FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 16

He pinned the note right next to the one with his name, staring at the two words from his sitting position behind the desk. A fiery bulge of light kept sliding back and forth across the wooden column as if someone would be giving signals to invisible ships tossed by the waves of the sea with a torch.

The sound that reminded him of waves was nothing more than the sound of pieces of paper, blank or otherwise, being crunched and tossed by his wagging happily fiery tail that reminded the signal giving torch.

His mouth kept on moving, silently muttering each letter of the word he learnt as if it would be a verse in a holy script.

F-l-o-w-e-r

He wrote it himself, the letters looked far better than the ones he created writing his name, yet he wasn't interested in such details. All that mattered to him was the success.

F-l-o-w-e-r

Such a pretty word, why people use it only to name a colorful small thingy he had no idea.

F-l-o-w-e-r

It shouldn't be a name of a little plant. It should replace one of the popular words so people could hear it more often.

A word like...

...like...

...like...

...maybe!

"Flower you would like to stay a little longer?"

"Flower for a whole week if you won't mind"

"Splendid! Let's celebrate this with a glass of wine flower?"

"Flower two?"

Yes!

F-l-o-w-e-r

He was certain of this now, no other word is more perfect than flower.

"Flare? What...are you...thinking...about?"

His body jerked fiercely at the sound of the familiar, slow voice.

"Volteer!" he exclaimed cheerfully, body spitting out magical joyful flames as he sprang up on his legs

The Electric Guardian smiled, the sight of the overwhelmed with happiness boy drawn his whole attention, even away from the books he was transporting in his rolled tail. Books that landed softly on the floor, set down by the unconscious move of his body.

"You...have a...good day I...see"

"It's perfect!" Flare roared, bouncing up slightly, lifting himself so easily that it looked like his bones would be filled with air and the breath he let out would be only expendable weight.

More joyous flames burst from his body the moment his legs touched the ground.

"Check this out!" with a yell he pointed at something and momentarily jumped onto the desk

Due to excitement however his leap was terribly uncoordinated, upper part of the body reached the wooden surface with no trouble, rump however was not so lucky. His hind paws slipped from the edge, making his lower body hit the sturdy border of the bed, while the upper part dropped flatly on the desk, chin first.

Volteer winced after hearing the rumbling thuds, he completely lost interest in whatever thing the young drake wanted to show him. The well-being of the youngster taking his whole focus.

"Flare?" the Guardian pressed forward, worriedly eyeing the wriggling, fiery body "Are...you-"

He didn't have to ask since momentarily Flare somehow clambered up onto the desk, showing no signs of hurt, like a little, laughing baby that no matter how many times hits the floor always gets up unharmed like under an immortality spell.

Something that for an old dragon like the Guardian would end with a broken bone or two.

A young claw thudded against the wood, as if a very lucky woodpecker would find food with a single bob of his head.

"Check this out!" Flare shouted, leaving his extended leg in the air while he turned his beaming snout at the amber dragon

All the worry faded instantly, the happiness radiating from the drake was so strong and intoxicating, quickly twisting lips into a smile.

Volteer craned his neck forward when he pressed onwards, as to speed up the burn out of the candle of curiosity. His long neck finally looked past the bookshelf that blocked his view, eyes landing precisely on the piece of paper that the claw seemed to hold hostage, pinning it to the wooden wall.

"I did it!" Flare yelled triumphantly, tapping his claw against the paper fiercely "I did it!"

A proud smile thrived on the old dragon's snout.

"Well...done...Your paw is...becoming more...steady with the...quill"

"I can read it too!"

The smile grew on Volteer's snout as one of his brows raised in reaction to the young drake's words.

"I'm...proud of...you"

"F-!" Flare tapped his claw at the mentioned letter "-l-" his claw jumped to the next one "-o-" and continued to do so with every new letter he spoke "-w-e-r"

"F-l-o-w-e-r. Flo-wer. Flow-er. Flower!"

Flare's wings sparkled with excited flames.

"Flower!" he shouted victoriously, legs bending and straightening like they would be made of springs that were put on an unsteady ground, shaky ground.

"Flower! Flower! Flower!" Flare exclaimed, simply overjoyed, legs never stopping their awkward dance

Volteer chuckled "Congratulations...young...friend"

"I did it Volteer!" the young drake shouted, spinning around with an effortless bounce.

With joy radiating from every fiber of his body he wasn't bothered by the fact that he had a poor landing and almost fell from the desk.

"I did it! I've read my first word!"

"Very...impressive" the Guardian's eyes moved on the second piece of paper "Are you...certain...however that this is the...only word you can...read?"

Flare nodded his head hectically, greatly satisfied with the fact that he can read only one word.

"Yup"

Volteer smiled friendly.

"Look on the...other...note"

"There's my name on it"

"Look"

"There's only-" his voice ended abruptly when his yellow eyes landed on the piece of paper with his name terribly written on it.

His name was made from the same letters as Flower, except one. He didn't recognize it perfectly, but he wasn't that stupid to not be able to figure out what that mysterious letter is. He heard his name being called by different people and himself so many times already that his tongue had no problems putting all those letters into one, single, coherent word.

"Flare" the fire drake mumbled, surprising even himself just how emotionless his voice sounded compared to the moment when he put _flower_together

"I can read it" he huffed, eyes daring along the whole length of the word "I can read my name" he muttered

Volteer observed the young dragon curiously.

"I...expected...more...doses of...enthusiasm. You...gained the...ability of...pronouncing your...name from...letters. A...milestone in every...young...life"

"I am happy" Flare replied with a smile, looking at the letters forming his without much interest "But it's not really important"

"Not...important? You can...sign documents now...or sign...a book you...are going to...write for your...fans"

"Can you tell me about this a little more?" Flare pointed at the freshly pinned note

"Flowers?" Volteer cocked his head

"Yeah, you said flowers also have names. Could you repeat them please? I would like to learn more about them"

"There are many...types of flowers...I'm no...expert...in this...category. I...would need to...use the...assistance of...one of the...tomes"

"I think I found a book that would help you!" Flare exclaimed, jumping from the desk, on the way gently bouncing off the nearby wooden edge of a bookshelf before gracefully landing on the floor.

There was so much subtlety in the leap that made him look like a leopard jumping down from a tree.

Flare sorted through the mess on the desk, before buried underneath many papery failures he finally reached an opened book, which he closed before pressing his claw against the cover.

"Here!" with a proud smile and straight posture he turned towards the Guardian

He reminded Volteer of a child pretending to be his grandfather leaning against a cane.

The old dragon moved forward, glimmer of curiosity and the almost unquenchable thirst for knowledge could be seen within his eyes as he looked at the closed book in front of him.

Flora-myths and facts

The book was adorned with a meaningful title and a drawing of many colorful herbs and flowers serving as a cover. Volteer looked up at Flare, surprised that a dragon of his still thriving intellect could be so accurate in his guess. Especially when the abilities of writing and reading are still not in his possession.

Volteer reached a completely new level of respect for books for children, the way they describe the world using pictures instead of words is worth praising. Even a young dragon such as Flare, who understands the forces of their planet in lesser degree than a freshly hatched hatchling and yet his instinct was led exactly in the right direction.

Books spread an invisible intoxicating aura, even when you don't understand all of them you still find your way if you only tasted some. The power of the library wrapped its tendrils around the young fire drake, guiding him down the road to knowledge, to a chest of wisdom where he will find all the valuable information about the topic he is currently invested in.

Flare wants to expand his knowledge and the books will help him in that, showing up in places he never expected them to find or magically appearing on a desk when you turn your head around.

The fire dragon became the pupil of the library, just like he did a very long time ago.

What other power could be capable of doing such things?

"This...tome...is rich...in...lore" Volteer said, reverently turning page after detailed page with his claw, eyes quickly scanning each and single one of them

All he needed was a rope of saliva dangling from his lower lip to look like a starving animal standing over a bowl of food.

"So...much...information" his eyes glimmered hungrily as he scanned another colorful page "Is there a...flower that...interests...you?"

Flare's mouth opened, yet instead of a word only empty breath left his throat. He felt strangely awkward, like one of those thieves being questioned by a stern and intelligent captain of the guard that Volteer read him about once. Some voice in his head suddenly awoke, screaming that he can't simply spill it all out or come up with a poor lie. Either way he betrays his guild and that's the last thing his going to do.

"Pick something" he finally uttered, sounding like a guy that listened to the begging of his girlfriend and agreed to go shopping with her, just to make her happy.

He was smiling on the outside, but inside, his soul was lamenting.

The Guardian smiled broadly, pressing his claw against a page so swiftly that at first Flare thought that he wants to catch a fly.

"Daffodil" Volteer said proudly "They have a prominent central-trumpet bowl or a disc shaped corona enclosed in a ring of six floral leaves..."

The Guardian just fell into a state that Flare calls Waggling. It happened to him every time when he got his claws on a scientific book, no matter the field. As long as the book contained at least a bit of real information the Waggling began.

The read words were coming so very quickly from his mouth that it was impossible to catch up with him. There were times when Flare could swear he seen an electric spark jumping from the tip of the tirelessly flapping tongue.

With a shout it was possible to stop the Guardian and make him to slow his reading almost to the pace of his speech. Flare couldn't recall just how many times he stopped the amber dragon, he really wanted to forget about the scratching pain in his throat that bothered him after a couple of those shouts.

Volteer just sped up again on every new chapter. Only when the ache became unbearable Flare learned that stopping him every time to learn something was pointless. A pause is to be made on what is truly interesting.

When he started learning about things everything was interesting. Now he had the privilege of knowing where exactly to stop the Guardian.

"Amarylis" Volteer continued "They grow from eighteen to twenty-four inches tall..."

After some time Flare gained the ability to shut himself down when things started to get tiresome and wake only when the topic he was interested in finally reached the dragon's tongue.

"...it symbolizes determination and beauty"

The page flipped.

"Myosotis..."

Flare chuckled inwardly when he remembered that sometimes listening to the Electric Guardian when he reads a smart book is like throwing yourself back into the prison cell in which he spent his whole life.

"Lavender..."

Truly, there was nothing to laugh about. All those past memories were nothing but scenes from some kind of horror play, yet strangely he never was bothered by them. All he could concentrate on was survival.

"Violets..."

And survival was a thing he was really good at.

"Rosemary..."

The names of many flowers and their details kept on flowing from Volteer's throat. Simply too many to remember.

"Choisya..."

His own laugh reminded him just how much he needs his survival skills.

"Roses..."

So VERY, VERY much.

"Iris-"

"WAIT!" Flare roared suddenly, his voice rumbling like an earthquake, some books shook on their shelves, some simply fell from them

Volteer looked up at the drake.

"I mean..." he averted his gaze awkwardly, his natural fiery illumination dimmed in shame. The look of the Guardian was nothing spectacular, one of many he bestowed upon him whenever he stopped him during the _Waggling._Yet this time he felt like a guillotine just dropped right in front of his nose.

"Can you...slow down here?" he mumbled bashfully

"You...want to...know...more about iris?" the Guardian asked

Flare pressed his paw to his mouth, muffling the building shy snicker and nodded bashfully.

With an acknowledging nod Volteer's eyes landed back onto the book.

"Iris is...very...beautiful..."

Flare felt his cheeks getting warmer than usual, he was uncomfortable, feeling like a perverse spy.

"There is an...uncountable...number of species...of this...impressive flower. Basically they are...divided into two...groups. Bearded iris and beardless irises. They...range from...towering flowers of five...feet to...tiny ones...no more...than eight inches tall..."

"How do they look like?" Flare cut in, not interested in the scientific facts. His legs carried him automatically next to the Guardian where he could observe the drawings without a problem

"The...petals of the bearded iris...droop down...making it...fuzzy. The beardless irises...lack the...fuzzy...appearance. These...flowers have...many...colors. Blue, yellow, white, purple are just the...most...popular...examples"

"Do these colors mean something?"

"Iris is...associated with...royalty, purple...represents it and all the...respect that...comes with it"

Flare's eyes sparkled.

"Blue...means hope and...faith. Yellow...symbolizes...passion. White...expresses...purity and...innocence"

His fiery body parts pulsed with a brighter light, the strands of his fiery mane wavered slightly as flames of a fire grazed by a gentle wind.

"Where do they grow?" he asked hectically

"This flowers...tolerate...cooler and warmer...climates" Volteer looked up from the book "There is...quite a...considerable...extent of earth where...they grow...in big...numbers"

"White and purple too?"

"Yes. The...plain where they are...located is not...far to the...south of Warfang"

Flare threw his head up so fiercely that Volteer heard a snap and was afraid that the young dragon somehow managed to dislocate his neck.

"Really?" the fire drake asked breathlessly

The Guardian nodded Yes, but...this isn't...the only...flower that...thrives near...our city" he dived into the book again and flipped a page

All the joy and excitement whizzed out from the fiery dragon's mouth like sound from a clogged whistle.

"Fl-"

Volteer was cut off by an unexpected wave of sound coming from above, vibrations of which, in the usually silent library, sounded like rocks toppling over each other during a cave-in.

"Something is...happening...upstairs" the Guardian mumbled, eying the ceiling intently as if expecting it to come crashing down in any minute.

"Our...lecture needs to...wait"

"Victory!" Flare let out a muffled growl of triumph when the Guardian was safe distance away from him

"Come Flare" Volteer directed himself toward the exit "I...feel that we...need to...see this"

*

"Too late" Creep said hollowly, shadows scuttled back underneath his paws when the door to the City Hall opened

Big shadows of many massive silhouettes stretched across the floor like black paint from a toppled bucket.

"Do not betray, do not trust. Live. I love you Sugar"

"What did I say about-" Cynder ended abruptly

There was a puff of darkness.

Creep was gone.

She strangely felt sickeningly lonely all of a sudden.

"He's gone isn't he?" Spyro asked, stopping right next to his partner, amethyst eyes aimed at the opened door and the shrouded by sunlight silhouettes at the doorstep

"Yeah" she replied

"That's good, right?"

"I would like to believe that"

Emerald eyes locked themselves on the freshly opened entrance, for an unknown reason she felt that something was pulling her gaze there, she wouldn't be able to avert her eyes even if she wanted to.

Instinctively she wrapped her tail around Spyro's, she didn't knew why, but it felt like that was the right thing to do.

When he returned the special embrace she realized that he felt exactly the same.

A single horned draconic head stepped over the doorstep, wearing the traditional armor of the City Guard. Seconds later another figure entered the hall, also a guard.

Soon after aw third draconic figure of authority entered the hall.

The fourth dragon...

"No way" Spyro mumbled, eyes widening with each spoken letter

The fourth dragon didn't belong to the Guard, in fact it was very possible that he didn't belong anywhere.

And such impulsive thought was stirred only because the dragon that entered had black scales.

Both Spyro and Cynder stared at the unexpected new arrival with their mouths hanging open. Their tails automatically put more squeezing power into the embrace. They both stirred slightly, heads slowly turning around to face each other. For a moment their bodies became stiff, only their eyes sparkled.

Glimmering with every emotion accompanying such unexpected meeting. Like confusion, surprise, a bit of fear.

What they didn't expect to feel was joy.

Spyro and Cynder looked behind their shoulders, at their entwined tails that shivered from excitement. Their colorful, young eyes met, besides utter astonishment and cluelessness they could read something entirely else from each other gaze.

Affection and pride.

"Where are the Guardians?" a loud voice rumbled, deafening even the sound of slamming front door

Both young dragons blinked and looked in the direction from where the voice came, they didn't see the dragon who said those words. He was there of course, but his whole figure was a blur, unimportant, their eyes could only concentrate on the black snout standing out from the group.

Their paws automatically rose in the air, in perfect robotic unison, extended to the side with a single claw straightening up like a penis of a horny teenager at the sight of a naked women.

Claws pointed at the stairs leading to the Guardian's Quarters. Eyes remained stuck on the black snout.

A loud slap against something metallic filled the hall.

"Go!" growled a commanding voice "Bring them here!"

Spyro and Cynder ignored the sound of running, clawed paws, in fact they ignored absolutely everything, their claws and paws would remain extended if a gust of wind created by a blurry, unimportant, running shape wouldn't throw them back, next to the one leg that remained on the floor.

The claws stayed stiff however, looking like natural blades of growing raptors that still lacked the popular curve.

They simply loved the snout they were looking at.

"Milestones in flesh" the black snout said, breathy, enchanting voice filled the hall

Something stung Cynder right in the heart.

"He's so handsome" she whispered in sincere adoration

Spyro heard every word...

...and he agreed with every one of them.

"You will speak only when the Guardians allow you!" rumbled the familiar commanding voice "Now shut up!"

Both young drakes narrowed their eyes angrily at the figure. Blur no longer covered it, they could clearly see every muscle and scale of the green dragon who was undoubtedly the leader of the small group of Guards.

They hated him.

Cynder more than him probably, Spyro could feel her tail slipping from his grasp, an escape that he stopped only by squeezing her tail tighter.

"Friends!"

They forgot about the dragon completely at the sound of the familiar shout, eyes once more returned at the black dragon, this time however spotting two heads instead of one.

The second head was smaller, belonged to a feline and levitated right between the black dragon's horns. They recognized the owner of it without problems.

"Hunter!?" both of them exclaimed shocked

The head disappeared, they only noticed a little shadow sliding across the nearby column. The black dragon jerked his tail slightly up, before dragging it almost in front of his front paws and tilting it up slightly. Momentarily a silhouette appeared on the top the tail, a furry silhouette that was sliding down the tail in a sitting position. The speed of the specific descent controlled perfectly by the constantly bending and stretching tail.

Hunter jumped off the tail right before his crotch would have an unpleasant meeting with the dragon's sharp teeth. He landed gracefully on the ground, reminding everyone of the feline's magical landing skills.

"He brought you here on his back?" Cynder said, only after a second realizing that there is no chance that even Hunter with his sensitive ears could hear her mutter that seemed like a conversation with her own soul.

The whole surprise triggered by the idea of a draconic mount was rendered unimportant when both young drakes took a good look at their cheetah friend.

His outfit was a mess, in many places torn, in others having holes so big that it made them wonder if this is the consequence of a fight or another popular fashion style they never heard about. His fur was matted and dirty, many strands intertwined with each other, adding more whiskers where they simply didn't belong.

His whole outfit was dotted with stains of dried blood, his equipment was missing, save for a single dagger strapped to his belt that considering Hunter's ragged appearance resembled an overgrown metallic toothpick than a deadly weapon. It seemed almost like it silently begged that someone shatters it and spares it the humiliation.

Hunter waved at them at some point, they didn't return the gesture. Their whole attention was consumed by the lousy bandage wrapped around one of the cheetah's hands. It was dirty, covered in a combination of fresh and dried blood and to make things worse it was slipping from the hand, revealing slightly whatever it was hiding underneath.

And it was a gaping, bloody hole.

Despite everything both young dragons had to admit that they never seen Hunter smiling more broadly than right now.

"You're hurt!" Spyro eventually exclaimed "Dear Ancestors what happened?" his legs impulsively carried him forward "Will you be alright?"

"I will live my friend" Hunter replied with a respectful nod

"You must go to the hospital! That hand looks bad"

"Rookie!"

One of the guards, clearly the youngest jumped wildly, as if the rumbling roar would hurl lighting bolts at him

"Move your scaly ass and escort Hunter!"

The young guard looked firstly at the door behind him, just to glue his gaze at his officer soon later.

"But Sir!" he protested "We shouldn't be separating when we have such a dangerous prisoner!"

The black dragon chuckled softly.

Everyone understood the reason for his amusement, maybe except the rookie.

"First of all, you moron, he is not our prisoner" the commander snarled "Secondly you had to swap heads with your dick when I wasn't looking if you think your presence here would help us in any way if it would come to battle. I rather have you far away from here than listen to your cries that you want to mama"

The last guard snickered.

"But-"

"Besides rookie" the commander interrupted the youngster "Spyro is here, a purple dragon. He's above every dragon when it comes to fighting skills. Above Guardians, soldiers, guards, moles, cheetahs, stone, dirt, mud, shit and finally YOU. Not to mention that he kicked the ass of a black dragon once, so as you can see we don't need you here. Do us all a favor and get our best scout to the hospital RIGHT.FUCKING.NOW!"

The rookie cringed "Come Hunter"

"We'll talk later friend" he nodded politely as he looked at the black dragoness "Cynder" and with that he hurried to the young guard's side, sparing the young drake any more humiliation by quickly taking the lead

"There are two of them now you dick" the rookie muttered as he followed the wounded, yet happy cheetah. Not really paying attention that he said the words far more loudly than he most likely wanted to

The last guard that remained looked at his officer with mischievous, amused sparks in his eyes. He looked at his officer whose cheeks began to grow hot red with boiling fury. He looked at his officer whose body seemed to convulse with sheer wrath. He looked at his officer whose mouth parted open to release one of the most intimidating roars he ever heard, that would probably shake the very foundations of the building. He looked at his officer who was about to stomp the greenhorn right into the mud.

Except that nothing like that happened.

"There are two of them now you dick"

The words of his young sidekick resounded within his head, striking every nerve that he believed he cut off. He remembered what it took to put one black dragon down, how the stories of Spyro's heroic deed traveled across the world, how most likely depleted he was after the battle. People even said that he lost his elemental powers.

And that was the result of a battle with a single black dragon.

Now...

"There are two of them now you dick"

He couldn't shake of the feeling that he had done something very terrible, unconsciously believing that he just brought the lord of all evil to his bride, that finally the silent plan of annihilation is just about to reach its end.

But Cynder changed.

"There are two of them now you dick"

So many people hate the girl, perhaps they are right? There is only a handful of inhabitants that think like him, they are the minority. What he took for prejudice may be actually the truth, making him look like naïve fool all this time.

"There are two of them now you dick"

Maybe it's not too late yet?

Maybe there is still time to make things right?

When he finally managed to jump out from his steaming train of thought he realized that for all this time he was staring right at the black dragoness. Her expression changed, only then he realized that she noticed the shift of his thoughts, read it from his eyes, she noticed the hate and despise radiating from him. She has seen all those things and she didn't even turn away.

Green eyes unwaveringly were aimed at him, lips silently pronouncing words that mean everything.

Fuck. You.

So much power. So much strength.

What have I done?

The green dragon turned his gaze away.

"What this ruckus is all about?" from above rumbled the irritated, baritone voice of no one else but Terrador

The two remaining guards around the black dragon stiffened as if someone would shove a stick up their butts.

The main actor of this spectacle looked around his escort and smiled teasingly, as if in an amused and silent way trying to say that all of you should go to hell.

Spyro choked on his own saliva, paw immediately sprang to his nose as if expecting that a gazer of blood would gush from it.

The influence of the anime trend doesn't reach here however.

He looked at Cynder and all he could think about was just how pretty she is and how much he loves her.

"Guardian" the commander of the Guard replied, voice lacking the cocky, commanding tone "We have brought bef-"

"Ancestors watch over us!" the Earth Guardian roared in shock, old body jumping as if electrocuted by an invisible lighting bolt. The spiked ball that was the tip of his tail cut the air wildly, missing the armored leg of the guard behind him by mere inches

"Are my eyes fooling me?!" he rumbled again

"Absorbing light without reverting any of the irradiation composing it scaled dragon?!" the hectic, brain sizzling, excited and quick speech in the tone of a blare reverberated in the hall even before the door behind Spyro and Cynder truly opened

Volteer literally jumped into the hall.

"This is a stupendous in excellence sight!"

"Not now Volteer" Terrador admonished his friend sternly

The Electric Guardian sprang forward with such vigor that everyone believed that the Guardian suddenly became couple of years younger.

"Are you cognizant of the efficacious puissance exerted by this act of converging together friend?"

"Volteer, not now" Terrador sighed tiredly

The guard that accompanied the commander stepped in front of the black dragon, separating the stranger from the Guardian.

"It would be best if you kept your distance Guardian"

"Hey guys"

Both Spyro and Cynder looked behind their shoulders, spotting Flare ascending the stairs they so recently scaled themselves.

"What's going on?" he asked innocently, eyes scanning around the hall, noticing everyone currently present but not truly focusing on anybody in particular.

For the fiery drake everyone looked normal.

Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, soft chuckles escaped their throats.

"This dithers the very condition of cohering together the intrinsic, indubitable and invariable nature of the prophecy! Generations of purple and black dragons! A prominently unusual phenomenon!"

"History, legends and science can wait" Terrador stepped down from the stairs, eyes locked on the new black arrival "I'm more interested in the present and the future. Report"

The commander of the Guard stepped forward, acknowledging the presence of superior authority with a respectful bow.

"We found him approaching Warfang from the east, judging by his first appearance and reaction of our fair citizens we decided to intervene. At first we wanted to send him away, having in mind the safety of our city, yet we didn't expect that there would be a passenger on his back"

"A passenger?"

"Hunter was with him, he's one of the Veil dragons from what Hunter told us. He was wounded, we had to bring him back to the city. The fate of his mount however we leave to your wisdom"

"Did you have anything to do with Hunter's injuries?" Terrador narrowed his eyes on the black dragon

"I believe so" the stranger replied

The guards immediately circled the black drake, snarling quietly.

"Are they going to fight?" Flare blurt out worriedly and moved in between his friend and Spyro

He bumped into something however that threw him back, he looked down and notice a black tail intertwined with a purple one. He rose his gaze just in time to notice that Spyro and Cynder felt the tug. Their eyes also dashed down, just to spring back up again, widened eyes landing on the fiery drake.

"Why are you holding tails?"

"For support!" Spyro blurt out, releasing his tail from the embrace with a blush, a move that the black tail of his partner was more than happy to follow

Flare stopped in between them, looking at two of them in turn.

"What kind of support?"

"You know..." Spyro muttered, pleadingly throwing a quick glance at his partner

"For a wish to come true!" Cynder blurt out, smiling at the fiery drake, trying to look as convincing as she could

"Wish?"

"Yes!" the purple drake exclaimed, mind already putting every shred of information into a perfect excuse "We were holding tails because we really want our wish to come true"

"What did you wish for?"

"That this meeting we are having here ends nicely" Cynder explained "We were holding our tails so strong because we REALLY want our wish to come true"

"So it means that if the grip is strong there are bigger chances for the wish to come true?"

"Exactly!" Spyro blurt out triumphantly, this is what he calls an improvisation on a master level

"I can help you guys!" Flare exclaimed excited, his burning body burst with thrilled flames "I want everything to end nicely too!"

He swung his tail, Cynder impulsively jumped away from the fiery tip with a gasp.

"Come on, grab it!" he nudged his tail in her direction

She looked at Spyro, his expression spoke volumes, just like her he realized that they deliberately pushed themselves against the wall.

Cynder giggled shyly "Sure...why not" she moved her tail, wrapping it bashfully against the red one

Flare squeezed it eagerly.

To say that she felt awkward wouldn't give proper merit to her current state of mind.

"You too Spyro!"

"Me?" the purple drake jerked his head back, the stupidity and indiscretion of the idea of holding another's male tail like they were partners was overpowering

"You...you don't really need me"

"You were holding Cynder's tail before"

Spyro rubbed his leg shyly "It's different now"

Cynder's eyes widened when suddenly the red tail loosened its grip, making her own black one slip away from the embrace.

"Different because of me?"

She could feel piece of her heart breaking at the sound of his devastated voice.

"Of course not!" Cynder exclaimed, wrapping her tail around the red one and squeezing it tightly, making all his fiery body parts spit relieved flames

She looked meaningfully in the amethyst orbs of her partner.

"Spyro is just shy, whenever he holds tails he always wants to be the one on top of a female's tail. It's his quirk"

Flare frowned "That's not really fair. Do you like when he does that?"

"I like being in the middle"

"And I have no problems with being at the bottom!" he exclaimed proudly "Come Spyro!"

Cynder looked up, a broad grin momentarily appeared on her snout when she looked at her partner, only thanks to clinging to shreds of stoicism she prevented throwing herself into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Flare was too...innocent to connect the dots that could be easily seen on Spyro's expression, she however had no troubles doing such a thing.

He looked like a kid who sneaked into an adults' show and observed each of the scenes with drool hanging from his mouth.

It wasn't difficult to tell what he was currently thinking about, the combination of words they used undoubtedly made the images flashing before his eyes so much more vivid. Not to mention that Spyro understood the true meaning behind holding tails, and sharing this somewhat intimate gesture with another male wasn't on top of his to do list.

She couldn't ignore such an opportunity.

"Look guys, our tails sway like we would be on a ship, there are only three of us here, ready to face this adventure. You know why?" she made a pause, grinning mischievously "Because only the finest seamen can come onboard"

Her eyes sparkled when she briefly aimed them at the one to whom this tease was directed to.

At first Spyro's snout was twisted by abhorrence, as if he would smell something really bad, however the moment he noticed her stare his expression turned to an endearingly loathing mask, that said only one sentence.

I hate you.

She giggled.

"What's a ship? Or a seamen?" Flare asked confused

Cynder grinned, she could feel a pair of red horns growing on top of her head.

"Well..."

"Here!" Spyro cut her off, wrapping his tail around theirs "We have the power now! But if we want the wish to come true we must be silent" he growled

"Ok!" Flare agreed with the plan unhesitatingly

She wasn't fooled by his stern order, the mask of male pride was cracked and she could easily see through the holes. Behind it she could see a terrified and shocked snout of a boy screaming...

"I'm holding tails with another guy! I'm holding tails with another guy!"

Spyro averted his gaze, with great difficulty letting out a breath of ragged relief.

"Thanks the Ancestors Sparx doesn't see me right now"

Terrador stepped forward, tail usually stiff and solid as a rock started to sway lightly, betraying signs of militaristic nervousness.

"Explain yourself"

"Assuming that my humble self is to blame. How very...typical and boring" the black dragon replied, enchanting voice betraying not even the slightest tone of irritation

"Show respect trash!" the commander roared straight into the snout of the black drake

The dark drake winced when droplets of spit splashed on his snout. He acted like nothing ever happened, he calmly raised his paw, wiped the foreign liquid from his snout and with the same amount of serenity flicked it at the floor.

Some distance away from the group two young dragons softly growled.

"Hunter's flesh wounds are not my doing. We were only the victims of a fortunate twist of fate to run into each other as I crossed into this world through a presumed time portal"

"Hey! He has black scales like you Cynder" Flare blurt out, happy beyond imagination that he noticed something that everyone else already acknowledged

"You know him guys?"

"Who are you?" Terrador asked cautiously

"My name is Danox" obsidian eyes scanned the hall, before looking straight ahead at something only they found interesting

"I'm your legacy"

Spyro looked straight into the two dark eyes, at least one seemed to be looking straight at him.

"No, we don't"

He was as sure of it as he was sure of his love for Cynder.