FSE

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Chapter 10

"What a morning" Cynder sighed, slumping her flank at the wall of the corridor that began to open and turn into the structure of a Mess Hall

She looked so tired and hopeless that many people that walked by past them thought that she just returned from a journey around the globe, the wall serving as the last artificial support cane.

Others, where prejudice, hate, loss, faith and no sense of morality intertwined into a volatile combination and were shoved down, deprived of any reasonable thinking, powder keg of a brain labeled moron. Ready to lit themselves at the first hint given by the leaders, prophets who, of course, are the living embodiment of the divine will.

Self proclaimed prophets safely tucked under the most expensive blankets, listening and spreading news of the divine why himself staying far away from the touch of faith. Why seek imaginative paradise when one can have all the virgins he wants on this wide word.

Those Others, undeserving of any other name, let alone calling them people, stared at the black dragoness hopefully. Their empty and twisted minds picturing her touched by an incurable disease, sent by no one else but the holy, loving and completely murderous divine forces.

They stopped and waited for rightful hammer of judgment to finally strike, to wither and steal the many years left ahead of this young life.

Nothing like that happened.

Were the Others disappointed?

They certainly were.

Did any of them consider this lack of any action as a divine intervention trying to open their eyes that murder is wrong?

They certainly didn't.

And this is the blackest of moments in this dying world.

"I can't believe we really had to hurt Flare so badly" she knocked at the wall with her head

"Hey" Spyro approached his friend, with difficulty fighting off the urge to pull her into a hug "Don't blame yourself. You had nothing to do with it"

"Save your strength Spyro, you won't convince me. I was there, I could have done something"

"Don't do that to yourself. You want to blame and be angry on someone" he patted his chest "Then be at me. After all I didn't tell you about the plan me and Volteer came up with"

She smiled at him weakly, a hint of gratitude beamed of it.

"Nice try, but it can't be that easy. I'm still fairly new to all this forgiving myself stuff, so no matter what sweet words you say, you won't change my mind"

Spyro nodded at the Mess Hall.

"Come on, some nice food will cheer you up"

"I've lost my appetite. Also, I'm not really in the mood to deal with those shrews at the counter"

Whatever forced glimmer of good humor he tried to radiate melted down like ice under the heavy pounding of rain.

"There has to be something I can do to make you feel better"

Green eyes looked at him, examining him with a friendly scrutiny of a sibling who is about to question his younger blood about things the younger brother, or sister, believed to be a well guarded secret.

"Do you think Flare is a monster?"

She changed, changed very much since the moment he met her, the true her. She no longer is the scared, devastated with guilt and angry girl he knew, there is strength in her now. Strength that he believed, all fake modesty aside, planted in her soul and that, that was something to be proud of.

People change, he would be a hypocrite if he would believe otherwise. Is the change absolute, easily erasing the former me like chalk from a board?

Of course not.

It's about granting privileges to those parts of your personality that currently scream the loudest. And personality is something you can't replace.

Even Cynder, black magic and dark rituals aside, carries the traits of her former self, both former self's in fact. From the femme fatale during her reign of terror and the scared and lost girl after the transformation back to her natural form.

It was obviously the second one glancing his way now, fears and guilt not as potent as years back, but definitely looking for any kind of sign that would make doubt the main event in the never-ending concert of the soul.

He didn't flinch and it had nothing to do with forced intention to say exactly what she wants to hear.

"No" Spyro replied, the walls in front of him seemed to shake under the sheer force of the certainty in his voice

"People aren't monsters, they only become similar to them if they wish it. There is too much good in Flare for him to be so easily condemned"

"What if in the end being good doesn't matter?"

He opened his mouth, yet no sound came from within, he wasn't prepared for that kind of gloomy response. With all the strength of his determination he wanted to shout that she is unwise in her search for some deeper meaning.

Surprisingly there were no letters printed in his throat that would allow him to pronounce his disagreement. Only a handful touched and were recognized by his tongue and those formed a sentence far more different than the nudges of protest that stirred him earlier.

We are each our own devil and we make this world our hell.

Spyro shook his head fiercely.

"You are over thinking this" he snarled irritated

Cynder pushed from the wall, looking at him with surprised, big eyes. People started to murmur at hearing his suddenly risen tone of voice.

"You don't have to yell at me. I can hear just fine"

He made a step back, gasping faintly and bumping into a dragon behind him, a collision he didn't even notice. All he could think about was the angry tone of his voice that scared and surprised even himself.

"Sorry" Spyro muttered, remaining oblivious to the gentle smack his tail received as it was pushed away from its rather awkward position

"I don't know what came over me"

Cynder smiled reassuringly.

"Take it easy, your blood has all the right to boil still after all that paw work you've done. If I had to listen to another whiny, self-pity tirade I would get pissed too"

"No, no!" he protested, shaking his head fiercely "It's not that. I can listen to you whine all days long! Especially when I'm the one that makes you whine!"

"Uh..." she cackled nervously momentarily feeling all the eyes of every nearby passerby aimed in her direction.

People didn't suspect anything, they didn't know about their relationship. That didn't prevent most of them however from coming to the same conclusion she did. Conclusion that Spyro's unfortunate choice of words led to.

She dared to mingle her stinky scent with the Savior.

THEIR Savior.

The taunts and curses she could read from their eyes didn't bother and interest her. If she would give the stares a little attention she would undeniably expand her personal vulgar dictionary. In the face of all those taunts slut sounded like a praise.

She felt embarrassed, just like an actress first time on a scene before a huge audience that discovers she has overpowering stage fright.

She pressed her wings tightly to her body, wrapped her tail around her back leg. All she wanted to do now was to crawl into a hole and disappear. Spyro was the only excuse why she didn't literally follow up with her plan.

Yet tendrils of shadow crawled across walls and floor in the direction of her paws like hastened worms.

Spyro's amethyst orbs followed one such moving blob, it appeared in the corner of the ceiling, right above Cynder and started to slide down the wall. His eyes becoming wider and wider the closer the shadow got to its mistress.

When the tendril plunged itself into the ring of shadow underneath black paws, his eyes nearly shot out of their orbits in sudden realization.

His head jerked forward, just like he would get smacked against the back of his head, like he was smacked many times in his younger days after doing something immensely stupid.

All those times were justified. Offending intelligence as a whole is a crime.

"Let's get inside" he rasped, tugging at a black paw with his tail

What he considered to be a gentle tug was actually a pretty strong pull that dragged Cynder inside the Mess Hall with the strength of a javelin thrower.

Gasping, she bounced on all four legs, fighting for balance. Spyro stabilized her, meeting her incredulous gaze that made him blush.

"Good thing you nearly hurled me across the Mess Hall, we didn't want to make the situation any more awkward after all"

He shrugged with a dorky smile spread on his lips.

"Seems I don't need Sparx to make a fool out of myself"

Cynder patted his cheek, smiling sweetly.

"I knew you had it in you" she winked "Come on, since we are already here let's-"

Her voice trailed off when green eyes dilated, focusing on something in the distance.

"Would you look at that" she mused loudly "Speaking of buzzing mosquitos" she nodded in the direction she was looking

Spyro followed her silent signal, mouth opened itself slightly in surprise. In the corner in the distance, at the table they usually occupied, he noticed a glowing, yellow ball hovering above one of the chairs. It was his brother, his natural glow illuminated another silhouette at the table, difficult to discern due to distance and the crowd of people in the way.

"Who is there with him?"

Cynder began craning her neck in every direction, forcing her gaze through every crack the constantly shifting mass of people created. Soon a lovely smile stretched her lips.

"That's Coriza"

"Coriza?" he mumbled in disbelief, purple neck joining the curious dance of the feminine black one

He could agree that the figure was draconic and female, yet he could see no resemblance to the priestess they met in the temple.

"It doesn't look like it's her"

"She doesn't look like she crawled out from the bowels of a golem like last time, but it's her" she nudged him with her flank "Come on, let's say hello"

"Why?" he asked startled

"You wanted to cheer me up didn't you? Talking with Coriza will make me happy, I like her. And you will get another chance to tease Sparx"

"I don't want to do that. It was a bad thing to do"

"Then you get another chance to look into Coriza's eyes" she smiled defiantly, leaning closer "And I know you can't say no to that" she whispered seductively

He frowned.

"Is tormenting me really that much fun?"

She laughed and gently pushed her way through the crowd, Spyro followed his friend closely. When the table grew in their eyes and the two silhouettes together with it, both of them stopped.

With the lumps of clay out of the way, both young drakes had to update the imprinted appearance of the priestess in their minds.

She wasn't wearing any clothes this time, revealing her usually covered wings and scales of a darker shade of cyan to the world. Her secondary color was still canary yellow, but it covered more than just the underside of her body. Three delicately sinusoidal yellow lines ran from both sides of her neck and along the whole sides of her body until they met at the end of the tail where they formed one, solid dash, just to disappear under the layer of the icy tip.

Scales on the back of her legs were also canary yellow, as well as the hollow bone surrounding her mostly blue wings. The membranes took a more yellow hue near the bone.

They both were quite surprised to see, and that was the main reason why they didn't recognize the priestess instantly, that she had a mane. With all the clay on the dragoness at their first meeting it was impossible to notice many things.

It was a hair of silvery color, like the light cast by the moon, with strands of bright, light blue intertwined into the mix. The mane stretched from the top of her head until completely disappearing at the end of her neckline. The size differed. The hair was the longest on the top of her head, some dangled past her skull, just above her eyes, if not held by a small, silver clip, it would fall down and cover her eyes. The hair retained the same size, having the high of a Spyro's fin, through her whole head and the beginning of her nape. It became smaller after that, like trimmed grass, until it vanished completely.

Without the robe and layers upon layers of clay that would make even a skeleton look bulky, the true appearance of her body could be seen. She was short considering all draconic standards, petite frame where everything was the ideal size, a body shaped only by birth and natural growth. Far away from hard work and laziness. Balance found in every pretty, feminine trait of a female figure, not imposing or jaw dropping in any way, simply cute.

Her scales seemed to glisten gently.

Sparx was too busy speaking and unduly gesticulating to notice the two young drakes approach, such restrictions didn't involve the priestess however. Her golden eyes sparkled happily when she noticed the most popular duo in the Realms heading their way. A smile of equal, joyful measure stretched her lips.

"Hey guys!" Cynder greeted the two at the table, applying the same manner of silent glee to her smile as the priestess did

Sparx' head snapped to the side, the glowing aura surrounding him pulsed with brighter light.

"Twin Tails! Seeing one of you rolling right after the other is really a shocking sight. Good thing I'm young or my heart might not have taken the weight of this unexpected news"

"This is not the appropriate way to welcome friends at a table" Coriza admonished the dragonfly with the tone of a cleric explaining wrongdoings to a child

"What friends? One overgrown lizard is my brother and the other is a nagging piece of a yapping, living headache. Neither is a friend"

"Sparx"

Cynder raised her paw, politely informing that everything is under color.

"It's ok Coriza, Sparx is desperate for attention. Low self-esteem and not being bigger than a toothpick would make anyone cry"

The dragonfly snorted, discarding the words with a laugh.

"I'm a breathing god, just ask the lama folk. You can't stop being jealous now, have some respect for yourself"

Cynder grinned "You can stop showing off Sparx. I'm sure Coriza likes you the way you are"

He threw his body back sharply, trail of golden light exactly the size of his body hovered in the air for a while. Natural aura not able to catch up with the sudden withdrawal.

"I'm not showing off. Bro! Tell her!"

Eyes turned towards him, he impulsively stepped back, noticing a hint of a sun like eye observing him. He hid behind the black scales of his friend, those are the only eyes that knew their secret, a secret he revealed. Even if benevolent, they still filled him with an odd sense of unease.

"You..." he muttered bashfully "...did kinda attack us for no reason and went defensive later"

Sparx placed his hand to his forehead, shaking his head.

"Asking a guy without his own opinion. What was I thinking?"

"Hey! I have my own mind you know!"

"Dude, seriously, you're like a moth, always were. All she needed to do was to wag her tail and you came running and biting. From the very beginning"

"That's not true!"

Coriza shifted on her spot uncomfortably, a claw twirling around a lock of silver mane.

"I'll leave you to catch up"

"No! Wait!" Cynder exclaimed in horror, jumping towards the table, making both brothers jerk their heads back

"We're sorry, this is just our way of saying hello. We spent so much time together in the past that some habits are hard to get rid off. Being snide was, in all embarrassment, the main treat of our tight knitted relationship. If we would be nice to each other it would be creepy"

Cynder smiled apologetically.

"Our apologies, we are going to behave from now on, if you would have us at your table that is"

Coriza bowed with a smile, the young drakes noticed that she had a pair of teeth chipped next to her left fang. Her lower jawline was shifted, nothing too drastic, yet her lower teeth weren't in their natural position. While the front was without flaw, the sides were a complete other story. The teeth on the left side were slightly in the background compared to their upper brethren, the teeth on the right side were misplaced in the opposite direction. For a predator, having a crooked bite is a great discomfort.

The priestess didn't seem to be bothered by her imperfection, nor did it hamper the aura of respect and civility her smile radiated.

"To put myself on the pedestal where I would give orders to the Savior and his cohorts would be selfish and extremely unethical"

"Get up. Cor" Sparx buzzed next to the priestess, looking down at her paws, slightly tugging at her horn "Yep, you sat on the stick again"

"You don't need to be so formal" Spyro stepped forward, the uneasiness of being vulnerable all but vanished away. Concern and friendliness dictating his actions

Perhaps with a hint of selfless desire to admire the dragoness.

"We're all friends here"

The cleric cocked her head, eyes sparkling in surprise, claw playing with the mane more intensely.

"You would call me a friend after only one conversation? I feel honored, but I think you put too much trust in me"

"Nonsense" Cynder replied with a kind smile "You spent so much time with Sparx and he is still breathing. He's like our personal friend-o-meter, if you are willing and have the strength to survive his annoying quirks with him being still in one piece..." she nodded "Yep, you're a friend"

The dragonfly frowned, folding his arms.

"We also have our personal shut up-o-meter. Which is already BEEPING!" natural glowing aura spat glistening yellow sparks

Cynder giggled.

"You also know our secret" Spyro rubbed his leg shyly "And didn't spread it around" he looked at his partner, meeting her lovely smile with his own

"Thanks for that"

Coriza smiled, putting her risen paw on the table.

"I would never get in between something so beautiful and honest like love between you two"

Her modulated, silvery voice made their hearts beat a little faster when they were reminded of the feeling they share.

"The connection you share is warming and soothing to the soul. I'm a priestess that cares for the garden of acceptance, when such a beautiful flower blossoms in my garden I won't tear it apart. The world needs such beauty, it's too gloom for my liking"

Sparx faked a retch.

"I'm going to throw up"

Both Spyro and Cynder observed each other through the whole quick monologue. If the cleric's words could be molded into shape, they would have the form of the magical spark jumping between amethyst and emerald orbs.

"Keep it up" Cynder stated softly, with difficulty pulling from the purple trap in which she would rather remain forever "and not only you will be our friend" she smiled "But also our best friend"

Coriza chuckled, scratching her cheek.

Emerald eyes widened.

"You have polished claws?"

The priestess blinked, pulled the paw away from her snout and looked at her natural blades. Canary yellow blades. Her head went down, she looked around, examining her yellow claws, as if not believing herself that they are actually of different color than natural silver.

She looked up, lock of silvery mane she just recently twirled around bounced like the smallest of springs.

"I do, I also put extra care to my scales"

"Ohhh, that's why they shine"

"Seriously?!" Sparx blurt out, hovering above the table right between the two dragonesses, arms spread in disbelief as his eyes jumped from one set of colorful eyes to the next

"Girl talk?! Right now?"

Cynder looked her body over, focusing both on scales and claws. Ignoring the glowing ball in front of her.

"It's looking really good on you"

"Thank you" Coriza replied politely, eyeing the black dragoness curiously "Would you want some polish too?"

"Hey!" Sparx protested, pointing a finger at one female then the next "Stop this! You have heroes next to you, we are far more awesome than some stupid claws!"

"Oh no" Cynder shook her head with a giggle, clenching one paw into a fist and pressing it to her chest "With my reputation and line of work the color and shine wouldn't last long"

"You should reconsider" came the soothing voice of the priestess "I haven't seen polished black scales before, but you have a wonderful, toned body. I'm certain the polish would make you look stunning, you would be absolutely radiant under a moonlight"

"That's it! Bro!" Sparx darted in front of the purple snout, pointing incredulously at the females with one opened palm

"Time to do something about this!"

Spyro's brow raised up surprised.

"About what?"

"About this!" he twirl his opened palm "This nauseating circle of self-adoration!"

"What? They are just talking"

"About stupid claws! And they sweeten each other so much in the process that it begins to stink of honey here!"

Spyro shrugged.

"So? They like each other and are bonding together"

"Exactly!" Sparx exclaimed, cupping his brother's nose in his hands "They are babbling like two gossiping grandmas while the two of us, heroes and gods, are right next to them!"

"You really think so?" Cynder looked herself over, a shy smile appeared in the corner of her mouth, together with a faint, red dash of embarrassment on her nose

"I don't want to sound like I'm boasting" Coriza said, her pleasant, modulated voice making listeners discard notions of disbelief

Honesty rang in each silvery spoken letter.

"But I have an eye for beauty, in all its forms. I would never lead it astray, it's too valuable to this world. I would never offer it false hope"

"I don't understand you" Spyro sighed, resigned "What exactly is your problem?" he looked at the girls

They seemed to be lost in their own world, sucked into the conversation, forgetting about everyone else. Two pretty females paying them no attention, he didn't find anything wrong in that, he simply felt that the bond he forged with his partner is an unbreakable one. She would never abandon him, it was certain. The priestess however...

His eyes widened.

"Wait a minute" he turned to his brother, eyeing him curiously "You're not jealous are you?"

"What?" Sparx blurt out surprised, pushing back, looking at his brother with tired eyes, like he would be a lost cause of a serious mental illness and it fell on him today to entertain his crazy brother

"What are you blabbering about this time?"

"Doesn't this look familiar? You were so cranky back in the days when Cynder joined us in our travels"

"Dude, you invited evil in flesh to tag along, excuse me if I forgot to make a happy backflip or two"

Spyro narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"I don't think her past had anything to do with it. You were pissed because I found her interesting"

"Ha!" the dragonfly blurt out in resigned amusement, throwing his arms in the air "Someone has attention issues I see. Dude, we grew up together, I had the smell of your unwashed, scaly butt following me from the start. Believe me when I say I was glad when I could finally breathe"

Spyro snorted, getting irritated by the constant brotherly insults thrown his way.

"It's not about me per se, it's about losing the attention of those you care about"

Sparx folded his arms, evaluating his brother with a hint of repugnance.

"You definitely spend too much time with Penknife over there" he traced small circles with his finger near his temple "Your brain becomes mush"

The purple drake grinned.

"You're totally jealous"

"I don't know what you two are doing when I'm not around, but I suggest you stop it"

"You want to know why I know?" the grin turned into a challenging smirk

Sparx snorted, waving his arm dismissively.

"Like I have nothing better to do than to listen to a guy who is made of fat".

"I know, because you're defensive and mean. Luckily you're throwing everything at me this time, if it would be Cynder you would become insufferable since she would counterattack"

"Oh, you're so good now? Already forgot what happened at the temple?"

Spyro looked to the side.

"I was just surprised, still am, I impulsively reached your level of annoyance due to shock. I'm sorry for that, I behaved like an asshole"

Sparx tapped his chin "You know bro, for someone who farts rainbows you sure are quick to calling me an ass"

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. Look, you know this, I know that, just tell me what you want to do and I'll try to help"

"That's very kind of you" Cynder replied to her feminine conversation partner "But let's drop this topic, I would really try to put some girly stuff on me to actually look like one, but there is no specialist who would help me with this" she smiled weakly "Willingly at least"

Coriza smiled, straightening as if in pride, there was a promising flicker of sapphire embedded in the pin holding her mane.

"If you would honor me with your trust I would gladly assist you"

Green eyes sparkled in honest awe and hope.

"You know how to do that?"

The cleric stretched one of her fore's, she turned the leg around, examining its whole length. Paying attention to polished claws and shimmering scales.

"I wouldn't call myself a specialist, but I believe you wouldn't be disappointed"

"Who taught you this stuff?"

Coriza smiled.

"I've learned it by myself, a very long period of trail and error was necessary, but I managed to gain satisfying results" she chuckled, her amused silvery laughter sounding like melody "Which is quite a feat considering my manual skills, or lack of any to be precise"

"You don't give yourself enough credit" Cynder protested encouragingly "You look absolutely fantastic. I admire your efforts, it must have taken lots of motivation to learn the things you know"

"Or lots of vanity" Coriza commented with a melodic laugh "My pursue to nurture beauty is to be blamed. Being a priestess means doing lots of chores, helping people, assist in any way possible. I love to fulfill my duties, but they are also tiring, leaving me bedraggled"

She smiled bashfully, playing with a lock of her silvery mane.

"For the past few days I've felt more dirtier than during all the years of temple service put together. It was fun, but it didn't silence my vanity. Being a priestess, a draconic one at that, made things easier, a little. I've got many discounts, which was more than enough to save more of my modest pay. However I've felt it was unfair to feed on people's gratitude, so one day I bought all that I needed and started learning. The rest of my savings I gave away, or spent in on nurturing beauty. Most of my time I've spent looking like a clown, had to wear robes twice my size to cover my failed attempts of making myself prettier. Giving children nightmares when they come to the temple to find peace wasn't my goal"

She tapped her polished claws against the wooden surface of the table with a giggle.

"My tactic brought me here. A poor priestess that never has a gem to her soul, shunning away from people's gratitude" she shrugged "But at least I glisten like a raw crystal, I couldn't be more happier" she looked up, gold eyes sparkling in amusement

"I know this is not the best advertisement, but for my defense I can say that I'm far past the trial and error period. If I didn't scare you away, I would be honored if you would accept my offer"

Cynder was leaning against the table, propping her chin on her paw, not realizing when did she actually sat. Her green eyes were distant, hypnotized, a gentle line of drool was stretching at the corner of her mouth. The longer Coriza talked, the more her modulated, pleasant voice started to resemble melody of a beautiful song.

She was smitten, it was a strange intoxicating combination of love and awe, she felt like she would take a puff of one of the less legal herbs and the whole world became a mixture of majestic colors. Illumination and rejuvenation in one.

She was cut off from the rest of the world, her head filled with melody of the cleric's voice. In this heavenly moment she understood why probably all those people fill the temple to the brim. In this moment she also wanted to become mates with the force of goodness beaming from the loving voice of the priestess.

In fact she felt already like the honest and caring voice of goodness would invite her to do the act. She accepted the invitation without a hint of protest and felt like she was actually during the act of lovemaking. The good, honest and sincere voice of benevolence penetrating her gently, allowing her to reach blissful peeks of ecstasy with its astonishing caress.

Listening to the priestess felt heavenly.

"Cynder?"

The black dragoness balked, straightening up like board, startled. Every spoken word struck her like a fierce wave pounding against a rocky shore. With the whirring sound of an approaching tide recently spoken words flooded her mind, filling her head with hissing whispers of memory and realization clinging to the tendrils of the neurons in her brain.

"Of course!" she snapped, drawing the attention of the two brothers speaking next to them with her sudden outburst

"I would be glad to!" she believed she said it calmly, in truth however she nearly yelled, trying to break through the deafening, soughing noise inside her head

"Fine!" Sparx sighed in annoyance, pointing an accusing finger directly at his brother's nose "Just don't think you won, or are right, or anything! I'm NOT jealous!"

Spyro grinned innocently and in his smile was just as much politeness as in a grin of a vicious predator who toys with his prey. Aware of his dominance.

"Whatever you say"

"Good" he pushed back, eyeing his brother suspiciously

"So what do you want from me?"

He buzzed close to his brother, hiding behind his cheek as he observed the talking females with narrowed eyes.

"Listen how they talk and laugh like best buddies" he whispered, purple eye shifted, watching him "They hardly know each other and look how they ignore us"

Spyro observed his brother with increasing amusement.

"Yeah, you're totally not jealous" he muttered under his breath

"What was that?"

"Nothing" he cleared his throat

Sparx frowned and shook his head, buzzing on the other side of his draconic brother.

"They think The Great Glowing One can be so easily ignored? Think again!" he hissed, throwing the conversing girls an indignant glance "We're going to be louder than them bro!" he dashed in front of the purple snout "We are heroes and brothers, we have like ten times more cooler topics to talk about than stupid claws colors! When we start they will going to beg us for attention!"

Spyro tilted his head in confusion, he ignored the fact that this sounded utterly stupid, but he spent enough time with his brother to know that immature things are his specialty. In this odd normality there was a completely different thing that bothered him.

"You know there is a flaw in your plan? How do you plan to catch their attention when Cynder was a part of most of our adventures?"

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing" his glowing brother replied bluntly

"Ok then, since you know what you're doing..." Spyro rolled his eyes "What do you want to talk about?"

Sparx waved his hand in several, quick motions of the wrist, in an urging manner.

"You start"

He bit his purple lip, his head was completely empty.

"I don't know"

"Now you don't know what to say? You couldn't keep your mouth shut earlier" Sparx clapped his hands, before repeating the same gesture wrist gesture

"Come on man, you've been all around the world, tell a story or something"

"You've been with me from the beginning, there isn't a story you wouldn't know about"

Sparx sighed, shoulders slumped down in resignation.

"Forget about adventuring then, tell of some cool things that happened to you recently"

"Well..." Spyro's claws tapped against the floor as he made a pause, thinking "...I've found the love of my life" he said with an innocent, proud grin

"Bro, I've said COOL things, not boring and bowel turning"

"I don't have anything else" the dragon snapped back, offended

"Are you for real man?" Sparx turned to him incredulously "You're my brother dude, we grew up together, tell of something awesome from our childhood that they" he nodded at the females "wouldn't know about"

The drake frowned, brows furrowed in a combination of concentration and annoyance.

"I can't think of anything" he said finally after a short pause

The dragonfly gasped.

"Really? You can't come up with anything?" he pressed both of his hands to his chest, pitifully acting a scene of a devastated dragonfly holding his shattered heart "You're hurting me bro"

"Oh yeah? If you're so smart then maybe you propose a topic? I'll pick on it later"

Sparx shook his head in resignation.

"Always everything on my head" with that he folded his arms, thinking

Seconds that felt like minutes flew by.

"Sooo?" Spyro finally asked, breaking the silent mood

"I don't know" the dragonfly muttered, not believing his own words

"You're my brother and you want to tell me there is nothing we can talk about?"

"Hey dude!" Sparx spread his arms indignantly "Don't put it all on me and help me here" he flew closer to his brother "Did you think of something?"

A grimace of shame wrinkled the purple snout.

"I still don't know"

"Me neither"

An awkward silence surrounded both brothers, they even stopped hearing the feminine voices next to them.

"Sooo..." Spyro stated bashfully, scratching the back of his head "the weather is pretty nice, right?"

Sparx looked at his idiotically smiling brother with the mixture of hate of a dragon hunter.

"Stop talking man"

They never elaborated on that particular matter since their attention was caught by Cynder's sudden outburst.

"Sorry" Cynder apologized with a giggle "I nodded off there for a while. Guess the perspective of someone helping me was too strong for me to withstand its charm"

"It's settled then" Coriza smiled happily "Be aware that the process is a tedious one and involves a lot of scrubbing. It would be possible to speed things up, however I believe that oiling your body by me would be crossing some dangerous boundaries. As much as it might have been exciting it would be also perverse. Judging from the sparks I see in the eyes of our male companions, I believe this theory has merit"

Gold and green amused eyes turned towards the boys.

Both of them balked, yet only one mouth opened itself, tongue beginning to flail in chaotic defense.

"Do what you want!" Spyro blurt out, chuckling apologetically "Don't let us hold you back! I for one, would love to see how you oil Cynder's body!"

He smiled, happy with, what he believed, was a charming bit of courtesy that would make everyone beam with glee.

The dragonesses looked at each other, moments later their eyes returned at the boys once more. It was then when they exploded with nearly hysterical laughter.

His amethyst eyes widened, blush as fierce as a freshly lit fireplace adorned his cheeks. The weight of his words, not really thoughtful words, dropped on him like a cartoon anvil.

"Alright, leave him alone" Sparx rolled his eyes "He's special, he can't help it. Start eating finally Cor"

Still laughing, the priestess looked down at the table, her eyes widened when she remembered that she ordered food and then completely forgot about it. She stared at the portion of the meat like she would see it for the first time in her life, wondering why it is untouched.

When the giggling rumbling in her throat died down slightly, she remembered everything.

"There is no silverware"

"Cor, you are a dragon" the dragonfly pronounced slowly, as if explaining a basic thing for the tenth time to a child "a meat eating predator. You don't need forks" he frowned, giving the priestess a pitiful look "Who still says silverware anyway?"

The cleric looked at her polished claws and then at the meat sadly.

"Without assistance there is a high risk that I won't be able to cope with this dish"

"No-one is that clumsy. You have fangs, use them"

Hiding her claws, she leaned over the table, sinking her teeth into the now, cold meat.

Everyone observed the cleric with clear curiosity and friendly amusement, without holding the meat with something she pulled at the strands like a hyena dragging the flesh of a carcass, with difficulty trying to rip it from bone.

"Excuse me"

The three that weren't currently occupied with eating turned around at the sound of the hoarse voice. Golden eyes merely looked up, teeth still lodged in meat.

"I hope I'm not interrupting too much" the old fire dragon smiled, pressing his tattered wings as tightly as possible, trying to present his scarred body as friendly as possible

Ruby eyes threw everyone present at the table an uninterested, yet kind glance, before they finally landed on one point of focus. Purple point of focus.

"You're Ignus" Spyro said

"Iris' uncle" Cynder added coldly

The old fire drake bowed respectfully.

"It's a great privilege that a living legend remembers a name of an old, withered dragon as myself"

"Hey there mister!" Sparx pushed in front of his brother, the yellow glow he was emitting shone with bright, irritated strength "There are two living legends here! Without me the way you would read about Spyro would be if you snatched an ape's dinner menu"

"You would have to forgive me little..." the dragon's voice trailed off, red eyes begging for help, salvation from an awkward situation

"Dragonfly" Cynder finished for the drake

"Hero would also do the trick. And we don't use the word _little_here, or anything other that means small for that matter"

Ignus massaged the bony extensions at the back of his head, inhibited.

"I apologize for my brother" Spyro blurt out, pushing the glowing ball out of the way "He takes a lot of getting used to"

"Oh really?" Sparx folded his arms indignantly

"Shhhparrrx" Coriza mumbled, her teeth still wrestling with the meat

"An interesting group you formed Spyro" Ignus praised the young drake

He wanted to protest, tell the old dragon that their current group numbers have nothing to do with him or whatever inclination, or demand, or any other display of authority. They were simply a group of friends, something that the drake would have a hard time accepting no doubt.

Knowing how temperamental the dragon's niece is, there was a high risk that this bad blood runs in the family. It was safer not to stir the pot with modesty.

"How can we help you?" he smiled politely

"I was wondering..." red eyes never leaving the purple snout ...forgive my bluntness, I'm under time pressure" he cleared his throat "I was wondering if a free space could be found in your group for another member?"

Spyro looked around his companions in confusion.

Coriza kept battling with the meat, avoiding his gaze, what he believed to be an deliberate action. There was no wicked thoughts behind the act, Spyro suspected that the priestess feels that she is not deserving to influence his actions.

Cynder didn't pay him any attention, she was observing the red dragon carefully.

Sparx shrugged in resignation.

"There is never enough clowns for our circus"

"I think so" Spyro replied indolently "You misunderstand I think, you don't need an invitation here or anything. We're friends, not business partners"

Ignus nodded, more negligently than in actual acknowledgement and looked behind his shoulder.

"Iris, come here"

Spyro's eyes shot wide open.

"I-Iris?"

"Not gonna happen" Cynder hissed threateningly

Sparx laughed.

"This is going to be fun!"

A sudden clanking of a plate grabbed the trio's attention. Coriza finally managed to tear a piece of the meat, but it snapped like a well rooted weed. A slice remained in her mouth, while the rest, together with the plate, fell on the floor.

She stared wide eyed at the gawkers, patch of meat airily dangling from her mouth. She cringed, covering her mouth behind her paw and began munching bashfully, eyes radiating pitiful blame.

Didn't I warn you?

Sparx grinned.

"Spoilsport"

"Iris!" Ignus called out again, this time louder, muffling the shout through clenched teeth

The girl was nowhere to be seen.

Spyro took the opportunity to clear his throat

"Ignu, you must understand that it's not that simple. Iris did...some bad things"

"I know" the red dragon growled, raising a paw, giving a clear signal to not be interrupted again

Even from here the group could see his ruby eyes burning with wrath.

"Iris!" the dragon rumbled again

"I think someone is calling you lady"

Someone said and a group of people moved nearby, among the small crowd stood no one else but the ice dragoness. She was hidden behind people, but she definitely was in the earshot of the first, gentle call. Not to mention the second, louder one.

Everyone realized that, especially the fire dragon, whose muscles were so tense that he looked like he was about to explode.

The young girl approached her uncle, eyes focused on the group at the table, as if the fire drake didn't exist for her.

Fresh wounds covered her snout.

Cynder smirked, pleased.

"At least Flare left a mark"

"Introduce yourself" Ignus hissed through clenched teeth, even if his body relaxed, red eyes drilled into the young dragoness so angrily that they would bury her under the weight of their gaze if that would be possible

Even despite the injuries on the blue snout the white eyes didn't lose their strength. They were piercing as ever and currently they were thrusting their cold gaze into the fire dragon.

"Ysejo ame"

Nobody understood what she said, a spark of curiosity was flared up within everyone except the red dragon. Besides the fire drake there was no-one who heard the strange language, spoken with fluent, nearly melodic way, lacking any molish accent so typical for Iris' way of speaking.

They didn't have to be experts however to be able to understand the tone of the voice. To say that it was derogatory didn't give it enough credit.

The cracking of old, stiffening in fury bones was a clear sign that they weren't the only one who read the unspoken signs.

"She doesn't have to!" Spyro chimed in, glad and scared that the tense eyes of the two family members focused their aggression, even if perhaps involuntarily, on him

"We already know each other"

"Whoa" Sparx whistled softly, dashing next to the black dragoness, elbowing her gently "And you said that we never didn't get along. In comparison to those two, we loved each other"

A corner of Cynder's mouth twitched into a grateful smile.

It didn't escape his notice, he jerked his head back with a surprised frown.

"What?"

"Hi Iris" to make his point more solid, Spyro waved at the dragoness with a forced, greeting smile stretching his lips

"My niece" Ignus said, his voice was so extremely hoarse that he sounded like rusted gears trying to remember how it was to turn "asks if she can train with you"

"Train?" the purple drake looked once again around his companions, even more confused than before

"I gladly show her a trick or two" Cynder stated, her green eyes clashed with diamond ones.

The ground seemed to shake and crack under the weight of their murderous looks.

"I don't ask" Iris replied, the mist of her breath cracked like ice

"My niece" Ignus swallowed, fiery tail curling around the blue, young leg, tugging at it firmly

White eyes momentarily found a different point of hateful focus.

Red eyes didn't falter.

"Decided to train with you, instead of spending the rest of her days in a filled with her own urine cell"

Sparx rubbed his neck, clearing his throat as if he would be choking.

"That's one tight leash on that broad's neck"

"Good" Cynder licked her lips anxiously "I hope she starts to wiggle and chokes on it"

"Yes" Iris mumbled, her typical aura of arrogance became palpable, leaving a trail of frost on every nearby flesh and furniture

"This is what I decided"

Her hateful tone pointed on a completely opposite answer.

Ruby eyes turned away, Ignus smile, the expression that appeared on his snout showed no signs of previous, tense word exchange.

As if it meant nothing.

"I'm aware of the growing tensions, it's very wise to prepare just in case of a tragedy. We want to contribute to Warfang, a city that gave roof over our heads. If by doing so we can assist the legendary dragon all the better. I've heard you seek valuable training partners, I assure you that Iris here, is exactly that, she is willing to cooperate"

"The pleasure is all ours, we will gladly help her avoid her unfair prison time"

Cynder commented, sarcasm could be practically smelled in her breath.

Ignus bowed apologetically, attention solely concentrated on Spyro, just like he would be the one talking.

"I know that my niece can be a lot to handle and definitely deserves all kind of punishment for her actions. I've been born however in times of great strife, I know that in those times personal grudges lead to ruin. You must feel that your realms are at the border of falling into the same turmoil. As a former warrior and general, I've learned that you benefit most when y together, despite differences. Only well fulfilled preparations guarantee fast peace"

"We understand all of that" Spyro nodded "You must know that Iris did a lot of bad things. Sorry Iris but I need to say this"

The ice dragoness snorted.

"She caused great deals of pain, as much as I believe in second chances and accept people's differences, it's not my decision to make whether she can train with us or not"

"There is also such a noble feeling as forgiveness"

Everyone except Ignus looked at the owner of the silvery voice that suddenly resounded at the table. Even if she obviously felt overwhelmed by the attention, Coriza's golden eyes observed gathering of people with devoted eyes of a cleric declaiming a sermon.

"My words are meaningless and definitely not worth to hear by a group such as you, but I'll try anyway" she took a shallow breath "You shouldn't give up on peace when there is a chance to forge one" she smiled encouragingly

"What kind of a notched fool are you?" Iris snapped irritated

"Iris!" Ignus growled admonishingly

Polished paw covered the mouth with a fading smile.

"I have all my teeth my lady" Coriza's modulated voice muffled by her paw, sounding like music heard behind a wall "Some are just in different places and are harder to see"

"Don't listen to her Coriza" Cynder comforted her new found friend

"Yeah Cor" Sparx dashed towards the cleric, petting her head "Don't let her get to you. If you will feel really bad always think of Cynder, she's a walking misery. It always helps me"

"I apologize for Iris" red eyes once more drilled invisible holes in the satin blue body "She has the tendency to forget her place"

"We'll train" Cynder's green eyes shifted at Spyro who was giving her a completely dumbfounded expression

All the ideas that she was perhaps joking were thrown down the drain when he noticed the confidence in her stare. Such fierce looks she was giving him whenever she wanted to help someone she cares about.

Besides the determination there was also her temper flaring up her eyes. Those eyes reminded him of a cold stare of an assassin who found the perfect opportunity to cause an accident.

Spyro shrugged.

"There's no harm in trying"

Ignus bowed gratefully.

Iris eyed everyone uncaringly.

Cynder daydreamed of enlarging wounds on a particular satin blue snout.

Coriza rubbed her jaw in silent contemplation.

Sparx clapped his hands with an excited shout.

"I gotta see this!"