"Muras? Come in," Torialis said, waving Muras into his office. "You're lucky you caught me at a bit of a quiet time in my busy day today. What did you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Forzen's training sessions with Cynder," Muras said, stepping in and closing the door behind him, before taking a seat across the table from Torialis.

"Oh yeah, I think his first one with her was on Vielday, am I right? How did it go?"

"It… didn't go well at all. I had to pull out from supervising because I got food poisoning on Vielday morning. I had originally told Cynder to have you take my place while supervising, but to my knowledge, she never came to you about it."

The earth guardian looked at Muras with narrow eyes as he spoke. "No. No, she didn't," Torialis murmured. "Muras, what happened?"

"I think Cynder purposefully 'forgot' to inform you about this so she could have Forzen all to herself without supervision. And as you can probably imagine, she abused him. Badly."

"Go on."

"Well… Forzen hasn't told me all of the details, but she hit and clawed him across the face a few times during the session, and also put him in the ring with multiple dark dragons at once, the first fight being two fearbringers and the second being three shadowclaws. She also barely taught him anything. From what he told me, she proceeded to give him vague tips and then throw him into the ring and have him figure out these new techniques all on his own, in the middle of an intense fight where he didn't have time to stop and try and figure out what he needed to do. On top of that, Cynder would proceed to get angry at him and claw him again when he disobeyed her and used his other elements to keep himself alive in the fight. I never saw the extent of the wounds until after Forzen had asked for red gems, but even after that, the wounds had scarred. I shudder to think about how bad they were before all that."

"So you're telling me she abused him and didn't even teach him anything? This was just an excuse to abuse him and not get in trouble for it."

"I think so too. You've seen the way Cynder looks at him."

"Yes. It scares even me. I wouldn't want to be in Forzen's position, being alone with her, subject to her wrath. Thank you for letting me know. I'll have a chat with her later this afternoon," Torialis said, before grabbing a piece of parchment and beginning to write up a summons message to Cynder. "While you're here, is there anything else you wish to disclose regarding Forzen to me? Any other progress with his education and social standing? Anything… out of the ordinary… that we need to be aware of?"

"In terms of suspicious activity, absolutely nothing. I truly believe he's a good, benevolent kid with no ulterior intentions. His education's going well too; he's learning things, and his reading and writing has gotten much better over the last week and a half that he's been attending school," Muras explained. "As for his social standing, it's not getting any better."

"How so?"

"He gets beaten at school as well. He's bullied almost constantly, called names like 'devil' and… and 'moras'tov'... I've talked to one of Forzen's teachers last week too; he does nothing to try and stop it or stand up for himself. Forzen just… he just takes it."

"So he's just getting abused left, right and centre, isn't he?"

"Pretty much."

Torialis groaned, rubbing his forehead with a large paw. He folded up the message to deliver to Cynder, before putting the guardians' wax seal over the top of it. "I shall have a talk with Hyrath as well to see what we can do about the school situation for Forzen. I might get the other teacher you talked with into the conversation as well, since it seems like he knows a deal more about what's going on with Forzen at school than you do. Which teacher was it?" Torialis asked.

"It was Master Almai."

"Is he on good terms with Forzen?"

"I don't know about good terms, but he's on better terms than some of the other teachers by what it seems like. Master Almai actually does care for Forzen, which is more than I think his other teachers can say. He's one of the only ones who hasn't gone out of their way to chastise him, but he's also one of the only ones to actually try and connect with him."

"That's good enough for me. I'll organise a meeting with them either tomorrow or over the weekend. In the meantime, I'll organise for Cynder to be here so I can talk to her about how she handled her training session. Would you be able to come along as well, around the thirteenth hour maybe?"

"I'd much rather prefer not to be. I can only take so much angry Cynder, and given the subject matter is Forzen, I think it'll be too much angry Cynder for me. Particularly since I'm the one dobbing her in…"

"Okay, that's understandable. I'm more than happy to do it alone; I just wanted to check if you wanted to be there since you are Forzen's current caretaker."

"I appreciate that, thank you. Anyway, I'd… I'd better head to the library. My shift starts soon."

"I understand. Thanks for letting me know about this. You're dismissed."

With that, Muras stood and left, leaving Torialis alone. How is all this going so horribly? Torialis thought with a shake of his head. I know Cynder is an angry person with lots of hate in her heart, but I didn't expect her to become so abusive. All these years in the military fighting this war has hardened her up too much, I think.

Shaking his head, he let out a low sigh, before he stood and grabbed the letter to Cynder. He made his way out of his office and down the hallway. He eventually stopped at the postage office in the front wing of the Temple, dropping off the letter. "Take this to Cynder now. Urgent," Torialis ordered, before turning around and making his way to the meeting room.

He walked in, noticing he was the last one in the room for the meeting. Around the centre table sat the other three guardians, as well as Derilan, who was now the representative of the feline tribes, a mole named Malcolm, who was the representative for the moles, and a vixen named Lavie, the fox representative. This was a meeting that happened every month where the guardians and the representatives for the other tribes living in Warfang had what was like a wellbeing check, to make sure the citizens of Warfang were thriving, and to see if there were any improvements that could be made to the city.

This meeting was something relatively new that had been started by Ignitus and Terrador, the two eldest of the previous set of guardians. In the guardianship training they had, Torialis had been instructed by Ignitus to keep this meeting going, knowing it was an important, beneficial meeting that kept the city running to its best capacity. Of course, most meetings were discussing the unrest amongst the citizens about the current raging war, alongside a few other issues, conflicts, updates, and news, but today's meeting would prove to look a little different due to one major change in the city over the last three weeks.

"Good morning, all. Sorry I'm late. I had a quick visit from Muras today," the earth guardian said, before sitting down between Ash and Frélix. "Now, let's review the state of Warfang. How is everything going?"

"I mean, tensions have been running at an all time high for the last three weeks," Frélix murmured. "Forzen's sudden appearance has got many dragons on edge, and many are very fearful that he's a spy."

"It's not just dragons either," Derilan added. "Many of us felines are very concerned too, particularly after that purple dragon's father wiped out the cheetah village. There's only a small amount of us cheetahs left here in Warfang, and scattered throughout the rest of the continent, and I know the ones here are very concerned. They're asking for him to be killed. The panthers, leopards and tigers are also advocating for the death of the purple whelp."

"The foxes are also extremely on edge. As a tribe, we've taken several hits from the evil purple dragons, starting with Malefor, and now with Spyro. Spyro's last attack on us three years ago is the whole reason us foxes are even seeking refuge here, after all. Spyro killed our elders and destroyed our dens. He is the reason most of our children are dead, and we have very little of the next generation here with us now."

"I concur," Malcolm added. "The addition to Forzen living in our city has brought as much unrest to the moles as it has with the felines, foxes, and dragons. A few of us remember how badly Warfang was decimated near the end of the Dark War under Malefor's watch. Even more of us remember how much Spyro decimated Warfang before, during, and after Armageddon."

"Okay, is there anything else that needs to be brought up? We can touch base on Forzen later once we go through everything else that needs to be reported, since it will probably take up most of our meeting," Torialis suggested.

"There is nothing else to discuss!" Lavie snapped, standing up in her chair and slamming her paw onto the table. "Every single one of us has said that the existence of Forzen is the number one source of unrest amongst all of our tribes! We never even had a meeting with you guys about him being let in! He just appeared, and was apparently 'allowed in' by the guardians! He is Spyro's son! Shouldn't that be of any concern to you?!"

"Trust me, we all talked together about it, with Cynder and Muras also in the room, and did a sanity check on Forzen ourselves. We trust him," Torialis said, before stealing a glance at Frélix, who was glaring at him. "For the most part, at least."

"That brings up another question, why is Muras still allowed to be here?!" Lavie continued. "By the gods, he is Malefor! How insane do you think that is, that we are housing both Malefor and Spyro's son here inside Warfang?! Have purple dragons not already done enough to prove that they can't be trusted here?! Have purple dragons not already proved that they are devilspawn?! Why are we keeping them here?!"

"Firstly, you can't blame us for Muras. He was here and accepted by Warfang long before we came back from guardian training," Ash said softly. "Secondly, Muras was purified by the ancestors and sent back to us for a greater purpose: to mentor Forzen and teach him the ways of good. He's here for a reason, and Forzen is here to learn good ways, rather than being raised under the evil of Spyro."

"Tsavarok!" Lavie cursed, slamming the table again.

"Lavie, calm down," Malcolm said cautiously.

"No, I will not! These guardians are actively keeping us threatened by the purple dragons, who are sitting around waiting for the perfect time to kill us off! They've gaslighted themselves into believing their lies that the purple dragons here are trying to do good, and that their so called ancestors are behind Malefor's return!"

"You dare blaspheme against the ancestors?" Frélix threatened, icy mist rising from his mouth and nose.

"Frélix, enough," Lagenon snapped, trying to keep his fellow guardian under control.

"You don't control me, lightning breath! She's insulting our way of life!"

"FRÉLIX!" Torialis roared, causing silence to fill the room. "Control yourself, please."

Frélix let out a low growl before snorting, icy mist billowing from his nostrils. Torialis glared at Frélix, before turning to Lavie. "That goes for you too, Lavie. Let's try and remain civil here, for the love of our ancestors, gods and spirits," Torialis said, receiving a dark glare from Lavie, before she sunk back in her seat with a huff.

"Torialis, I understand that you believe your ancestors sent Malefor… Muras… back here under a mission for good, and that they purified him. But look at this from our perspectives," Malcolm explained gently. "As much as we are willing to respect draconic culture and religion, we do not believe in the same spirits as you. We don't believe in your ancestors. Therefore, it is hard for us to believe that your ancestors were the ones to bring him back, and that he's supposed to be good now that he's been in contact with them. We don't know if we can trust that, because we don't believe in the draconic ancestors."

"We may have gotten more used to Muras over the years, but it still hasn't stopped the distrust towards him," Derilan added. "However, with Forzen being added to the picture, it's just created more concern. Two purple dragons together can't mean anything good. Even if Muras is good, what about Forzen? What if Forzen is somehow influencing Muras back to the dark side? Torialis, the purple dragons have done harm to all of us as well, but especially towards the dragons. If there's this much unrest in our own tribes… how bad is it amongst the dragons?"

Torialis turned to his fellow guardians, they all looked at each other, waiting for someone to respond. It was Frélix who spoke. "While we haven't had a public violent outburst like there was on Forzen's fourth day here, I have noticed lots of people are scared and hateful towards Forzen. They want him dead. No one trusts him. I know why we kept him here, but… is it really a good choice to allow him to stay here?" the ice guardian said. "No one should be living in fear day in, day out, and we've had enough of that without Forzen here. Paranoia runs rampant now. It's not good for the city and its civilians, Torialis. The unrest is real bad."

"Okay, so why haven't I heard of any of this?" Torialis asked.

"From the people who have talked to me about it, they say they only feel comfortable approaching me. I'm sure it's no secret that I was the least willing to go along with our decision, so I think they wanted to come to me about it."

"Then why the hell didn't you tell me about this? We could have been brainstorming how to help with the unrest long before now."

"I was going to; I've been fighting back and forth on whether to tell you earlier or to wait until this meeting when everyone is here."

"Really, Frélix? This is important information that all of us guardians should know!" Lagenon scolded. "We can't help Warfang if we don't know what the problems are! How are we supposed to provide solutions and aid if we don't know what everyone's complaints are?"

"I'm sorry!" Frélix snapped. "Can we just… focus on trying to find a solution instead of getting angry at me, please?"

"I agree. There's more productive things we could be doing than scolding Frélix for not telling us something, even if it is something as important as this," Ash said. "Now, is there anything we can do to help people trust Muras and Forzen a bit more, and ease the concerns and especially the hatred towards them?"

"Last week, Muras came to me about updating some of the history records and textbooks regarding his past and his experiences during the Dark War. He thinks that maybe the truth would help people understand who he truly is and what actually happened," Torialis explained.

"And do tell what those events were. I for one would like to know more about this 'Muras'," Lavie said darkly.

"Well, the main one is that his corruption was not by choice. It was forced onto him as a child, through the power of the Well of Souls. Growing up, this dark energy he absorbed slowly got a stronger hold on him, before it turned him into who we know now as Malefor."

"You expect us to believe that? Are you sure he wouldn't just make that up?"

"Why would he need to do that? What exactly would he get out of that?" Torialis challenged.

"Lulling Warfang into a false sense of security. He'll make us feel secure enough with him that he'll turn on us when we least expect it and throw us back into darkness. He'll turn back to darkness with Spyro and bring Forzen with him. Having three purple dragons in this world is dangerous, Torialis. Can't you see that?"

"Having a purple dragon on our side is also an asset," Lagenon interjected. "Purple dragons are powerful creatures. Having both Muras and Forzen on our side could help turn the tides of the war."

"How do you know they won't just turn back to darkness?" Lavie scowled.

"That's the risk we have to take. We needed a purple dragon to win the war against Malefor. Spyro is significantly stronger than Malefor was. He will need a purple dragon again."

"I would prefer not to intentionally weaponise him," Torialis explained. "I like to think that's part of what caused Spyro to turn. He was forced to fight and taught to kill at a very young age by the previous guardians, and I think that got the gears going for what's happening now. Despite his claims that he's doing this for the greater good, I think violence is the only way he knows how to address major problems going on, because that's all he was taught from other dragons as a child.

"I do agree that Forzen is an asset in this war, I'd prefer him to want to fight on his own accord. I want to train him as a matter of self-defense if he is thrown into a fight against his will, such as in a siege, rather than force him to be offensive and kill, kill, kill, like the last guardians did with Spyro. I'd feel more comfortable giving him a good reason to fight rather than just making him fight. Even though he's strong and very powerful and could help turn the tides of this war, he is still a dragon like the rest of us. He is still a child. And like all the children here, they deserve to be protected with every ounce of our power."

"He's a purple child," Lavie snarled.

"Lavie. I think that's enough," Derilan murmured.

"What?! I'm surprised you're sticking up for that purple whelp, particularly after what his devil of a father did to you, your home, and your family!"

"Forzen had nothing to do with the destruction of my home and the death of my father! That whelp would have been barely a few weeks old by the time the cheetah village was burned to the ground and my father slaughtered by the Dark Overlord."

"I actually can't believe you're standing up for that whelp."

"I don't know if I am or if I am not. I don't know where I stand with him anymore. But what I do know is that Fozen is an asset, and teaching him in the right ways would benefit us significantly."

"And you trust Muras with that?"

"Better a dragon who actually understands how Forzen's body works, and there's no one better but another purple dragon," Malcolm stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Muras has done his best to provide for Warfang and be a positive part of society, and has time after time protected us during sieges," Ash added. "We have no reason to doubt him or think of him as evil, even after his evil past as Malefor. He's a changed dragon. Let that be your proof of him being good, rather than stories of our ancestors that you do not believe."

"And what about… Forzen?" Lavie asked, spitting out his name with hatred.

"He hasn't actually done anything wrong," Torialis said. "He's completely innocent. From the way he holds himself, he is not affiliated with Spyro in any way. He refuses to even call Spyro his father."

"He could just be acting, pulling you around his claws."

"I watched that kid during the meeting the guardians had with him," Derilan said. "That kid has no acting bone in his body. I may not trust him, and I may hate him, but I know for a fact that there's no acting going on with him."

"So why don't you trust him then, if you can see all that in him?"

"I don't trust him because I know what purple dragons are capable of. I have seen the destruction they can cause, how quickly and efficiently they can kill. He may be but a whelp, but give him time and practice, and he could become one of the most formidable foes we have ever seen. I don't trust him because I don't know what discovering all this power will do to him. I don't know what exposure to darkness will do to him. Going off Muras' story, it ruined him, and it also ruined Spyro. I'm sure you know what Spyro was like up until twelve years ago."

"He was selfless, loving, kind, and looked out for others. He was what you'd expect from someone titled 'the Saviour of the World'," Frélix said. "But now… now he's the Dark Overlord. He's succumbed to darkness, and fallen into a monster worse than Malefor ever was. He's been consumed by evil, and I think his bloodlust has even taken over his original motives as the Dark Overlord. He's grown so in love with murder that he does it for fun now."

"Exactly," Derilan said. "My greatest fear is that we will put our hope into Forzen, the same way we did with Spyro, only for Forzen to fall the same way Spyro did twelve years ago. He seems pure, but everyone knows that the purer someone's heart is, the further they fall when they have the opportunity to. I'll be honest, the fact that he's not even somewhat bad—not even evil but just bad—concerns me more than if he was."

"So… what? We just let him roam free? What are we going to do with him?" Lavie asked.

"I had the impression of just that: let him roam free," Ash said with a shrug of his shoulders. "He deserves to be a kid amongst all this and explore. He deserves to not feel like a slave or a prisoner by those who are technically on his side."

"We are not on the same side as him, where are you even pulling that idea from?" Lavie snarled.

"We both oppose Spyro, do we not?" Malcolm asked.

"I mean yeah, but—"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That is basically our approach to Forzen at this current point in time, at least the way I see it."

"How do we know if Forzen is Spyro's enemy, though?"

"That doesn't matter. Forzen sees Spyro as his enemy. We both see Spyro as the enemy."

"I still don't agree with just letting him roam free doing what he wants, though."

"Okay, then what do you propose? And no, we are not killing or imprisoning him, understand?" Torialis threatened.

"We have a guard follow him at all times. No, two. Two guards," Lavie suggested.

"Wouldn't that make people more concerned about him?" Ash asked. "If Forzen is in need of guards being around him to escort him everywhere, throughout every second of every day, I think that would just broadcast the wrong message to the rest of Warfang. I don't think Forzen would be very happy with us either, and I think it would give him the wrong idea of Warfang as well."

"I gave you an answer that wasn't killing him and now you're complaining about that?!" Lavie snapped, standing up in her seat and slamming the table again, her fist shaking. "This would have been no different to if I had just said to kill him!"

"Lavie, enough!" Torialis shouted. "You are being… very difficult to work with and extremely uncooperative. I know you're angry and upset—"

"That doesn't even begin to describe how I feel towards that little monster."

"—but that is no reason to be so hostile in this meeting! We are trying to brainstorm ideas that would benefit both Forzen and Warfang and put thought behind this. We are trying to be civil about this manner and think with clear minds. No matter how much we dislike Forzen, we must remain unbiased in this decision!"

As Torialis said the last sentence, his gaze flicked to Derilan and Frélix briefly. The ice guardian huffed as Torialis implicitly hinted at his behaviour, and even Derilan frowned slightly, even though he knew his dislike was very strong towards Forzen.

"Tell you what, if it helps from a training point of view, considering Forzen's training sessions are to help him learn how to fight and use his elements, I will have Muras and Cynder book their sessions through me so I can also be there to supervise what is being taught," Torialis suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," Derilan said with a nod.

"I agree," Lagenon said.

"It's a good way to passively monitor what he's being taught, and to keep him in sight as much as you can," Malcolm mumbled. "It'll also give you the chance to interject if you need to, which will be helpful if Forzen gets too out of control."

And Cynder, Torialis thought. This is also partially my thinking to stop Cynder's abuse towards that poor whelp.

"What about in school? He's in school right?" Lavie challenged, to which all four guardians nodded. "He'll have combat classes. Won't he be fighting and sparring against other children? Can we trust him to not go overboard during those classes? Can we trust him to not 'accidentally' kill another young dragon?"

"I trust Master Almai. He's one of the most trustworthy teachers and ex-soldier I know," Torialis said firmly.

"I don't know Master Almai. How do I know if I can trust him?" Lavie asked.

I didn't know this vixen was capable of this much sass and disruption. She's not usually this hard to work with. Is this situation showing her true colours, or does it really just have her that riled up? Torialis thought.

"You can't expect him to be at every lesson of Forzen's every day," Malcolm murmured.

"I never said he needed to. Just the combat ones. Torialis' word on trust isn't enough for me when it comes to that purple whelp," Lavie growled. "I need him there to make me feel comfortable with having that purple dragon living here, eating the same food as us, breathing the same air as us."

"Lavie, what you've been saying this whole meeting has been getting quite into the field of racism," Ash murmured. "It's very uncouth of you, particularly in a setting like this."

"What, you upset that I'm picking on a dragon with purple scales? I'm sorry that purple dragons haven't had the best reputation recently, and I'm sorry that I am terrified to even think of being near one, particularly when the one in question is Spyro's son!"

"Ija vokka!" Malcolm cursed in his own tongue. "Give it up, Lavie. We're trying to brainstorm ways to keep him in check while still giving him the freedom he deserves! Being the descendant of a bad person doesn't inherently make someone bad!"

"Why is this such a problem now? Everyone out there are saying things like this!" Lavie exclaimed, pointing out at the doors. "Everyone out there panics the moment Forzen walks into view! Everyone hates him and wants him dead! What is so different with me trying to voice my concerns with him?"

"SILENCE!" Torialis roared. "I shouldn't have to raise my voice so much in one meeting, ancestors damn it! Now, until he proves to us otherwise, we will be treating Forzen like any other child! Free roam of Warfang, providing an education, and allowing him to learn and explore his elements! We are being cautious about it, which is why I suggested that I supervise these training sessions of his, so that I can monitor what is being taught to him! If you so badly want his school sessions supervised by a guardian, I can volunteer myself or Ash to do it, if that's okay with you, Ash."

"All fine by me, Torialis," the fire guardian said with a soft smile.

"Just know that if we are to be present during every single one of Forzen's combat classes, there will be questions and concerns amongst the other students, which will provide us with extra grief trying to calm down the rumours and concerns that may arise from this."

"I understand, I'll take whatever punishment I need if it becomes too much of a hassle for you. Just do it," Lavie scowled, her gaze lowering to look at her paws as she circled her claws around each other.

"Good. Are there any other suggestions?"

"I think to start with, that should be plenty. We're monitoring what Forzen is being taught in a combat situation, which is probably the biggest cause of unrest in Warfang at the moment: Forzen breaking into a violent rage and starting to attack everyone," Lagenon said. "If we need more, we can always come back and discuss more options, but right now I think that's fine."

"Alright, is everyone in agreeance?" Torialis asked.

"Aye," Ash, Lagenon and Malcolm said, before Frélix and Derilan followed after brief hesitation.

"Lavie. Is everyone in agreeance?"

"Aye," Lavie eventually spat, rolling her eyes.

"Great. Meeting dismissed."

Torialis was the first one out of the room, his head spinning from that awful meeting. He wasn't expecting so much hostility and anger, and for basically the entire thing to be surrounding Forzen. He should have expected Forzen to be the topic of this meeting, considering it was the first one since the purple dragon's arrival in Warfang, but it just never crossed his mind.

The earth guardian made his way out to the front door of the Warfang Temple, leaving and walking down the street. He needed a walk to clear his mind, maybe have some lunch. Ancestors know he needed a quick reset of the brain, particularly since he had his meeting with Cynder later this afternoon, which he was not looking forward to in the slightest.

He had just barely gotten out of the Warfang Temple when he heard pawsteps rushing up behind him. He turned around to see Ash running up behind him. "Torialis, are you alright?" Ash asked.

"I'm fine," Torialis sighed. "Don't worry about me."

"You looked so stressed at the end of that. I could tell you wanted to snap more than you did."

"It wouldn't have been very professional of me to do. I had to keep it in."

"Toralis, what's wrong? There's more on your mind than you're showing."

"I… It's just been a big day, particularly with that meeting. And I have a meeting with Cynder in about an hour that I am really not looking forward to."

"Did Cynder do something to get herself in trouble again?" Ash said with a chuckle, trying to keep it lighthearted, particularly knowing how many meetings Torialis had had with Cynder that was him trying to talk sense into her; usually they didn't end up going too well.

"Yes."

"Ancestors… Love that dragoness and she means well, but she can really let her anger get to her head often. What did she do now?"

"She had a training session with Forzen on Vielday. Muras told me she beat him during it. Badly."

"Oh…"

"Yeah… I'm not looking forward to that conversation with her."

"I can imagine. She's… she's terrifying when she's in that kind of mood."

"It's not even that that's bothering me, although it is true. I'm just sick of having to scold her all the time when she makes decisions like this. She was doing well before Forzen came into the picture too. I don't remember the last time any of us had to scold her before Forzen's arrival."

"I think that boy's turning Cynder into a different person. Have you seen her around him?"

"I have. It's like she has to fight to stay put and not choke him. She's already incredibly awful towards him even while fighting her anger back. I don't know the extent of what she did to Forzen, nor if she even went all out or not. I shudder to think of what she put that poor boy through two days ago."

"Do you think maybe visiting him will be helpful in any way? Go check on him this afternoon once school's out."

"With the day that I'm having, I don't want that on my plate. I'm already drained and stressed."

"I can go visit Forzen on your behalf if you want. Check up on him, try and have a chat to him, all that stuff."

"If you want to and if you have the margin for it, go ahead. You're the only other guardian I trust around him without me around. Lagenon's probably okay but I know he's also very cautious of Forzen. Frélix is an awful idea."

"I… I appreciate it."

"You've shown you care about him. You especially showed that in the meeting earlier. I want to thank you for standing up for him."

"You don't need to, Torialis. I worry for Forzen. This environment, while obviously better than what he would have grown up with at Dark Peak, is awful for him. Particularly with Cynder doing whatever she is towards him, and from what I've heard, no one at his school likes him either."

"Yeah, he's getting bullied and beaten at school as well."

"I was worried about that… Ancestors, I feel so bad for him. No child should have to live like this. And this is an absolutely atrocious way to treat someone who literally just moved here three weeks ago."

"I will say, I can't say I blame them," Torialis said, shaking his head and stifling a sad chuckle. "The worst thing is, I can understand full well why they're doing this to him. I feel awful thinking that way and being able to see the other side's perspective even though their actions are so awfully wrong."

"I know, that's what's hard about this. Particularly because there's still so many unknowns around Forzen. What if he really is evil underneath all this? It's not a possibility I want to think about, nor is it an event I think even is possible, but every time I hear that argument and get preached at about who his father is and the recent track record of the purple dragons, it does sew doubt into me, even though I'm quick to throw it away. The scary part to me is that there's the tiniest chance that everyone else is right, and we're sitting here taking a pointless risk trying to let him live and learn here, trying to teach him good things, and trying to make an ally and friend out of him."

Torialis just grunted wordlessly in acknowledgement, looking down at his paws as he walked along the streets of Warfang to the restaurant he usually liked going to. He and Ash walked beside each other for a few minutes in silence, before Torialis looked up and saw that they had arrived at the restaurant: Wings of Fury.

It was a strange restaurant for an earth dragon to enjoy. It was a restaurant ran by a large family of fire dragons, and they specialised in spicy chicken wings, with even their mildest being very hot. Occasionally, other dragons might show up, but the owners said that they'd only ever seen four ice dragons try the restaurant out, and none of them liked it. Spicy food was very much a fire dragon thing, and it was rare for other dragons to enjoy it. Ice dragons in particular had a very low tolerance to heat, meaning that they pretty much never ate spicy food, and if they did, it was usually a dare.

But, Torialis had always been somewhat fond of hotter food, although he usually stayed towards the milder side of things, particularly at Wings of Fury. He and Ash often frequented Wings of Fury on their lunch breaks. Ash followed Torialis inside, before they made their way towards the front counter, where a lean fire dragoness stood.

"Torialis, did you want to have a competition, just to help get your mind off things for a while?" Ash suggested.

"And what, burn my face off? I like spice but I'm not going to put myself in huge amounts of pain doing it," Torialis said with a slight chuckle.

"Come on, for old times' sake."

"I appreciate what you're doing, but I do have a meeting with Cynder I want to give my full attention to. If I didn't have that and some other meetings today, I probably would be up for it, even though I know you'll win," Torialis said. "I just want to enjoy some good food, give myself a bit of a kick, and then head off to my meeting with Cynder."

"Okay, okay, I wasn't going to force you to do it!" Ash chuckled, elbowing Torialis in the ribs playfully.

Torialis rolled his eyes, unable to stop the smile pulling at his lips. They then walked up to the counter and ordered, before finding a table and sitting down. Torialis had gotten one of the milder options, while Ash had gotten the hottest one there was, which was something he hadn't done at this restaurant before. The dragoness taking their order was surprised, saying that even most fire dragons couldn't handle their hottest food, but Ash was intent on giving it a go.

Sure enough, it was too hot for poor Ash as he felt the full force of the heat assault his mouth after taking the first bite of his chicken wings. Torialis couldn't help but burst out laughing as Ash's confidence got the better of him, his eyes welling up with tears as steam started to rise from his nose, coughs taking over him. All through this, Ash was laughing too, but he was also slightly embarrassed.

There wasn't much conversation as Ash was just focused on trying to eat his food as quick as he could, wanting to eat the whole thing to be respectful to the fire dragons that had cooked it, while Torialis was enjoying the spectacle before him. He didn't think that Ash had intended to be such a humorous side attraction to his lunch break, but he was glad it had happened. He needed a mental break from guardianship briefly before he went back into more heavy meetings, so having a lighthearted laugh was good.

The dragoness that had served them came around with a glass of milk for Ash, who gulped it down quickly, before wiping his paws and face with some napkins, wanting to rid himself of the sticky hot sauce that had been on the chicken.

There wasn't much to talk about afterwards, so Ash sat there while waiting for Torialis to finish his meal, before eventually they paid for their food and then made their way back to the Warfang Temple. He spent the whole walk back hardening his emotions up ready for his meeting with Cynder in a few minutes. He knew he wouldn't be able to do this without that preparation beforehand.

Cynder was unpredictable. Torialis didn't know how she would be feeling and what she would bring to the conversation. Her anger was often changing. She could be silent and just want to get the meeting over with, which would be the easiest scenario for Torialis. Or she could push back and argue a bit. Or she could be outright defiant, screaming back at him and threatening him.

There were many ways this meeting could go.

Ash wished Torialis good luck before they went their own separate ways, Torialis heading all the way back to his office. He sat down at his desk and looked up at the clock. It was almost the thirteenth hour. Cynder would be here any moment soon.

Before long, she finally walked in. Her eyes were filled with annoyance and frustration, and Torialis had to hold in his intimidation as she sat down in front of him, emerald eyes glaring at him hauntingly.

"So, what did you summon me here for? Hopefully it's not to scold me again," she growled.

"Unfortunately for you, it's exactly that," Torialis huffed.

"What a waste of my time. I have a job too, you know? A very important one, at that. I know your role as guardian is very important, but so is mine, especially considering my job is the one that keeps Warfang safe! My job is the one that keeps people alive!"

"Admittedly it's a waste of my time too, but because of your behaviour, I need to have these conversations with you."

"Okay, and what exactly have I done to apparently waste both of our times here then?"

"Child abuse."

Cynder's eyes went wide, as if suddenly realising she had just been found out for what she had done. Meanwhile, Torialis stayed completely blank-faced, glaring judgmentally at her. The brief look of shock in her eyes disappeared as quickly as it came, before rage took over her expression.

"You dare call me beating up that purple whelp child abuse? He is no child, he's a juvenile devil!"

"Oh, here we go…" Torialis groaned.

"His very existence is a threat to our own existence, and you are just giving him the absolute freedom to do whatever the hell he wants?! Torialis, he could kill us all if we don't do something about him!"

"Have you ever thought about the fact that he's only here to live as best a life he can get, and to learn? I'm sure you've noticed it yourself: he has no ulterior motives. I have never seen anyone so genuinely shy and scared about everyone and everything. He doesn't have it in him to betray us and start killing everyone. You've heard how he talks about Spyro; he hates him. I don't think Forzen wants anything to do with darkness."

"Some of the worst people are the best actors, Torialis. He's pulling wool over our eyes! He deserves to be beaten and punished!"

"I don't see that in him, Cynder. Everything you are spitting in my face right now is just a result of your trauma with Malefor and Spyro, and I'll be honest, blatant racism at this point."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"You're literally calling him a devil just because his scales are purple! You're beating him and cutting open his face because he's a purple dragon!"

"I'm doing all that because he is Spyro's son!"

"He is your son too!"

"DON'T YOU DARE!"

"Oh I dare!"

"DON'T YOU EVER CALL THAT WORM MY SON AGAIN!" Cynder shrieked as she thrust her face into his.

"You don't scare me, Cynder," Torialis growled, burying his emotions, his fear, his intimidation; he was blank and empty. "And I don't care what you think of him as your son, nothing can take away the fact that he biologically came from you. He is a part of you. Surely he owes some respect from the dragoness who brought him into this world."

"Whatever son of mine he might have been was taken away by Spyro's devilry. He spent twelve years in that hellish mountain. Who knows how much darkness he has taken in?"

"You know he was taught by one of our own throughout those twelve years, right?"

"Torialis, he hasn't told us everything! Who knows what he's hiding from us? Spyro can't have just left him alone in another dragon's care, right? Surely Spyro imparted something into him to keep him under control, right? What if Spyro takes control of Forzen and he destroys the entire city? We will be at fault because we welcomed him with open arms into this city!"

"Then that's the risk we have to take. Cynder, Forzen's an ally right now. He can help us. And in turn, we can help him. He wants Spyro gone as much as we do, and he also just wants a normal life as much as we do. Even in these times of war and darkness, surely we can give him as normal of a life as we can. Doesn't he deserve that much?"

"No."

"Cynder…" Torialis growled.

"I will not teach him how to kill!"

"Okay, so what has beating him and cutting him got anything to do with it?!"

"Because he's Spyro's little devil and he deserves it! And also to scare him away from learning his elements with me so he doesn't ever learn them! He shouldn't ever learn how to use his elements, and shouldn't ever learn how to use them to attack and kill things!"

"Cynder, you need help. Like… serious help. Beating up Forzen does nothing but make you a child abuser. It does nothing but make you look bad. And besides, these lessons are supposed to teach him how to defend himself and defend others. They're meant to teach him how to control his elements."

"If he has control over his elements, he can freely use them to hurt others!"

"But he also will know how to use them to prevent hurting others. An out of control element is dangerous and unpredictable. And particularly with elements like his, particularly sound, he's at more risk of harming others without control. He only has three elements unlocked; we don't even know what other crazy elements he has at his disposal. I'm also assuming because he's purple he'll be able to use convexity, and that is a scary, destructive element that I do not want him to have no control over."

"If he's this dangerous, why are we keeping him here?"

"Because he wants the same things as us! He can help us! Treating him like this isn't going to want to make him do it! Stop thinking about yourself for once and think about how he feels!"

"About myself?! Torialis, thinking about others is all I do!" Cynder screamed, her emotions flaring up. "I know it doesn't seem like it with the way I am now, but I don't go a single day without putting others before myself! I sacrifice every day to building a strong army that can fight against Spyro's forces! I sacrifice time with my brother to be in those barracks every day, and then out on the battlefield every time there's an attack! I mourn for the lives we lose, even though I don't know any of them!

"I haven't told you about how Typhaar ended up yet, but we failed! WE FAILED! Time and time again, WE KEEP LOSING PEOPLE! I saw many dragons reduced to awful, bloody conditions in the aftermath, where only thirty of us survived out of a city of thousands! Moments like that tear me apart because all I can think of is those who unfairly lost their lives in awful, traumatic ways, and we couldn't stop them! I fear every day that Warfang will join Typhaar and many other cities!

"You claim I don't care about others?! It's all I do, you heartless bastard! You might think that's rich coming from me but under my emotionless, angry shell, I still feel, and I feel very strongly!"

"Then stop for one second and think about Forzen," Torialis challenged. "How do you think he feels? He's just escaped Dark Peak and found himself in an unfamiliar city, but one that seems to be safe and promising, only to find everyone, including his own mother, hate him, belittle him, beat him, tear him open, and call him 'devil'... call him 'moras'tov'. Try and at least understand how he feels about being constantly labeled as evil, when he knows he is the furthest thing from that! I would have thought YOU out of all dragons would understand that, with a past like yours!"

"Stop it!" Cynder snarled.

"Put yourself back in the paws of a fifteen-year-old Cynder, returning from the core and wanting a normal life in Warfang, only to find everyone hating you and claiming you were still evil and out for blood! Put yourself back in the paws of a Cynder who just wanted to feel loved and cared for, only for everyone to belittle you, beat you, tear you open, call you 'she-devil'..."

She knew where Torialis was going to go next. "I SAID STOP IT!" she screamed.

"...call you 'Malefor's whore'."

"ENOUGH!"

Cynder slammed her paws on Torialis' desk with such force it cracked, sending splinters flying. She stood there, staring at her fists, which shook with rage and terror. Her eyes were bloodshot and wet with tears, as everything she had buried from her childhood hit her once again. Suddenly, she felt like that little girl again, so small and so vulnerable, so full of hurt and shame, just wanting to start again, but no one would let her. Every day she was reminded of her past as the Terror of the Skies. Every day she had titles and labels pushed upon her, including those that were never even true to begin with, much like 'Malefor's whore', and many more that were even more vile.

She looked up. Torialis still wore that same, emotionless look on his face. It hurt. Deep inside, Cynder knew Torialis didn't mean the words he was saying, that he was saying them and bringing up those memories to prove a point, but looking at him stare at her blankly after saying those words… it hurt. She didn't even know she could still feel this old pain. She thought she had moved past it all those years ago. She was twenty years older than she was back then. How did those words still hurt her?

"Think about it, Cynder," Torialis continued, this time much gentler, now that he could see how much she was hurting from what he had said to her. "Think back to how you felt all those years ago, and then think to how Forzen feels now. You two are not all that different, you know?"

"But he is different."

"HOW?!" Torialis yelled, finally losing his composure. "WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST THE POOR KID?! WHY ARE YOU BEATING HIM UP AND TEARING HIS FACE OPEN?! WHY ARE YOU FORCING HIM TO FIGHT BATTLES IN THE TRAINING RING THAT HE IS ILL-PREPARED FOR?! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO GAIN FROM ANY OF THAT?!"

"You claim he's like me. But I look at him and I see a dragon who's like Spyro," Cynder explained. "He may be pure and kind-hearted, like Spyro used to be. But Spyro never stayed that way. I'm sure you know Muras' story. He was the same. Purple dragons don't stay good. How long will we keep him here before he suddenly decides to go berserk and start another war, or just join Spyro if we haven't won by then? Who's to say he won't overthrow Spyro and take over?

"If there was one thing I noticed during our training session on Vielday, it was that Forzen is incredibly skilled with his elements. He may not have the raw power that Spyro did, but he has more skill and control than Spyro ever had at his age when he was learning his elements. And that terrifies me. I know you don't want him to have no control, but I also don't want him to have full control. Forzen's dangerous, and knowing how the last two purple dragons turned out… I don't want to prepare Forzen with incredible, unbeatable skills, for him to turn dark and use them on us. We struggled with Malefor, we're struggling more with Spyro, I worry about how much we'll struggle if Forzen turns evil.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't get that out of my head. Purple dragons are destined to destroy the world and start fresh. That's what Malefor wanted to do, and that's to some extent what Spyro is trying to do, in his own way. That's what almost happened with the Destroyer and it's what almost happened with Naar'voth, even though Naar'voth took control of Spyro during Armageddon, where the Destroyer was still under Malefor's full control. There might be a bit of me in Forzen, but I see more of Spyro in him and that's what terrifies me."

"Cynder, please just—" Torialis started.

"Don't!" Cynder interrupted. "Please just… don't! You can't change my mind, Torialis. I am terrified of that boy. I hate him and I fear him. That will never change."

"Think of it this way: if you hurt him this much now, won't it just fuel him to hate you even more if he ever does go dark? Aren't you just fueling his revenge?"

"Maybe? I don't know. All I know is that right now in this very moment, it's scaring him into doing nothing. He stays away from me, he's scared to speak up, he's scared to talk back or challenge anyone. All he does is comply, which is what helps us right now. We can be the ones to control him, not Spyro."

"Cynder, this isn't about controlling him."

"Then what is it about?!"

"It's about building a good dragon. A good dragon that knows good from evil, and who is able to protect himself and those around him from evil. I think he's already got most of that. I've heard of the way he refuses to hurt another dragon. It matched perfectly with what I saw on the first day he arrived."

"I wish I could believe that."

Silence filled the room for a few moments as the two dragons stared uncomfortably at each other. Cynder wiped her wet eyes, sniffling as she tried to keep her emotions under control. It wasn't long before Torialis had begun speaking again.

"I want you to keep teaching Forzen his wind element, and any of your other elements should he unlock them. However, all training sessions must run by me, and I will also be present for each and every one of them, even if Muras is already there. I won't be upfront and active, but I will be watching. This will be enforced, as it is still part of Forzen's training, and he is much better taught by someone who is skilled with his elements."

"What about sound? We have no one here who can use that element," Cynder said.

"The sinister elements are the only ones where we won't be able to provide Forzen with personal experience and someone skilled in the element. We will just have to try our best and learn alongside Forzen, and look into doing research on those elements ourselves. You don't have to be part of that if you don't want to; that was likely going to be mostly Muras and us guardians."

"I don't want to be a part of that. I want as little to do with Forzen as possible."

"That's fine. And one last thing: you will not attack Forzen again, and you will not throw him into scenarios in the ring that he cannot handle, particularly while he is still learning. Understand?"

Cynder glared at Torialis, before huffing, "Yes, I understand."

"Good. Now get the hell out of here."

With that, Cynder stood, and with a growl, whirled around and marched out of the room. Torialis watched her go, staring out at the empty hall for a few moments, before he let out his own growl and punched his desk also.

That went absolutely awful, Torialis thought. Not only was she super unhelpful like I thought she would be, but I think I went way too far. She didn't deserve that comment, even though I was trying to prove a point.

And after all that, I don't think we came to an agreement. She's just reluctantly going along with what I say because I'm the guardian. Pathetic.

Torialis stood, before closing the door to his office and stomping down the halls, making his way to the guardians' bedchambers. I'm going to have a nap… I'm wrecked, Torialis thought. I'm exhausted and I'm angry. Why is everyone being so horrible right now towards that poor kid? I see their point of view, but he's not like that. And he's just a kid.

I hope things get better, I truly do.

For him… and for all of us.

Torialis entered his room and collapsed on his bed. He spent ages trying to sleep, but it probably took an hour before he finally gave way to his slumber. His thoughts were too wild, too strong, too negative. Everything that had happened today kept him awake. Everything that had been said kept him awake.

The thought of Forzen getting ripped apart by Cynder's claws again kept him awake.

He welcomed sleep the moment it washed over him.

This one was kind of an unplanned chapter. The idea I originally had for Chapter 16 was one that I didn't think I could create a full chapter out of and would be better put in another chapter, and as I thought of that, the focus on Torialis came to me. I figured it'd be good to get yet another perspective on the situation with Forzen being in Warfang now, and with it also brought a bit more worldbuilding to how things in Warfang work, as well as a bit of extra character interaction with the guardians. As I started writing this, it felt right, particularly opening this with Muras talking to Torialis about what to do with Forzen's training sessions with Cynder, which comes nicely off the events of last chapter.

It was also fun to focus on a completely different perspective, I always find chapters that break away from the usual perspectives of Cynder, Forzen and Muras really fun to write. Exploring other characters and their viewpoints is always really fun for me. As much as I love writing Cynder (which I did get a bit of at the end), I really enjoy writing other characters too.

...

Derick Lindsey: Honestly I'm kinda happy that I've written this so people can root for Forzen even if he turns dark haha, glad to hear your thoughts on that XD On Cynder, due to how she's changed over the last twelve years, I kinda intended for her to be a character that you know is kinda awful (particularly since we're now more focused on Forzen here and she's being especially awful to him), but you still feel bad for her because of how absolutely broken she is inside. The characters around her are also confused how to feel about her, so that's definitely the vibe I've been trying to give off with her.

Dr. Kocktor: Yeah both her and Spyro are not great parental figures lol; Muras, Almai, and Torialis are looking out for him way more than Cynder has been, and Jaarsol ended up being way more of a mother to him than Cynder is. As for how she's treating Forzen, a bit of her reasoning for that was in her breakdown to Terrador, as well as in the end of this chapter. She's genuinely that confused and hateful towards Forzen (and by extent Spyro) that she genuinely thinks this is the best way to raise Forzen, to have him fear and submit to her, to scare him away from wanting to learn his elements and using violence to do that.

...

Hope you enjoyed where this chapter went and something a bit different! Have a great day/evening/night, and I'll see you all with the next chapter!