Warfang was a massive city with a thriving population. The city's numbers grew exponentially after the war with Malefor, now becoming the largest established settlement in the Dragon Realm. Through all the busy streets and packed town centers, even in thousands of citizens and fellow Dragons, Cynder felt alone.
She trailed a few steps behind the other three as they passed through the gates to the city, Flame keeping up his usual brisk and carefree pace with Ember speed walking to keep up. Spyro took notice of Cynder's lagging behind and slowed up to let her catch up.
"What's on your mind?" he asked kindly, matching her sluggish pace.
Cynder stayed quiet for a moment, glancing at him briefly before looking back down, "...nothing." She managed to mutter softly, her voice barely audible as her head hung low.
"You sure take 'nothing' pretty harshly." Spyro joked, lightly nudging her in a playful attempt to tug her from her moping mindset.
She again looked up at him, unable to stop the slightest twitch of a smile as she saw his light but determined expression. She knew he wasn't going to just let her sulk in peace, he never did.
"I know you said not to dwell on it," she spoke softly, but a bit more clear now, "but that's the third time now that she's gotten away from me."
"But it wasn't you this time. Not just you," Spyro responded, "We were all there, we all dropped the ball this time. It's hard to plan for spontaneous blinding teleportation... stuff." He paused for a moment, seeing in her expression that he was getting somewhere with her, "Now we know that's her big trick, so we can plan for it. Next time we see her, we get to her before she can... you know. Flashy flashy, disappear."
Spyro made flamboyant gestures with one paw as he added the playful last part of the sentence, earning a small chuckle from her. He found himself with a smile of his own, seeing her brighten up a bit and raise her head to walk with a more comforted stance.
He had always had a way of making her feel more comfortable, more welcomed. He always recognized when she was getting in her own head, talking her out of her harsh self-doubt the best he could.
Cynder allowed herself a small smile, pushing aside her self-criticisms and trying to focus on a hopeful next attempt. Next time, she could beat her.
She would beat her.
Suddenly a scream cut into her thoughts, a voice she recognized well. Ember.
Cynder and Spyro picked up their pace, breaking into sprints until they rounded a larger building and came across the origin of the fearful cry.
Flame, bleeding from several deep cuts, front paws suspended off the ground as he was beaten to a limp state but held up by the assailant.
A human.
A human man dressed in dark jeans and a black leather jacket zipped up almost to his neck. His hands were adorned with black tactical fingerless gloves as one gripped Flame by the throat and the other gripped a long dagger of strange design.
"No more games. Where is she?" The human aggressively questioned Flame, glaring at him through the sleek lenses of his dark sunglasses.
"S...s..." Flame weakly mustered a voice, "Suck...my...d-"
His words cut into strained choking as the human firmly squeezed his throat, only releasing upon a large clump of earth bashing him in the side. The human was knocked off his feet by the elemental attack, Flame slumping to the ground as he was no longer being supported.
Spyro readied another Earth chunk as the human quickly recovered to a crouched pose, straitening his sunglasses.
"Ah... The purple one." He noted aloud, "Would you by chance be trying to surrender? I'm behind schedule as is."
"Surrender? Sure," Spyro started, faking a relaxed demeanor for a moment, "Let's discuss the terms." He added as he thrust his paw forward, launching the Earth chunk as a projectile.
The human reacted fast, becoming engulfed in a bright electric blue light as he dashed to the side with insane speed, easily dodging the attack.
"Do let's..." The human responded, brushing his silver-grey hair back into it's side swept style before flipping the dagger to an upside down combat grip.
Cynder checked over Flame, glad to find he was still breathing, and watched the ensuing battle commence. The human threw his dagger sideways, far too high to be aiming at Spyro despite heading his direction.
Simultaneously, Spyro launched another Earth attack. The human again became engulfed in a bright shimmer as he moved fast as a strike of lightning, sliding on his knees and ducking backward to avoid the attack before leaping into a sideways flip and landing with the dagger in hand following a smooth catch.
The human instantly brought the weapon down in a stabbing motion, Spyro just fast enough to roll to the side and dodge the attack. He countered by sweeping his paw upwards, launching bolts of electricity at the foe.
Shockingly every single branch of the lightning attack re-directed midair as the human held up the dagger in front of him, the blade seeming to absorb the energy leaving its wielder completely untouched by electricity.
Spyro watched stunned, slow to react as the human smirked before sweeping the blade through the air. Spyro's electricity came flying back at him, bluer in hue than normal, and moving twice as fast.
The purple dragon took the hit head on, tumbling to a stop on his side. He attempted to stand but his trembling limbs gave out on him, hindered greatly by the pure electricity he'd been hit with.
"Not really living up to the legend, Spyro," the human taunted, twirling the dagger, "Perhaps my expectations were much too high. Though it isn't you I came for."
Out of nowhere, a shadow dashed towards the human, Cynder exploding from her shroud and tackling the foe to the ground. She had her claws aimed for his face, but his arms blocked them.
"Ah, there you are," he spoke quite unbothered as he kept her claws at bay rather easily, "Regards from my employer."
With that he thrust upward with both legs and arms, tossing Cynder straight up a few feet in the air, the bright shimmer returning as he both launched a kick to her side powerful enough to send her sprawling beside Spyro, and rolled on his shoulder to a knelt ready pose.
"You ok?" Spyro questioned, about to help her up when he caught the look in her eye. A look he knew meant no more words were to come from him.
Cynder stood without breaking a furious stare at this new foe, her head down as she knelt slightly in a threatening pose accented by her snarling expression. All of her friends knew when she reached this point, the best choice was to back away slowly and silently until she unleashed herself on whatever poor soul had evoked this rage.
"Aw..." the human mocked her as he re-situated his sunglasses, "Upset? Good. Now we can really start the show."
Cynder growled deeply and dug her claws into the dirt, kneeling down further as she readied a full on charge. The human watched her but stayed still, simply chuckling softly. The dragoness lurched into a sprint, using her elements to lace her claws and tailblade with the most excruciating venom she could create.
Again the human remained still, until she was a mere two strides from reaching him. Once she lunged into the air, he made a downward carving motion in the air behind him, creating a blue shard of pure light that shimmered the same as his own strange abilities.
He then swept his dagger forwards, the light moving in accordance with the blade and passing through Cynder. Everything was enveloped in the bright glow, causing her to stumble on her landing and stagger a bit before catching herself.
She shielded her eyes with her wing, standing her ground firmly. The light faded from blue to a much dimmer white, and suddenly the air was filled with a sharp blaring sound. Cynder tensed up at the unexpected sound, snapping her wing down and finding herself staring at a car.
The vehicle had skidded to a stop just inches before hitting her, the dragoness staring down the unfamiliar vessel in confusion and side stepping out of it's path. She watched the car speed away before she registered the different texture under her paws.
She was standing on a hard surface that felt unknown to her, the asphalt of a street lined with parked cars. She gazed around at her new surroundings, both shocked at being in a new location and overwhelmed by all the unfamiliar elements in the setting.
Only one thought seemed to come through coherently.
What just happened...?