FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 11

Eventually things became relatively quiet, most likely because of tiredness than anything. The argument they having seemed to have no end, so when the opportunity arose to slip away Spyro didn't hesitate even for a second. There was no chance they would convince each other to change their point of view anyway.

Bluntly put, it was a dead end.

Even Cyril seemed to get tired to listening to his own voice, of course he didn't confess it, in fact the Guardian threw some snide remarks when Spyro withdrew from the conversation. He didn't really remember what the old dragon had said and Cyril did not make any other attempt to force his words to sprout roots in his young head.

This was proof enough that the Guardian had no intention on continuing this debate any further.

Spyro was glad for that, he had enough of this toxic conspiracy theories, he was aware that the peace is a temporary one, lasting only till finally Brill himself decides to show up. In this moment of silence he lost interest in completely everything they just talked about, his concentration was entirely focused on something else.

The black figure sitting ahead.

When Cynder stormed off she immediately took position in front of Ignitus' statue, as if being pulled by it. Being so roughly reminded of your past deeds you would rather want to forget about is nothing pleasant. Especially when the wounds just don't want to heal.

He felt her pain, his heart urged him to do something, anything, urged him to take that pain away. Yet, this time, out of respect for her, as stupid as it sounds, he did nothing. Independence is important for her, he was certain that if he would ran after her immediately, convincing her that none of what Cyril said is true, would make the situation even worse.

She has to come to such conclusion herself, those are her demons to fight. Unfortunately.

Even if he knew all that he simply couldn't leave her alone, he simply waited for the worst to subside, circling the temple, trying to make himself look busy while in truth observing her intently.

Especially her tail.

At first it was sliding from side to side aggressively, as if it wasn't a natural part of a draconic body that most of the time you don't even feel moving, more likely acting like it had a mind of its own. It looked like a dog jumping from side to side, warning everyone that biting is in order for everyone that gets too close.

Over time the furious jerks became more calmer, reaching almost the point of stagnation, as he observed the tail he imagined it whining.

He took that for a sign.

There are still many things he doesn't understand about Cynder, what it truly means to love someone like her, or females in general, but now he simply didn't care about that. Instead of participating in the unending fight of deciding what is right or wrong he simply acted, kind and charmed heart serving as his only guide.

Spyro as silently as he could approached her from behind, with her tail in between his legs he stopped right behind her.

"Is it safe for me to be so close?" he whispered kindly, practically resting his chin on her shoulder

He noticed a trail of white teeth when the corner of her mouth stretched into a smile.

"You're learning" she praised him lovingly, one paw reaching up, gently rubbing his nose

He smiled, placing a brief, affectionate kiss on top of her shoulder, as he pushed back he noticed her lips wavering.

"You didn't give me any other choice" he replied endearingly, sitting next to her

Cynder chuckled, playfully bumping her flank into his.

"Ass"

"Hey" he whined, rubbing his shoulder as if it was aching beyond imagination

"What was that for?" his snout covered wrinkles of fake offended and hurt expression

She grinned.

"That was for calling me a shrew"

He winked.

"Speaking of which" Cynder continued, looking around the temple "Where's Grouch?"

Spyro shrugged.

"Somewhere on the opposite side of the temple I guess, that's where I 've seen him heading. Most likely trying to bring one of the unlucky Ancestors to life, with his oratory skills he might actually succeed. He has the necessary charm to wake up even the dead"

Cynder snickered.

"You can be mean when you want to"

He straightened up, every piece of scale on his snout stretched, forming the pitiful image of Cyril's natural expression.

"That was a compliment" he mimicked the Guardian's voice with relative success

She laughed, out of respect covering her mouth to muffle the joyful sound coming out from her throat.

"Thanks Spyro"

"Thanks?" he blurt out amused, jerking his head back with a smile

"If you're thanking me for that then Cyril is about to get a prayer I think"

She pushed him playfully with a giggle.

"Stop it! I'm serious"

With a chuckle he cleared his throat. Making it obvious that he is listening.

She smiled lovingly.

"First I want to thank you for cheering me up, people usually say that that this is my specialty, not sure if they would still think like that after hearing you"

She lowered her head, observing her gently shifting paw which soon landed on top of a purple one. She squeezed the leg below gently and with such affection that the purple paw couldn't remain idle. It responded by tensing all the surrounding muscles, the pleasant initial shock lasted for a second then the purple paw relaxed and delicately wiggled in her caring grip, like a cat turning its body around to be pet exactly where it wanted.

"Lastly" she whispered, raising her head, eyes glistening with the breathtaking power that stole his freedom

"I want to thank you for allowing me to deal with this myself, to allow me to retain some scraps of my independent will, it means a lot" she chuckled wryly "Now I just have to lie to myself that it actually worked"

"You don't have to thank me for that" he replied softly "I'm right here Cynder, you don't have to do anything alone. You don't have to carry this weight on your own. I'm here to lift your burden, allowing me to do that is not being dependent on me, I signed up for this. I am your personal pain mule, use me for carrying the heavy stuff, that's what I'm here for"

She shifted closer to him, her paw that was holding him slithered up his leg, below his shoulder just to stop directly on his chest, exactly in the same spot where she placed her head when they first kissed.

Both dragons let out longing and blissful breaths, perhaps unconsciously knowing that their souls returned to that moment at the same time and just for that one fleeting moment everything was perfect.

Her eyes sparkled as she observed her paw pressed against his golden chest, not even aware of the gentle coaxing her extended leg performed. Her whole focus drawn to the rhythmic thuds she felt pulsing below her paw.

"I don't want to spoil your treasure" she replied, smiling shyly as she cocked her head, lips parting as if spellbound

He took her paw into his, planting a soft kiss on top of it.

She smiled beautifully at him, a full of love smile never leaving her snout.

"It's not mine any longer. I gave it all to you"

His words warmed her soul.

"Aren't you a romantic" she tried to sound sassy, but when she spoken the last word the next swig of air was a shivering snort of emotion. Even if she would really want to believe in her intentions she would be unable to convince herself

"I'm not fooling around" he guided her paw back to his chest "Don't you feel how it beats? It doesn't pound like that even when I'm tired" he smiled, lowering his eyes down at her leg, rubbing the extended limb affectionately

"Sometimes I have a feeling that it would jump out of my chest when you would only show the intention of grabbing it"

The space between her lips became even bigger when a breath of excitement wafted from her opened mouth, desperately holding back the nudge to clench her paw and test the theory. Her eyes sparkled with every pound of his magical heart, she felt it playing against her paw and she was certain that it wouldn't have anything against her if she would pull it out.

"N-n-no" she stammered, the emotions freezing her lips like ice. She patted his chest delicately.

"You can't change" she rolled her body around, enough to be able to press her lips to the same spot on his chest where her paw was earlier

He instinctively combed her head, the warm lips caressing his chest made him shiver.

She raised her head, glistening pairs of colorful eyes meeting each other for a brief moment before hiding under the cover of their eyelids as their lips automatically locked with each other. They caressed each other slowly and passionately, at the border of erotic even. For the very first time letting their tongues dance on the ball in the other's mouth.

They have never done this before, but nevertheless it still felt so natural. They didn't care if somebody will see them, nor they weren't bothered by the place they were in. For some it might seem inappropriate, but for them it felt simply naturally. If there was a place in this temple where they could truly be themselves and feel safe, it was here

Under the stony watch of the late Fire Guardian.

She was the first to pull away, biting on his lower lip before finally retreating.

"I agree" he whispered blissfully, opening his clouded eyes "Let's run away"

She giggled "What? That's it? A simple erotic kiss and you'll do everything for me?"

"Yes" he replied automatically

Another giggle escaped her throat "You're such a male"

He smiled "Good to hear, with you being so fierce I was having doubts about my masculinity"

She burst out laughing, her cheerful cry rumbling within the temple, only when the echo of her laugh rebounded within her head she remembered where she actually was and what it really meant. Eyes opened up widely, one paw momentarily smacked into her mouth, muffling the chuckling sounds from her throat.

He couldn't help himself but to smile broadly at seeing her expression.

She shook her head.

"They're going to torch me for sure" she muttered through the toes of the still pressed black paw to her snout

He chuckled.

"There's nothing to laugh about!" she blurt out with amused indignation, playfully smacking his shoulder with the paw that previously was plastered to her mouth

"We laughed and kissed in a temple Spyro" she whispered, craning her neck forward, eyes looking around for possible enemies soon to appear

"There couldn't be a worse place to do that! It's like starting a party in a cemetery. Some things you just don't do"

He cocked his head from one side then to the other.

"Ehh, I don't know"

She looked at him with a surprised frown "You don't know? Seriously? Ancestors are watching and all that?"

"It's not like we did in on purpose right? We didn't have any intention to deliberately scar the aura of this place, besides it's not like we did something really that malevolent. We kissed under the statue of Ignitus"

He looked up at the mentioned figure, he felt a dagger stinging his heart.

"This is the natural ground in this place if you ask me, here rules don't matter. I don't know how about you, but I feel he would be pleased if he would see us now, after all he is the one that made this happen if you consider everything. At least now he is definitely certain that his work was not pointless. We owed him that much I guess"

She swallowed and looked behind her shoulder, aiming her eyes at the stony snout of the late Fire Guardian. Her eyes didn't linger there long, she felt somewhat intimidated by the artificial stare of Spyro's foster-father even if she couldn't feel any sense of guilt rising within her.

There was only that peculiar and hard to describe feeling of being a welcomed stranger in someone's other family.

"That and this is a holy place" Spyro continued "Holy things happen and are welcome here. And I consider you and the feeling that connected us to be sacred"

Her whole body tensed, head that was already low went even farther down, his words stiffened her neck so badly that the jerk of her head practically hurt. She was flooded by an overwhelming, pleasant numbness, drowning her senses and soul simultaneously.

All she could feel was the temperature heating up her cheeks and the instinctive sense of admiration for Spyro and his perfect timing considering the place and situation they were in.

All that time she was sure that she was the one who won his heart and not the other way around.

Now she felt like it was her heart that was defeated, once more her fate being directed by someone else.

This time however, despite her nature, she had nothing against it.

She turned her head ever so gently, not fully facing him, just enough for her sparkling green eyes to see him. Snout completely red by now.

"Do you always know what to say?" she whispered alluringly

His heart skipped a beat, maybe more, or even stopped working completely the moment she turned around, he wasn't sure anymore. One thing he was certain of however, there was something undeniably beautiful and magical about her embarrassment.

Perhaps it was the fact that for someone like her, a spirited, determined and independent character, that strongly dislikes being considered frail and controlled, the state of being embarrassed feels like being shackled, after all it's the feelings and emotions that cause this.

And it's rather common knowledge that being chained in any form is what she hates the most.

And yet he got the chance to look past the barrier, lingering there for far longer than he remembers and if it would be up to him he would remain there forever.

Those chains of embarrassment...she looked absolutely stunning in them.

"Now you forget your tongue?" Cynder asked, taunting smile wavering at the corners of her mouth

"You are so beautiful" he replied, words coming out with a breath of awe reserved only for addressing divine beings

She heard her jaw cracking open and air being sucked out from her lungs, leaving her speechless. He complimented her more than once before, but never this way. It wasn't about the words, they were nice of course, but they were plain in comparison to the tone behind them. It was the tone that shook her, she couldn't describe it, but after hearing it she felt like the most important dragon in the whole universe.

And simply knew it wasn't just her imagination.

"You-"

"Shhhh!" she blurt out suddenly, springing forward after hearing his voice again, her own tone filled with what seemed to be begging terror.

He only grunted in disbelief, eyes shooting wide open when she joined her front paws and plastered them directly on his mouth. Her body stretched, upper body leaning against his snout, supported only by his solid footing, his startled muscles the only thing preventing her from toppling on the ground.

"No more" she uttered pleadingly, looking directly into his wide, surprised purple eyes

"Not here, not in this place where I can't repay you. Please Spyro, don't make me love you more than I already do. Not now"

The shocked expression softened, his eyes radiated nothing but care.

She looked past him, noticing Cyril's shadow shifting on the wall on the opposite side of the temple.

"Just nod if you understand"

When her eyes landed back on him he nodded.

"Thank you" she smiled gratefully, once more briefly scanning the area behind him

When she was done she gently pulled her paws away, but before they slid back on the ground she planted a quick kiss on his lips.

When her paws touched the ground she hissed painfully, bandaged leg shot in the air as if shocked, pain reminding of itself in its typical way.

"Cynder! Your leg!" he blurt out worryingly

"It's ok" she hissed with a smile, jumping around on the three healthy legs, holding the wounded one aloft and shaking it to disperse the ache

"It was worth it" she giggled

He quickly jumped in her direction, spreading his Ice power gently in her direction.

She moaned in pleasure and relief, putting her pained leg directly on the way of his magical breath.

"I forgot about that" she began to observe the icy mist of his breath crashing softly against her wounded leg "Not only your heart is gold, but also your skills. It's good to have you around, unlike me"

"Cynder" he raised his head, words coming out from his mouth with last clouds of his icy breath. He already knew where this was going

"Don't do that to yourself"

"To myself? Me?" she asked surprised "Have you seen a pitchfork in my paws lately?"

"You know what I mean"

She limped forward, placing her wounded leg on his cheek, rubbing it fondly.

"You don't know how it is. You say all those nice things and I can't do nothing to show you how much it means to me. Public places wrap chains around me that I can't shake off, it's agony"

He touched her leg, caressing it fondly.

"Let's go outside, I'll show those people how much you mean to me. I don't care what they might think"

"But I do!" she muttered at the brink of shouting and pushed away, tail wagging angrily as she spun around, in the direction of the rows of statues

"You have their attention, in the good way" she said as her eyes stopped on the statue that was currently covered by white sheets.

Both of them perfectly remembered who it represented.

"Too much perhaps that it might get tiring" she limped towards the loosely hanging sheets "It's perfectly normal for you to want to get rid off some of this burden, you would still have plenty anyway"

"Cynder..."

Her eyes landed on the pedestal, a perfectly clean and shining pedestal, with no words etched on its surface.

An audible sad sigh left her throat.

"Call me a mood breaker, go on I deserve it"

"I would call you many names, but all of them might seem to be too reverent for you in this situation. I'll leave the truth for later"

"How can you be so certain that you speak the truth and not the people?"

He stopped right next to her.

"You said I can't lie" he whispered softly, his voice ringing with worship again

There was that tone again, not as palpable as earlier but still strong enough to put a smile on her snout.

"I don't deserve you"

"Don't say things like that"

"You warm my heart with every word even if that's not your intention. What I'm doing besides dragging you into my hell?"

He tapped a claw against his chest.

"Place your paw on my heart again and you'll see"

"Stop talking!" she blurt out indignantly, jumping away from him, she wanted to sound stern but just couldn't hold her lips back from smiling

"This is exactly the problem I have in mind" she continued, not looking his way, afraid that her indignation would fade away behind a grateful, loving smile

"You keep bombarding me with words that make me dizzy and I desperately fight back the urge to scream to the whole world that you love me"

"May I say something?"

She winced, she would prefer he wouldn't but at the same time craved to hear his voice.

She nodded.

"Love is new to me, the bond we share is new to me, I'm an amateur not an expert in the matters of heart, but shouldn't we stop caring what other people might think? What we feel, now that's important, the rest shouldn't matter"

"It's easy for you to say, your life was normal, social wise"

She turned around, looking at him sadly.

"That and I don't want to ruin your life"

"You-"

"Shhh" she whispered, pressing her claw to her mouth

He obeyed the meaningful, subtle order.

"You have the respect of the people, making them see you with me, more intimate than usual, would make them question you. I don't want to be the one for who you ditch everything you worked so hard to achieve. I don't want to be the dragon parents would tell about to scare their children"

She approached him, sparkling eyes never leaving his purple ones.

"I want a statue like you have, or at least a flower on my grave put by a complete stranger. I want children to read about me like I was the good guy not the villain. I want to prove to you how much you mean to me. I want to kiss you standing in the middle of a crowd that would cheer instead of throwing rocks and curses at us. I want my kiss to be considered a blessing of an angel not the one that would pull you down"

Her eyes started to glisten with tears.

"I'm shackled Spyro, I have chains that I can't get off. And it pisses me off"

He pulled her into a hug, feeling his own eyes being filled by tears.

"Everything will be alright"

She remained in his grip, rubbing her chin into his scales delicately.

"Tell me, honestly, do you think I will have any of those things?"

He wanted to say yes, but they both knew that it would feel fake. None of them knew how the future will look like, but at least he knew that he will do everything to make that future as bright as possible.

"I don't know Cynder" he whispered back, feeling her sigh as if she expected the answer "But I swear I'll do my best to make your life good"

She burrowed her chin deeper into his scales, making their embrace tighter. Even if that wasn't what she wanted to hear she was glad for the bit of honesty. She was especially glad about the promise, she simply knew he didn't say that to make her feel better, it was the truth.

She opened her moist eyes, noticing Cyril's shadow growing on the nearby column. She pulled out from the hug, brushing her cheek against his to show how much it meant to her.

"I'm sorry Spyro, by now you must be tiring of my constant whining"

"I will never grow tired of you, no matter what you do. What you call whining I call another sparkling gem of your bright personality"

A weak smile appeared on her snout.

"You sure you weren't reading some romance guide in your spare time?"

He shrugged innocently.

"Guess you bring out the best of me"

She pressed her paw to her chest, clenching it on her soft, magenta scales as if trying to grab her heart. A heart that pounded with such force that it left her breathless occasionally, it was perhaps due to such sudden lack of air that made him glow.

For a moment she wondered just how many times during their conversation she fell in love with him again.

"That's enough" she said spinning around, making her way alongside the rows of statues, her swaying hips displaying pretenses of a bored, strong character, that got tired of listening to obvious comments

The front of her body however showed something entirely else. Here she was sweating, smiling so broadly that it felt like her cheeks were about to crack. Here she desperately fought back the urge to leap towards the ceiling, flipping, spinning and crying out loudly in utter joy.

She so badly wanted to give up to the feeling, be weak and let Spyro know just how important he is to her, just how much his words affected her.

Be the damsel in distress once more.

Only last strands of pitiful arrogant pride were holding her back from that disgusting role. That is how she explained it to herself, not wanting to acknowledge possible fact that she was already in character for a very long time now.

"Let's change topic for a more depressing one"

"Haven't we done that already? We talked about your-"

"No!" she blurt out, cutting him off "I mean a topic that doesn't include me" she limped forward, waving her wounded leg at the row of statues

"Let's talk about the Ancestors, let's speculate how much disastrous it has to be for them to see their future being in the hands of a zealous mole" she spun around aiming her claw at the practically towering sheets

"Let's talk about our history, if Brill wins will dragons still be considered heroes? Will there even be a place for heroes?"

"Cyn-"

"Let's begin a guessing game!" she chimed in his trail of thought once more "How many fanatical followers Brill has? How many of them are preparing to stab us as we speak?"

"Cynder" he called her name sternly, advancing in her direction

"Let's talk about Brill himself! What exactly will he do when he shows his scrawny ass here?"

"Cynder!" he slowed time to get close to her, just when his mouth stopped pronouncing her name he was already holding her leg

She squeaked in surprise before narrowing her eyes on him angrily.

"Cheater" she protested but made no move to break free

"I respect your independent spirit, it's there don't you worry, I can feel it because I love it. You are not obliged to do anything, you've been struggling all your life and you got so far to taste happiness, I hope, I can provide. This is true strength, to reach so far despite the odds which my immense stupidity only strengthened. Allowing yourself to be happy, no strings attached, is not a sign of weakness. It's a reward for being victorious in an impossible fight"

She swallowed, saliva having a really tough time sliding down her throat. She opened her mouth, yet only a wet gag came out, like from the throat of a well fed hatchling. Part of the saliva she tried to swallow went back up her throat, making her spit herself. She swiftly pulled away from his grip, turning her head in embarrassment as she wiped her moist lips.

He snickered.

"That was kinda cute"

"Shut up" she scolded him with clear amusement ringing in her voice "Or you're going to kill me"

She leaned against a nearby column, one paw rubbing her chest, claws sliding in a pattern. Forming a smile.

"I don't want to do that" he whispered gently as he leaned against the opposite surface, that turned out to be nothing but a base of a statue

"I don't make you feel like I feel when you compliment me. I don't make you laugh, I don't make you cry, I don't even make you feel important" she gently slammed her head into the column

"What do I bring into this relationship?" she muttered resigned

"That's not true" he protested pushing off from the statue, tensing his muscles as he stopped in front of his partner. Stiff body explaining for him how serious he is.

"For example you made me laugh many times"

She sighed.

"A chuckle is not a laugh. I'm talking about a laugh that you feel boiling within you, all you need to do is to let it out for everyone to hear. Even then you wouldn't stop laughing, not until your lungs would burst from the excess of cheerful agony"

"This is not a competition Cynder!" he snapped painfully at her

"That's!" she exclaimed, pointing her claw at him, as if trying to challenge his voice "That's what I bring into this relationship. Misery"

"How can you say that? You did hear my heart didn't you? You make me want to live, isn't that enough?"

"You don't understand"

"Yes I do! You are broken, you said it yourself"

She chuckled sadly "Misery one o-"

"Let me finish" he cut her off "It's perfectly normal for you to experience things far more strongly than anyone else. All the rest of us had already a tiny portion of that happiness in our lives, or happiness in general. All the laughing and crying we did when we were kids"

"So I'm boring"

"No! You make me want to live, didn't you hear? I didn't say that to make you feel better, it's the truth" he gestured at the holy walls surrounding them "You made me kiss you in a temple, break the rules! The only time I willingly got close to doing something like that was when I tried to steal the brush on which I practiced kissing from my Mom's closet!"

She lowered her head, he saw her mouth twitching, he wished it was because she tried to smile.

"I've made a bad boy out of you"

"You gave me courage" he stated firmly "Thanks to you I feel like I can do everything, fight with anything, because I know it's worth it. I know that when I'll be done I'll get the chance to come back to you. You are the reason why I will keep on fighting"

He made his way in her direction, lowering his head to follow her eyes while sliding a claw under her chin. Gently raising her head.

"You make me indestructible"

She had her eyes closed, yet the moment her chin slid from his claw and rested on his opened paw her eyelids snapped open. They stared at each other like that for what felt like an eternity, in reality however only mere seconds flew by.

They didn't need words any longer, no more displays of gratitude and care. They simply needed to look into the window leading to each other's most private room, after that their souls did the talking in their own silent way. Their hearts were the only possible way to sample some part of this conversation and judging from their powerful and ecstatic beats the silent dialog was going more than perfect.

Cynder was the first one to blink, her eyelids were closing in slow motion and when they finally hit the limit her mouth parted slightly, letting the hiding tongue there roll out. When the eyelids went back up the extended tongue lashed out, licking the purple nose ahead from bottom to top.

Spyro winced at the unexpected, pleasant sensation, eyes squinting as if hit by direct sunlight. When they opened up fully the tongue that caressed him was nothing more than a protruding red tip from her mouth. It disappeared with a cute slurp soon after, only to be replaced with the sound of clicking jaw, by a grin of pearl white teeth.

"You really wanted to steal that brush?" she asked, her chin happily bouncing on his paw

He smiled, shrugging innocently.

"It was the only thing that truly understood me back home"

She giggled.

"From your technique in kissing I can guess that you stole it away more than twice"

He snapped his teeth playfully, as if wanting to bite her nose. She jumped back with an amused squeak. Only to start laughing when she was a safe distance away.

His own voice joined her thrilled one soon.

"Spyro" she called his name lovingly, tapping a claw against her heart "Thanks for the reminder"

His paw automatically found its way to his chest, his heart beating in perfect harmony with her moving claw as if it was with it by an invisible string.

He nodded, smiling pleasantly, throat emitting no words yet lips silently forming one sentence.

"You're welcome"

She opened her mouth, however only a whizz of air came out of her as her body suddenly tensed and head balked.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, only her eyes shifted, rest of her body remained frozen in the same position

He began to listen intently, quite sure that she heard footsteps of the approaching time traveling mole. His tail wagged anxiously, the confrontation their were prepared for is at paw and he didn't like it one bit.

Strangely however there was only silence.

"I don't hear anything" he whispered back, somewhat relieved

"I think I heard a giggle" Cynder added

Spyro cocked his head with a frown.

"A giggle?"

"Yeah, a girl's giggle"

His head tilted to the other side.

"Perhaps it was your own?"

She looked at him, eyes narrowing in irritation.

"I can still recognize my own voice when I hear it. I'm not THAT delusional"

He winced in shame.

"Sorry"

"Come on" she waved at him to follow before she herself spun around "I think it came from over there" she limped towards the entrance leading to the Catacombs

"Even if you heard someone laughing" he sprang after her "So what? It's not like we haven't done it"

"Exactly! I'm not going to let some girl to take the moment away from us"

"What moment? What are you talking about?"

"About my impact on this relationship, I made you laugh in a temple, it was special and I'm going to make sure it stays special"

She stopped in front of the spiral of stairs leading down, he automatically froze behind her as if she was the motor that made them move.

"Meeting that girl won't change anything, what you did will still be special"

"Come on" her claws clicked on the first step as she began her descent

"I don't think we're allowed there"

Her tail began to sway in a rhythmic motion, immediately drawing his attention to her rump as if his chin would be dragged by the blade tip. His eyes instantly focused on the perfectly shaped swaying hips, that moved far more alluringly than ever before.

He swallowed, saliva suddenly becoming way too hot for his throat to bare.

It was an exciting sight.

"We weren't allowed to do many things" she said as she looked behind her shoulder with a smirk

"And won't be allowed to do many more. Will that stop us?"

His eyes remained stuck on that one beautiful place.

She cleared her throat.

Only then his eyes shot back up with a hectic jerk of his head, making something in his neck snap painfully. When he met her meaningful look all her words resounded loudly within his head, together with a fierce and burning blush filling his cheeks.

He quickly averted his gaze.

"N-no" he whined

The sound of a muffled laugh gently filled the dim staircase.

Both young draconic heads shot upward.

"You heard that?" Cynder asked, instinctively looking around

"Yeah" Spyro confirmed, his purple eyes landing on the lower part of the stairs "It didn't come from down there"

She nodded "It sounded like it came from behind a wall" she turned around, nose practically touching the, cold solid surface now in front of her eyes

"This wall" she raised her paw and knocked at the wall characteristic thudding sound filled the corridor

She jerked her paw back as if it was shocked.

"Hollow"

"That didn't even sound like real stone" Spyro added as he moved next to her, voice filled with excited curiosity

"We better turn back"

"Now?!" he whined pleadingly, like a hatchling begging their parents to let him stay just a while longer, the pained look he gave her only intensified the image

Cynder snickered.

"Relax, just wanted to see your reaction"

His snout wrinkled itself, displaying every possible way a snout could show indignation, before with a sharp turn directing his eyes at the wall. Not forgetting to snort in the meantime to show just how offended he was.

Exactly like a little hatchling.

She grinned, shaking her head, turning her attention to the wall.

"That was kinda cute"

"Shut up" he scolded her with the same tone as she did a while back

"Teasing is awesome" she admitted happily, letting out a content breath as she scanned the wall "Look for a torch or something, maybe it will turn out to be a lever"

"It would be too cliché" yet despite his own words Spyro patted the nearby torch

It didn't budge.

Cynder shrugged indifferently "Was worth a shot"

"Any other ideas?" he asked, eyeing the wall from top to bottom

She scratched her choker thoughtfully, eyeing every stone carefully. Her paw went up and she started knocking at the wall, creating a steady uncharacteristic rhythm, interchanging two fast knocks with one slower one.

He observed her moving paw with a dumbfounded frown.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving the signal, duh. For all we know there can be someone on the other side waiting for that special knock"

Her paw began playing a different rhythm.

"That's stupid, who would wait behind a secret door?"

"Maybe the same person who laughed behind that very wall"

Spyro cocked his head, it made no sense, but a hollow wall on the way to the Catacombs didn't either.

"Are you going to help me or not?" she pulled her paw back, shaking it in the air "Damn, nasty wall" she hissed, maintaining the shake of her sore paw

With nothing currently coming to his mind Spyro raised his leg with a resigned sigh. Playing a tune on the stones that he remembered from his childhood.

He lost his every strand of hope during his impulsively played melody. The wall remained still just as he expected, the knocking wasn't proving to be an effective way to unlock this secret door. He only continued for the simple sake of finishing something that he begun.

"This is pointless" he said, knocking with resignation at the stones, slower and slower with each new touch "There is no way for us to get behind this w:" he knocked for the final time š

The wall suddenly slid down without a sound, disappearing into the ground.

Both dragons froze, a purple paw that recently punched the stones remained aloft, still knocking, yet instead of rock it struck empty air. Both young jaws dropped to the floor as they looked inside the relatively small corridor, with a small cavity on the left side, light stretched in thin lines from that direction, obviously sliding beneath a door.

"What...did...you...do?" Cynder pronounced slowly, due to shock losing the feeling of her body, paw still sluggishly twirling in the air

"I..." he swallowed "...don't know"

"How did you know the secret knock password?"

"I didn't"

She shook her head, slowly waking up from the initial shock.

"Then what was it?"

Spyro lowered the risen paw in front of his eyes.

"Strange"

"What?" she jumped forward, eyes intently observing the small room ahead "What's strange?"

He twirled his leg around, eying every piece of purple scale.

"That was the first thing that came to my mind, when we were kids me and Sparx came with this special knocking. It was a password for getting inside our super sneaky hideouts"

"How is it possible that an idea from a stupid childish game opens up a secret magical sesame in a temple of a fanatical mole?"

"I'm not su-"

He never got to finish his sentence since suddenly a thudding sound filled the surrounding area, the discovered interior ahead was filled with streams of light. Something swung wildly from the cavity, it was definitely a single wing of a door.

A figure burst through the door, laughing almost maniacally, smell of clay filled the young dragons nostrils momentarily. It was a young light blue dragoness, most likely in their age, she was wearing a brown robe, very similar to the ones the mole workers occasionally wear. Pretty blue legs, a part of a light yellow chest, tail ended with what looked like to be the icy variation of a head of a morningstar, stretched like a bat, not a ball and draconic head with two white, curved backwards horns protruding from the top with several little ones sprouting near the tip were the only pieces of her body that protruded from the outfit.

She was completely dirty, covered in clay almost everywhere, like she just rolled in the stuff, making her look like a mud dragoness to be more precise. The laughing girl began to turn around through her right shoulder, exactly in their direction. Laughter died within her throat with a squeaky groan, body tensed, jaw nearly dropped onto the ground, eyes in the color of a sun widened, threatening to pop out of their orbits.

And it was because she stood snout to snout with a pair of adequately dumbfounded dragons.

"I'm not done with you!" a very familiar shout came from the room the dragoness burst through

A little glowing, yellowish shape appeared next to the dragoness, in one hand carrying what seemed to be still wet clay. The shape momentarily turned its small head in the direction of his staring female companion. The sparkling glow the figure was emitting seemed to dim, clay slid out from its hand and smacked into the ground.

"Sparx?" both recently arrived dragons muttered in disbelief