a huge sigh of relief from Malefor.
"So you woke us up first because you knew we could wake up are lover?" Malefor asked. "Yeah, of course, that was totally my plan from before," Ignitus chuckled, knowing his other plan probably would've been a way worse idea, "Good thing I woke Spyro." The two woke up their lovers in different ways. Spyro woke his lover by giving her a soft nuzzle to her cheek. Malefor woke his lover by giving her a soft kiss on the cheek before whispering to her. Cynder woke with one eye opened and looked at Spyro. "Good morning my love... Wait, why are we here?" The tone in her voice made Spyro chuckle. She picked up her head and opened her other eye. "Ignitus I swear..."
"It's nothing bad, I swear. I told Spyro, and Malefor. Everything is okay, it's just about Winter who's real name is Claire," Ignitus explained once again, realising that maybe this place doesn't bring back the best of memories. Cynder sighed, but then said to herself, "Wow, Claire is a way prettier name." Carith was the next to wake up. Opening her eyes and yawning she looked at Malefor and whispered, "What a nice wake up." He chuckled, "Well, you know." Everyone stood up and looked at Ignitus. Carith had never been in this place before, but Malefor didn't seem scared so she wasn't either. "Alright, now that you all are awake, please come down to the Guardians Chambers. Claire would like to have a talk, then when you're done, you all can go back to bed for the night. And, Spyro, I owe you one for coming up with a better idea then the one I had... so, thank you."
"Anytime," Spyro yawned, causing everyone, even Ignitus, to yawn as well. "Alright... I will see you all soon."
Pulling out of his thoughts, Ignitus shuck his head as he didn't know it, but he actually felt tired for once. Walking back and around the corner, he said, "Alright, I was able to wake them but they are going to be a little sluggish getting down here. So, what did I miss?"
The Guardians didn't know how to respond as Ignitus looked at Claire to see the sadness on her face as she looked to the ground in front of the Guardians. Looking at her, he looked back at the other three and asked, "What happened?"
Terrador knew that he would have to speak, as he knew he would probably be the best one to explain it to him, "Ignitus, we understand that you want to help Claire, we really do, but we don't think you should help her as closely as you are now. We understand, we truly do, but we know nothing about who Claire really is, if that's even her real name. She attacked you, and who knows if she will do it again, who knows if that darkness wasn't just a diversion to get you to trust her so she'll kill you. We don't want to take that chance."
"What are you talking about? You do know what I can do right?"
"But, you said you couldn't see her thoughts or her location through your thoughts."
"It was because of the darkness, it's nothing to be worried about. Now with the darkness gone, I can sense and feel how Claire is feeling. And yes, that really is her name."
"I'm just saying that anything could happen, and we think it would be best if we, let go, of Claire. We don't know if there are other surprises that could emerge if she stays."
"Enough, Terrador. I understand you are trying to protect me, and I thank you, but throwing her out is not an option. I can tell if she's scared, I can tell if she's angry, what more do you want? What more proof do you need that everything will turn out okay?"
"The small chance that she still has dark energy in her. This Dark Master obviously wasn't stupid, he gave her a fake name, and she was able to get so close to you so easily. He could easily have made improvements to the dark powers and some is hiding in her that could easily jump out and turn Malefor, or, control her."
"I've already told you..."
"And I'm telling you that all because you took it away, how do you know it's all gone? The darkness can always find a way to hide even when there is light. We know that with Spyro, we know it with Cynder, and we know it with Malefor... Please forgive us, Ignitus, but, we just don't want to see you get killed. Everything can go wrong no matter how we look at things. You die, Spyro's anger takes over. She leaves, you get depressed, and everything goes down hill. We are trying to think of the best option of what to do."
"So," Ignitus murmured, "You know how I would feel if Claire left, so you're trying to get her to leave?"
The Guardians all looked at one another, saddened by what they've come to decide, but they didn't know what was best for everyone. Claire listed to every word they said, and she knew the darkness was gone, it was her body, she could feel it, but she knew if she said something, they wouldn't believe her, only Ignitus. A knock was heard from the entrance of the Chambers. Everyone looked over to see it was Spyro and the other three.
"Come on Claire. Ignitus said you wanted to talk to us," Spyro said, waving a paw over to follow.
She did with sadness. Walking with the three to the hallway, Spyro walked with them as well, but stopped, looked at the Guardians, and said, "What ever is happening between you all, just call me so I can help. We did the whole crying thing back in the day, so let's try and smile so more, okay? Okay. Now be good little Guardians and play nice."
Walking away, the four knew he was right, but they didn't know how they were all going to come to a decision. Walking over to everyone else, he saw they all sat in the hallway, waiting for him to arrive. Claire sat in the middle while Malefor and Carith sat with one another against the right side of the wall. Cynder sat in front of her, then Spyro did as well as he sat next to his lover.
"Alright, so what's going on? Apparently something about a little darkness that found its way to you and made you almost kill the Guardians?" Spyro asked, seeing her frown from the memory.
But even with the frown, she tried to explain the best way she could, "Well, yes, you are correct. Ignitus took all the darkness away from me, but Terrador believes, along with the other Guardians, they believe that there is still darkness in me, and at some point, it could come back and cause me to kill Ignitus. I feel like I understand them. They are probably scared because they think I could kill them as well."
"Are they right?"
"What?! No. I... I... I like Ignitus, I really really do, and when I'm under his wing, I feel so safe and warm and happy. I can feel that he took away the darkness, I know he did, but I don't know how. Ever since he did, I've been able to walk around freely without becoming under attack by the darkness. I swear there isn't any more darkness in me, I swear there isn't."
Spyro sighed at the predicament and knew he would really have to wake up and make sure he makes the right decision here. Looking at her eyes, he asked her to see if she would lie, "I need to know. How do you truly feel about Ignitus, and are you certain, one hundred percent that you are darkness free."
She nodded her head thinking about it, "I... I truly feel like I am. But, I feel terrible for, for hurting Ignitus."
"Hurt! How?!" Spyro asked, trying to hide his growl, but he failed, scaring Claire.
"Spyro I'm sorry I wasn't in control I swear. I, I cut the side of his cheek with my tail blade, but I was controlled in doing so! I... I know it's not an excuse, I should've been stronger to fight back but, he looked at me and smiled as he said that the only way I could ever hurt him was if I left him. He said he loved your words, and as bad as I felt, his words, his warmth and voice, Spyro, I can't lose that."
Spyro shuck his head at the thought that Ignitus could be killed if she were ever to turn again, "Claire... I'm... I'm sorry, you have to leave."
"What?!" Everyone cried in unison.
"Wh... Spyro..." Claire cried.
"I can't trust you with Ignitus. You like him, and I understand that, but I believe I'm right, you could still have darkness in you, and we can't risk having you here any longer. There are things I can handle, and having the dark master live two doors down from me is one of them, because I can trust him not to become the dark master. But hurting Ignitus... I can't think about a world without him. I'm sorry Claire, but you have to leave," Spyro commanded with a sigh.
"Spyro," Cynder whispered.
"Spyro, please, I can't leave Ignitus. If, if you wanted the truth of how I feel, about Ignitus... I... I love him! The first day, and then the day we woke up together, the time we spent... I don't want to let what happened before happen now. I don't want to lose someone else that I love. When I was controlled, I was almost forced to kill him, I tried so hard, I tried, I really did. Just like you, I can't be in a world without Ignitus! Please give me another chance, Spyro! I will make you proud, I swear!"
"I'm sorry. Love or not, you don't truly mean that. You've been together for two days, and two days isn't enough..."
"It's enough for me to know I love him!"
Spyro knew this was going to be difficult, he had to try his best to make things work out, "Claire, you tried to kill Ignitus. I can't believe that you would do that. I don't want to do this, but if you don't leave, then I'm going to have to make you. Like it or not, I was going to suggest you stay, but after hurting Ignitus, I will never forgive you. But I will make you a deal, get through me, and you can have Ignitus, and if you don't, then you will leave like it or not."
This doesn't sound like Spyro at all, The three thought with similar thoughts. Claire growled through her teeth and tears as she cried, "Fine! If there even is a small chance that me and Ignitus could be together, then I will try. I've made it this far... But without Ignitus, I know I won't be able to make it any further. I don't care what it takes!"
"Alright, if you say so. But, I get the first punch," Spyro growled, popping his knuckles and neck as he went into his dark form, scaring Claire as she knew how powerful this form was because of his fight with the dragons that had attacked them from before.
Cynder put a paw on Spyro's shoulder. He looked at her, and decided it would be best to give her a soft kiss on the cheek. Feeling the kiss before he pulled back, she felt like it was a trust me kiss, and she decided to. Clenching her body and preparing for the hit, she closed her eyes as Spyro pulled his fist back, and swung it right at her. A loud crack emerged from the punch as the wind from it whipped past, slamming and slashing at the walls, somewhat damaging them. Claire's breathing was fast, her heart raced from the sound, but she realised she heard the sound and felt the wind from the punch, but she didn't actually feel the punch. Slowly opening her eyes, nearly passing out from fear, she looked to see Spyro's fist stopped right in front of her face, causing her heart to skip a beat. Pulling his fist back, he sighed as his body returned back to its normal form. She stood there, completely frozen with fear, wondering what happened. Looking at her, Spyro smiled as he said, "You pass."
"What?" Everyone cried once again.
"I... I passed?" Claire asked, still coming back from the horror that she thought was about to happen.
"Yeah, you pass, you can go back to Ignitus now."
"But... But... I don't understand..."
"Alright, I will explain. First, I wanted to see how you would react to my words, I wanted to know how you felt, how you see Ignitus, I wanted to know more. I wanted to see how much you really care about Ignitus, and for you to openly admit you love him, and stand there and almost take a punch from that form... you really showed me you do love him. And if there was darkness in you, it would've reacted to my darkness, or attacked me, which it didn't, so that shows me you really are darkness free. So, you're free to love Ignitus as you please."
"Really?!" Claire cried happily, trying not to get her hopes up, but she failed.
Spyro nodded with a smile, "Of course. But seriously, you try and hurt Ignitus again, I won't be so easy. I know how difficult it is to stop yourself when being controlled by the darkness, and because you didn't kill him, and you were able to stop yourself from killing him, it tells me, you might be the one for Ignitus, and I hope you won't disappoint me."
"I won't! I promise! Thank you Spyro, Thank you!" Claire cried, hugging Spyro with her arms and wings, "I thought I was going to lose Ignitus... I... Spyro, I don't know how to thank you."
Malefor saw the blush on Cynder's face and joked with her, "Aw, Cynder's all jealous."
Cynder growled at him but tried to ignore him. Tapping a claw on her shoulder, Claire looked at her as she said, "Spyro's my man."
Claire giggled and quickly backed off as she said with a blush, "Oh yeah, I knew that. Plus, I love Ignitus anyway."
Feeling the excitement in her body, she thought with joy, I can't believe I'm able to love Ignitus! Thank you so much Spyro! Thank you... But, what about the Guardians? They still aren't convinced. Toning down her joy, Spyro could see that as her joy had disappeared as she asked, "But, what about the Guardians? They still believe I will hurt Ignitus. I don't want to be enemies with them, I just want everyone to be happy. But it seems that the only way for them to be happy is if I left."
"Gosh, you ask so much of me," Spyro joked, "Don't worry, I will take care of them too, don't worry about it."
Claire believed in his words, so she quickly grabbed back her smile and ran to go back to Ignitus. But she stopped, and just barley looking at Malefor, she asked with a soft voice, "Malefor... Will the dark master take Ignitus away from me, like with my other lover?"
Malefor gave her a smile and his word, "Don't worry, the dark master won't hurt anyone anymore. Especially not your lover."
Claire giggled through her smile, as she quickly turned her head back around and ran into the Guardians Chambers. Cynder looked at Spyro with a smile and whispered, "You had me fooled. I actually thought you were going to tell her to leave. Sounds like someone deserves a nice reward."
"What kind of reward?" Spyro purred
"The best kind," Cynder whispered back, touching her lips against Spyro's.
"Um, guys," Malefor interrupted, causing the two to look at him and growl, "Maybe we should wait to kiss our lover's. Think about it, we, or, I'm guessing you, still have to speak with the Guardians about everything. When Claire walks in there, everyone is still going to be against her staying."
Spyro growled, but he did agree. Cynder giggled at his growl, but she promised him, "We still have time. You'll get that kiss, I promise."
Spyro smiled, knowing it would be true. Getting a slight nuzzle from Cynder, Spyro smiled. As she pulled away, she said, "Come on. The sooner we get this done, the sooner everyone will be happy."
"Alright," Spyro agreed with a smile, walking with the four to the Guardians Chambers.
The Guardians looked over to see Claire had ran in the Chambers. Before being able to say a word, Ignitus was quickly hugged by her. She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, and putting her wings on his back, she nuzzled her head underneath his. He smiled as this is exactly what he wanted. The Guardians looked at one another as they didn't know what happened.
"Do we say something?" Cyril asked.
"No... I... I don't know," Terrador answered honestly.
The three looked over to see the four had come back from the talk with Claire. Spyro walked away from his lover and up to the Guardians. Standing in front of the three, he said, "Look, I've made my decision, she's staying. Now you can fight me on it, that's fine, but I'm a Guardian too, remember? And you all surprise me, your scared she could turn and kill Ignitus because of the darkness when you aren't scared of Malefor doing so, you aren't scared of me doing so. I'm actually disappoint in you all."
The Guardians looked at one another, quickly regretted the decision they had made, and they were already in agreement with what Spyro had stated.
"Look," Spyro whispered, "She even openly admitted she loved Ignitus. She stood there while I went into my dark form. She said she would fight me if it meant getting past me and to Ignitus. She stood there, scared, but she didn't back down. I told her she passed. And plus, if she did have darkness in her, the darkness in her body would've reacted to mine, or I would've felt it, since she was right there. So you need to stop worrying before something bad happens, and i will knock you three out if it does."
The Guardians all sighed and decided it would be best if they trusted Spyro and his words. They all smiled, knowing that he hopefully made the right decision and the right move by letting her stay.
"But, maybe you should apologize to Ignitus. After all, you tried to take the one he cared about away from him, which hurt him, which hurt me, which means I might have to hurt you. But you all apologize, and I will let it slide," Spyro threatened, causing all the Guardians to swallow hard before quickly nodding.
Walking back over to his lover, Spyro sat down next to her and awaited for the apologize. Terrador was the first to speak as he walked up to Ignitus's side and apologized, "I'm sorry for being unhelpful. I should've trusted you, and the fears from the past just got to me, and I made the wrong move, and the wrong words to help make the situation better... I hope you can forgive me. I hope, you can forgive us, Claire."
Ignitus could only smile as he was to busy enjoying the embrace from Claire, which he thought he would've never felt again because of what the Guardians were suggesting. "You all can repay me for what you did by giving me and Claire some time alone," Ignitus said through his thoughts to the Guardians. They smiled, and turning away from him, they walked towards their Sleeping Chambers. "Thank you, Spyro. You were a really big help, and I truly do owe you one... But I have one more request. Can me and Claire have some alone time?" Ignitus said through his thoughts to Spyro's. Spyro chuckled as he said, "Alright, mission accomplished, time for bed."
Walking out of the Chambers with his lover following, Malefor looked at him and asked, "What about Ignitus and Claire?"
"What do you think?"
Malefor chuckled as he knew exactly what he was going to say, but Carith shut his lips by saying, "If you say what I think you're going to say, you will sleep on the floor for the rest of the night."
He quickly shut his mouth and chuckled with a smile. The two walked out of the Chambers with one another and followed behind the other two. Malefor was confused by Spyro's words from before and wasn't able to bring it up, so he decided to now, "Spyro, when you went into your dark mode, you said how the darkness in her body would've reacted to yours. So, doesn't that mean that my darkness or Cynder's darkness should've reacted as well?"
"When I'm in my dark mode, I can feel the darkness close to me. I sensed yours and my lover's, which is impossible since my lover is the most purist dragoness on this planet. When I sense that darkness, I can choose which of the darkness to react to. Like right now, if I wanted to go into my dark mode, I could react your darkness and possibly turn you, which I'm not going to do. When I tried to react my darkness with Claire's, there was nothing to react to, so after that, I just chose to see if she would take a punch if it meant she could stay with Ignitus," Spyro explained, only confusing Malefor even more, but he acted like he understood things so he didn't have to get even more confused.
"Punch? Yeah right, more like death. Did you not see the hallway after that punch?"
"I had to make it look convincing."
"And deadly?"
"It worked didn't it? It just shows how much Claire really does love Ignitus."
"You think she really does?"
"From her words and body language it seemed that way, but until she kisses him, then we won't know for sure."
"Why does it have to be a kiss?"
"Because a kiss shows a lot. You kiss someone and they make a disgusted face from kissing you, then they don't like you."
"Maybe because that Dragon they kissed was rolling around in mud before getting a kiss."
"You're missing my point."
"You mean your kiss explanation?"
"Oh, Ancestors, why did I save Malefor instead of killing him."
"Harsh."
Getting up to their house, the main doors opened and the four walked into the hallway. Walking up and opening the door, Carith said, "Well, we hope you both will have a good night rest once again. And who knows, maybe depending on how fast those two are getting along will show how long until they do kiss."
Spyro smiled as he said to himself, "I hope that day comes."
As Malefor walked into the room past his lover, Carith looked to see he had jumped onto the bed and awaited for her to join him. Looking back at Spyro, she thanked, "And, Spyro, thank you again, for not killing Malefor. I know how you might feel after everything that happened, but because of you, I can sleep with my lover in a bed once more, and for hopefully the rest of my life."
"Yeah well, thank Cynder. If it wasn't for her, I would've made the better decision in my mind," Spyro said, embarrassed to say that he was having somewhat of a good time hanging out with Malefor.
Carith giggled as she looked at Cynder, "Well, thank you Cynder. But, if you want to, since Spyro hasn't killed Malefor, you should reward him for that too. You know, just to make him feel better every day he doesn't kill my lover."
Cynder giggled at her words, "Don't worry, I already have a good reward planned out for him."
She smiled and nodded, "Well then, I will see you two in the morning. Funny saying this for the second time this day. Well, any way, goodnight you two."
"Goodnight," Cynder said as Claire shut the door.
Spyro sighed hugely as he said, "First the whole Dragon incident, Malefor still being alive, and the whole thing with Claire. I just can't seem to catch a break."
Putting her tail blade to Spyro's neck, he smiled at her as she whispered, "Well now you're being held hostage by your lover, and you can't escape until she is satisfied with all the kisses she desires."
"Sounds like being a hostage isn't so bad," Spyro chuckled.
Pulling her tail blade down, she walked with Spyro to there room. Opening the door, Spyro let Cynder go first. As she walked in, he shut the door behind himself with his tail. Cynder jumped up on the bed and waited for her lover, which he jumped on seconds later. Snuggling up together, he draped his wing over her body while she wrapped her tail around his. Spyro sighed at the whole Claire incident and asked, "Do you think I made the right decision?"
"Why do you ask?" Cynder wondered.
"I truly do believe that Claire is darkness free, and I do believe she loves Ignitus, but I'm scared that the darkness that is still floating around in those dark spots will cause the same effect to her again and possibly infect her for good. I want Ignitus to be happy, because I know he likes her as well, but I don't want him to get to attached if she ever does get infected again, and that's why I kinda agreed with the Guardians."
"You love me, and yet you know I could easily turn from darkness at any point."
"I don't like to think you have darkness in you. I wish with my powers, I could learn to take others dark powers without the dark power completely consuming me. Even if I was fed with more dark energy, I have more control over it then most others, I'm probably the only one who can really control it."
"Maybe it's best if you don't. Last time you tried, you didn't even realize you were about to be controlled. I understand that you want to help everyone, you always have wanted to, but I'm sure you don't have to worry about the darkness with Claire. She did say she was cured of the darkness thanks to Ignitus, so I'm sure she is completely fine if she ever did get infected with darkness again."
"But what about Malefor? He has a lot of dark energy in him, and he could easily get infected once again by it. What if I won't be able to help him because I wasn't able to control the dark powers before he was infected? I understand your fears, I really do, I just... with your permission, would I be able to continue to train and control my dark powers."
"Hum... alright. But you can only do so when ever I am around. You going into that form is just a little bit of a... It's gets the blood flowing near my lips lets just say that. And hopefully maybe by you doing this, you'll be able to get a, less evil and less darkness form, but still be able to keep all those muscles."
"Muscles? You mean these muscles," Spyro chuckled, flexing his arm and showing Cynder his muscles.
She blushed with a giggle as she agreed, "Yes indeed. But, they are not as good as the ones I see in that form, and your body looks so muscular as well. Oh, just thinking about it..."
Pushing his lips against Cynder's, he knew she wanted to kiss him, and he decided it would be best to do it now while she still had the thought in her mind. Closing her eyes, she felt the joyful pleasure, along with the thought of him, causing her eyes to roll to the back of her head with joy. Slowly pulling away, Cynder smiled, and opening one eye, she said, "Alright, you can train without me, but be careful, that's all I ask... I really want to see if you can achieve that body."
Nuzzling her head underneath Spyro's, she closed her eyes again and laid her head down on his paws. Spyro chuckled as he whispered, "Is there something wrong with my body?"
"Nothing is wrong with your perfect body. But your body isn't why I fell in love with you, so you don't need to worry... Goodnight Spyro," Cynder whispered with a smile, earning a smile from her lover.
"Goodnight my love," Spyro whispered, laying his head on Cynder's before closing his eyes, and the two fell back to sleep with smiles.
With the two snuggled up, peacefully and happy, Claire almost fell to the floor from how exhausted she was, but Ignitus was there to help her. Looking at him, she chuckled, "Guess I'm still pretty tired, and scared from what has happened."
"Like you said, a bed is better then sitting out here where someone could see us," Ignitus agreed with her previous statement as he looked at her with a smile, "But look on the bright side, you no longer have to worry about the darkness, or the Guardians. Which I still can't believe they would try something like that. But at least it was good you told me to call Spyro down here."
"Yeah, he was a big help."
"He usually is. Unless it has to do with deciding with rather Malefor lives or dies, then he is some one you don't want an opinion from."
The two shared a small laugh before yawning. Turning with Claire towards the back door, he walked with her and asked, "So tell me, how is it going to feel to finally be able to sleep well for once?"
"I slept fantastic with you. I just wasn't able to sleep, comfortably, with that darkness. But, now that you mention it... I feel like tonight might be the best night I will ever have."
"And why do you say that?"
"Because I can sleep well, knowing that everything will hopefully be like today, aside from what happened with those dragons and the Guardians, but other then that, it was fantastic. I never thought I would be able to smile near Malefor of all dragons. And with Cynder and Carith, I don't have to be the only girl going around talking about who they like or what they like about their lovers."
As the two jumped up on the bed, Ignitus was confused. The way she said it made it made it seem like she already had a lover, as if she took part in that conversation. Laying down on their belly, he saw her smile as she laid her paws out in front of her before doing a quick stretch. Somewhat wanting to know that answer, he asked, "Claire, you said you talked about what you liked about your lover. Does that mean your lover from the past, or someone I don't know about?"
"Oh, well, I, I meant that, one day, I would be able to join in on that conversation. I was somewhat left out on what they were talking about, and they kept teasing me about who they thought I liked. But after what's happened today, actually... I agree with them. And I knew it before, but I know it now."
"Like? Interesting, please, tell me more."
"Nice try. But don't worry, you'll find out soon enough."
Laying her head down, Ignitus was deep in his thoughts, wondering who it could be, but he didn't want to look back and ruin it, he wanted to find out for himself. Looking over at Cyril who laid in the bed next to Ignitus's, Claire asked, "Cyril, do you believe I am darkness free? I know Spyro talked with you but, I want to hear it from you, I want your thoughts."
Moving his head from one side of his paws to the other, he looked at Claire and opening his eyes, he sighed, "I was scared, that's all. I haven't really been the best when it comes to darkness, and I've made some stupid mistakes. If it wasn't for Terrador and Volteer, I actually probably would've died, or maybe even Cynder."
"What?! What happened?"
"Sparks, the yellow dragon fly came into the Chambers at one point yelling about how Cynder had poisoned Spyro and she was holding him hostage basically. I haven't had, the best of trust for Cynder, and during that time, I was ready to help Spyro. But apparently it was just a prank to get Sparks away from them so they could talk. I could've made the worst mistake of my life just because of what Sparks said. I trust Spyro, and I trust Cynder now more then I did before. And, I'm not going to make the same mistake, so, I do trust you are darkness free."
"Wow, where is this coming from?"
"Sorry, Like Volteer, I was just a scared about what could go wrong. And Spyro was right about one thing; There is darkness in him, Malefor, and Cynder, and yet, when Malefor came back, we trusted him enough to not banish him, let alone kill him as soon as he returned to Warfang. But when we heard you had darkness, we quickly tried to push you away. And, the reason I thought it would be best is... well... I was wrong... And I'm sorry."
"Spyro's right, you guys do cry a lot. Lighten up, I was just asking."
"Right..."
Looking past Ignitus and over to Volteer, Claire asked him as well, "Come on Volteer, tell me the truth."
Looking at her, he grumbled with a smile and admitted, "Alright fine. I have to agree with Cyril on this. Aside the fact that I kinda trust Cynder more then Spyro, I haven't had the greatest time with the darkness. Since my parents were killed, I haven't really trusted the darkness. I only trust Cynder because she hasn't really been the one to cause me fear, it's only Spyro who causes my fear because he has purple scales like Malefor, and it brings back memories of what's happened."
"Sorry, about, the loss of your parents."
"And it's true I did lose them, but, I just hope I don't lose anymore. As you can see, thanks to Spyro, we have grown more into a family, along with Ignitus returning, Malefor and Carith... It's good to know that I still have family that I can come to."
"Ignitus returning? What happened?"
"Um, well, I think Ignitus can just give you those memories, but long story made short, we thought he died in the volcano but he didn't because magic or what ever, and now he's back... And hopefully for good?"
Ignitus chuckled at Volteer as he looked at him, "Yeah, you can say that. Plus, I think your going to like what I do to this back room. Now that I'm able to stay, most of this room is going to be piled with books about everything on Dragon history."
"Books?!"
"Who gets excited about books?"
"Me, who else."
"Volteer, I know you read about three thousand words per second, but even if you did read that fast..."
"Actually, I can read at about around five thousand words per second. Or, if you want to put it simply, you could say that I read about point two words every millisecond. And since it takes one thousand milliseconds to make a second, you can easily get to such a comprehensive answer: One thousand divided by point two would give you five thousand, showing that I can in fact read that fast... Sorry... I got a little carried away."
"... Wow... Volteer it's, it's fine I've just... I didn't barely following a single word, but that still sounds quite amazing" Claire said, both confused and astonished at the same time, "Are you being serious?"
"Unfortunately, he is. He's the smartest Dragon I know. Usually when he's backed into a corner on what to do, his mind can work as fast as the earth spins. But that is what confused me, Volteer, if you're so smart, why didn't you see that Claire staying would be the best course of action?"
"Well... I thought Terrador was making the right call at the time and I didn't have time to really think about it. Like I said, I'm not really the one to make the best call when it comes to the darkness."
"So the truth is revealed. Come on Terrador, what happened?" Ignitus asked.
Terrador sighed, knowing he would be called out sooner or later, and he knew he should take the blame as it was his idea. Pulling his head up and looking at the two, he apologized, "I'm sorry, Claire. I should've trusted what Ignitus had to say but, I didn't know if I could because I thought he was making the wrong move because of how you were nice to him, and I thought he was just trying to be nice back and defend you, and he was right, I should've trusted him."
"Terrador, calm down. I said I would forgive you if you gave me some time with Claire, and you did, and you all had your reasons, just make sure when you come up with such a drastic decision, talk to Spyro. Like he said, he is a Guardian as well, and we can all agree he is a damn fine good one at that. I mean, look at us now. Malefor surprisingly is still alive, Claire is still hear, and now we don't have to worry about anything for today. Unless... Claire, is there something else we should know?"
Claire giggled at Ignitus as he looked at her with a smile and a raise brow, "That depends, what do you want to know?"
"Who this dragon is that you like."
Laying her head down on his paws and up against his chest, she closed her eyes as she whispered, "There's always tomorrow. And even if I can't tell you tomorrow, I can always tell you later on tomorrow night. But for this night, I just want to enjoy this peaceful sleep without having to worry about anything. Just me, you, and I guess the Guardians on their other beds, but I will try not to think about that."
The Guardians gave a slight chuckle and smiles, somewhat glad about what she said as they knew she was right. Volteer and Cyril closed their eyes, Comfortably going back to sleep. Laying his head down, Terrador thanked Claire in a whispered, "Thank you Claire, and you two Spyro. Everything worked out, and that's all we could hope for."
Laying his head over Claire's, Ignitus closed his eyes and whispered, "Goodnight Claire."
"Goodnight, Ignitus," Claire whispered back before falling asleep, followed by Terrador.
Checking through his thoughts, Ignitus wanted to make sure everyone was okay. Checking on Malefor and his lover, he was glad to see they were asleep, along with Spyro and his lover, Sparks, the Guardians, and Claire. With a sigh of joy, he thought, Thank the Ancestors. I truly do own you one Spyro, but knowing you, you'll probably ask me to kill Malefor. Chuckling with a smile, he fell to sleep, glad to finally have Claire safe, and the truth about what happened revealed.