FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 3

"So what do you say Cor? Now that we're one guy less we can afford that antidote" Sparx whistled, fingers on his hands curling and uncurling against each other, dancing like legs of an excited spider observing his first prey getting stuck in the web he created

"You can put the mask away Sparx. We're alone" Coriza replied melodically, smiling warmly snout turning around, exchanging polite nods with nearby people who recognized her as the servant of the Ancestors

"What?" with a wicked grin he lowered himself to the same level as his companion, gently elbowing her shoulder "Am I annoying you?"

"No"

"Ancestors guide you" an nearly ancient dragoness rasped fervidly when she suddenly crossed their path, bowing her head so fiercely that a loud crack could be heard in her neck

Sparx winced, letting out a prolonged hiss.

"Damn, that bone snap surely attracted some wolves, you don't ring a dinner bell with a forest so close"

"Ancestors guide you" Coriza replied politely, sidestepping quickly, shoving the dragonfly away from the line of sight of the old dragoness with her flank

The old female offered a crooked smile.

"It warms my old heart when youth realizes what is truly important in life, admirable trait. If only Darkness wouldn't try to meddle in the affairs of the pure hearted on every occasion" weak, accusing eyes shifted towards the dragonfly

"You are tainted boy, join your own kin"

"My Lady, please" Coriza pleaded, voice ringing with pain "There is no justification for such statements. We are all equal in the eyes of the Ancestors"

"Sorry lady, can't help it" Sparx shrugged uncaringly "I'm adorable, people can't get enough of me"

The old dragoness snorted, offended.

"Such gall! Unacceptable. To think you were such a nice boy not so long ago" she emphasized her denounce with a shake of head

"Nice?" he repeated, mimicking a splashing water noise soon after "And there goes the last rock of reliability. Time to hiss somewhere else, I think the bells are ringing. Mice were served milady"

"Excuse me? Is that an insult? Is he insulting me?" the ancient dragoness squeaked, eyes demanding loud confirmation of her idea from the most dependable source

Coriza cringed under the pressure of being forced into the mediator, or more likely, the executioner role, both of them requiring a brave decision to make. Her petite frame became even less intimidating and even more fragile.

The robe suddenly seemed as if would be weighting tones, it flopped down the ground, shrinking the already small figure even further, making the priestess look as if she would be disintegrating underneath.

"I don't want to decide" Coriza mumbled, her usually silvery and warm voice gone, she sounded like wind squeezing through the slit of a badly closed window, not really knowing if it's welcome inside or not

"I can't decide" she whined once more

Sparx winced, fingers started to impulsively scratch against the chin intensely, fingernails picking at the beard as if trying to bend a corner of a glued to his face invisible mask.

"I mostly talk for the sake of talking, don't listen to me miss" Sparx explained calmly, his voice dipped in resentment "I didn't mean any offense and I apologize for any discomfort I caused"

"Hmph" the old dragoness snorted, eyeing the dragonfly suspiciously "At least there is still some good in you, hopefully it will be enough for you and your brother to return to the Light"

Her gaze shifted at the young cleric, eyes glimmering with motherly care and respect.

"I beg you priestess to show them the path. In the name of the Ancestors remain true to your cause, they will watch over you"

The words, undoubtedly supportive and honest made the young dragoness even smaller.

Sparx gently tugged at the robe.

"Her presence alone makes me feel like a better guy already" his gentle nudge didn't seem to have any effect

He frowned.

"Speaking of presence, ours is required somewhere else" the body hiding underneath the robe finally felt his suggestion

Yet it hardly changed anything.

He felt as if he would be dragging a bag filled with a corpse.

"Priestess? That tome you wanted to show? It's on display for a limited time as you said, I would really want to see it. There could never be an another occasion"

He put more strength into the tug, it didn't help much when it came to moving the dragoness, but he hoped that at least he managed to force his point across.

"Yes, of course" Coriza muttered under her breath

Even if she was downtrodden and seemed devastated, a veil of relief and gratefulness washed over his heart when she chose to follow his suggestion.

Stung by the occasional spike of guilt.

The old dragoness observed sharply the slowly retreating duo.

"Ancestors guide you dear, all you need to do is to want to listen and you will find what you seek"

Coriza's head remained locked on the ground as she walked forward, she observed her clicking against the floor mundane silver claws, catching here and there a bit of clay stuck to the natural blade.

Dirt.

Is it good to like it?

She listened, intently and yet there was no voice guiding her.

"What about now?"

"Sorry?" she twitched at the sudden voice next to her, a sadly familiar voice

"Am I annoying you?" Sparx asked softly

She swiped her tongue across her uneven teeth, rising her head up. Confused by the silence, not knowing what to make out of it, skittish nature was capable of producing only one answer.

"No"

"Really?" he blurt out, voice ringing with disbelief and hope

"Is it doubt that I perceive?" she asked, her tone returning to her usual silvery ring

A change happening so automatically that she stopped a very long time ago admiring that her flighty nature had also its perks, at least that's how she seen it.

It allowed her to break off the page from the book of disturbance with ease.

"It was you who said I am foul at creating lies"

Sparx with great care rearranged the robe on her body.

"I never used the word as foul when describing you. It doesn't fit with you"

She gently bit on the soft material on her shoulder, pulling the robe up her side, their combined efforts making it neatly fold along her neckline.

"This is why I prefer to gaze at your face" gold eyes examined the outfit, looking for even the slightest of crunches

"Honesty is a virtue of immeasurable beauty, when basking in its glory you shine like a small sun"

"There" Sparx made one final adjustment, making the robe lie in such a way that it looked like it was just freshly bought from a market stall

"Now you look the part" he smiled, with grate care scratching under her chin before making a gentle slide with his palm across the soft scales.

When his hand returned to his side he looked into the beautiful golden eyes.

"I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable"

Coriza smiled warmly.

"Apology is not necessary, everything was in good order"

"No it wasn't Cor, I've seen how distressed you were. Listen doll, you can say that you don't like something, there is nothing wrong with it. It's your damn right to have an opinion of your own, not so long ago you showed me that. Nothing happened, you're still breathing"

"Obvious display of difference of opinions increases the chances of an argument. We know each other, established a manner of trust between ourselves and argument still found a crack to leak through"

"That wasn't an argument"

"You were yelling"

"I yell all the time!" Sparx shouted, throwing his arms wide, with a wave of his hands pointing at himself "Look at me, how else I'm supposed to get any attention? It's not often when you see a screaming, glowing ball, people just have to stop"

"You're exaggerating Sparx" silvery voice vibrated with kindness "I noticed you with no shouting and you became my companion"

"You don't count" he poked her tender nose, making uneven smile appear on the blue mouth "You help everyone, you would even take pity on a dung beetle rolling its treasure up a hill"

"That's..." she shivered uncontrollably in revulsion "...a very descriptive way of defining altruism"

Sparx smirked.

"What's with you dragons and bugs? You're not the first who gets all itchy when it comes to worms"

"Hey guys! Wait up!" a familiar, overexcited shout came suddenly from behind them

Their eyes widened at the same time, necks didn't break the silent unity since both their heads spun around to look behind the shoulder.

"Crouton?!" Sparx exclaimed in shock, the light he was emanating burst with fiercer flames as a recently ignited fire

Coriza snickered and the sound was as cute and frail as her figure.

"I rest my case"

He waved at her fiercely.

"Hush now"

"Wait up!" Flare yelled again, running in their direction as if whole legion of apes would be right behind his tail

He was making slaloms around people, buildings, stalls, carts and every other moving or not obstacle that one could find on his path in a bustling city. People were jumping out of his way, not because they were afraid he would impale them on his horns, but because he was literally spitting tongues of flames.

Due to first impression of fright not realizing that the sparks weren't actually hot, nor really warm.

Curses and lively, short remarks, not entirely pleasant could be heard as they were thrown after the sprinting fire dragon.

The sight of people and their pace of adapting to new and strange was something that didn't escape Sparx' notice. There was hardly anyone that looked at Flare with shock sparkling in their eyes. The sight filled him with relief and fear at the same time.

"Wait up!" Flare shouted again, cutting the distance quickly

Coriza smiled.

"He's so excited he doesn't even realize that we didn't even move since he started yelling"

"Stick long enough and you will see that excitement has nothing to do with it" Sparx said emotionlessly

"Guys! Guys!" Flare kept yelling, even if the distance between them couldn't be longer than just a couple of steps

The cleric giggled sweetly.

"Flare dude" Sparx flew forward, spreading his arms into a wide shrug "What are you doing?"

"Running, catching up with you guys" Flare grinned, stopping in front of Sparx

"Hi!" he waved at the dragonfly and then at the priestess, his burning tail was making wide, happy swings

"Hello and welcome back" Coriza returned the gesture, greeting him with a tone slightly dipped with the sound of laughing baby

"Bigger picture man, I don't mean right now" Sparx continued

"What bigger picture?" the fire drake cocked his head

"Queen of broken hearts is right behind that corner" he nodded at the street behind the burning drake

Flare looked behind his shoulder and for a moment froze in that position, for a moment Sparx believed that Flare got lost in a moment of contemplation of his recent actions.

However his belief was quickly proven to be a fool's dream since the moment the red, draconic head turned, a deep, confused frown wrinkled the fiery snout.

"What?"

Coriza giggled.

"Ignorance has a peculiar allure"

"By the Ancestors Cor!" Sparx whined, throwing his arms in the air indignantly "Don't wrap your sentences in those fancy words, why don't you just say he's cute and kiss him already?!"

"Whoa!" Flare exclaimed, jerking his head back, flung fiery mane flaring up lively, his wide yellow eyes locked themselves on the cleric

"You would really do that?"

Gold eyes of the dragoness remained focused on the dragonfly. Sadness was the first noun that came to mind when looking at them.

"No, I would not" her usually melodic voice sounded as if forgot all the octaves and barely clung to the one it had some idea about. Making the dragoness' voice scratchy and unnaturally raspy

"I'm dedicated to the words I speak, cowardice is part of my life, rendering me unable to take risks as lies and manipulation. I don't hide anything, in my relationships I wear nothing but my scales, I stand just like when I hatched, vulnerable. Whatever stab one throws at me is extremely wounding"

Sparx cringed, letting out a hiss as if he burned himself, the yellow glow he was emanating extinguished nearly completely. He dashed to the cleric's side, his eyes never leaving the girl's gold ones, gold eyes that watched his every move.

He placed his hand on the priestess' soft robe and began to stroke her neck fondly.

"I'm sorry Cor" he whispered painfully

"Glass is fragile" Coriza stated, observing the stroking her dragonfly warmly, her voice was enchanting again "Not much strength is needed to shatter it, yet strength is needed nevertheless, without power the glass screeches in agony, hopefully stabbing the attacker"

She smiled charmingly.

"Glass is also transparent, you can see everything within" she trapped the stroking hand below her paw "This glass is glad to see the reflection recoil, its contents are empty, there is nothing to be found within. The inside is pure and pristine as forgiveness. Another valued trait"

"Hey!" Flare protested, stomping his paw, the burning feather-like attachments on his elbows cracked with fresh flames

"How come you never apologized to me?!"

Sparx didn't answer, he was gratefully looking into the two small suns belonging to his favorite cleric.

He winked.

Coriza smiled broadly, almost shamelessly displaying her bad bite, with a nod of her head she released the small hand from its scaly hold.

He quietly cleared his throat.

"Because dude" he darted upwards, folding his arms arrogantly on his chest he gave the fire dragon a stern look "I have nothing to apologize for"

"You tricked me into breaking my bed!"

"They changed it already didn't they? Besides you fell asleep anyway"

"Yeah, but when I told the lady that cleans the room what happened after breaking the bed for the third time she filled my mattress with thorns!"

Sparx laughed bitterly.

"And you want to blame me for that? If you didn't learn you deserved some needles in the butt"

"Of course I blame you! If not for your stupid idea I would never think about jumping on the bed!"

"Hold on man" the dragonfly said, extending his arm forward with palm facing the red drake and all fingers directed up

"First of all, get some mouth refreshing, I think you dropped at least three birds with your stinky breath"

Coriza sighed, shaking her head.

"Secondly you won't get sorry from me because, one" he rolled all of his fingers down besides the second one "You're not pretty enough. Two" the middle finger joined the fore "You shouldn't even be here. What happened to your date?"

Flare opened his mouth to voice another rather childish protest, but then all the recently spoken words were digested by his mind. Even if he didn't truly understand the last part, he instinctively knew to what Sparx was referring to.

It was enough to shut his mouth tight.

"What Sparx is trying to say" Coriza stepped forward, stopping in front of the dragonfly "Is that we are worried"

Sparx snorted.

She flicked her tail up, the peculiar icy tip glowed blindingly for a short while, enough to startle the pesky dragonfly as he covered his face behind his hands with a hiss and an indignant grunt.

"Is that we are worried about you. You were so excited to see Iris, we thought you were going to spend time with her and yet here you are. Don't misunderstood me however, we are humbled that you are with us, our words are merely triggered by the surprise stirred by your actions"

"I really wanted to see her" Flare mumbled painfully, shuffling his paw uneasily across the ground "Talk to her and everything, she looked amazing"

Sparx placed his hands on his hips.

"Am I the only one getting too much information vibe here?"

"But most of all, I want to help her, I owe that to her"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow your tail down buddy" the dragonfly blurted out, making calming gestures with his hands "You owe her? For what? Dude, the only reason she didn't castrate you yet is because you have your jewels naturally stuffed in your personal pocket"

"THAT is too much information Sparx" Coriza scolded her friend softly

"I have jewels?!" Flare exclaimed excitedly, his burning body began to shine more brightly as his eyes kept scanning hectically every bit of his red and orange scale

"Where? How do they look like? Are they like those cool, sharp, crystals I've seen around here?"

Sparx snickered audibly, pressing his clenched fist to his mouth to hold back the vicious laughter that was building up within.

"No" he squeaked, letting out another barely contained snicker in the form of a whizz "They look more like bal-"

He didn't make it, he exploded with a loud laughter.

Coriza shook her head with an endearing smile, wondering for a moment how it is possible to age, but never get old.

The excited flames died down, making room for a frown to wrinkle the young, red snout.

"You made fun of me again didn't you?"

Sparx kept on laughing.

"He made fun of me didn't he?" he addressed the cleric rather roughly

"Don't be angered" calm, respecting gold eyes looked at him, soothing voice was so pleasant that it would high chances of stopping a boiling volcano from erupting

"This is how Sparx says that he cares. You are his substitution"

"Oh come on Cor" the dragonfly whined, rubbing his tear filled eyes "Don't gay it up"

"Even if this is true I don't like it" he jerked his head towards the dragonfly, burning mane flicked wildly in the air, spitting out flaming sparks

"I'm not talking with you anymore"

"This feud is unnecessary" silvery voice drew the attention of both boys "We all are different and have our own methods of showing our affection, whether on the friend or lover ground. Humor is Sparx' way of displaying attention and humor can be sometimes sadistic, especially when it originates from the virulence branch"

Sparx rolled his eyes.

"The stick is talking"

"You too Flare have a way of demonstrating care and believe me when I tell you that malice isn't the only way to upset the receiver. Filling my instinct with the information your reaction provided when you noticed Iris, I can safely assume that she is the recipient of your strong fondness. I don't know her very well, but from the time I've spent with her I can say she has a special character, didn't that character tell you that you are wasting your time to put it mildly?"

Flare lowered his head, his snout a painful expression of a wishful dreamer who smiles remembering good old times and winces when realizing that it is all over.

"I don't remember her saying otherwise actually"

"Precisely, you have your own way of showing care, Iris might have not liked it, but there had to be something, some clue or sign, that despite all her resentment made you continue. You would sense pure hostility, judging from your earlier reaction I can say that this is not the case. I must be honest here, such conclusion surprises me, all seems to be in order and yet, here you are, leaving the muse of your tenderness behind. Would you be so kind as to sate my curiosity? In return I might offer you an advice, if the trouble won't escalate beyond my competence"

Sparx yawned audibly, the fake of this reaction was almost palpable.

"Cleric yada-yada. BORING!"

"I want to help her" Flare said painfully "Iris' uncle said that my every visit was causing her pain, she is sick he told me, not right in the head or something like that. I wanted to help and all I did was to hurt her he told me. He is family, he has to be right yes?"

Coriza nodded sullenly.

"Unfortunately for you my dear friend I don't have an answer you would like to hear. The solution to your question is a yes, family usually knows what's best for their own blood. There's a slim chance however that they might be wrong, here you need to ask yourself if you know enough about Iris and her uncle to question the words of her protector"

He pulled on a strand of his burning mane, fiery colors swirled around in his claws, as if what he was holding would be a heated blade removed just recently from a furnace.

"I...I don't know, he said she was hurting herself because of me, I didn't want to believe in it, but when I saw her today I remembered his words. She...she was wearing an eye patch"

"That might not mean anything"

The paw that was pulling his mane let go off the strand and landed on the shoulder, massaging it, remembering flesh being ripped apart from it by her teeth.

He purred softly.

"I don't know what to think anymore, all I want to do is to help"

"Alright!" Sparx clapped his hands "Time to end this mushy talk. Listen to someone intelligent here" he pushed the cleric gently out of the way "Why you bother anyway? You tried your way, cool, maybe it worked, maybe it didn't. Uncle offered another way and you took it, why don't you stick with it for a while and see what happens? What you got to lose? She doesn't like you anyway"

Flare was silent for a while, thinking about his encounters with Iris. The first thing that came to his mind was the day when she manipulated him into weakening Cynder under the pretext of fulfilling his friendship duty that nearly led to her death. After that everything was rather easy to predict, constant insults and aggression weren't surprising anymore, he was prepared to face them, she didn't like him and she showed that clearly.

The moments that were beautiful, but also surprising, were when he dug long enough for her to change her approach, whether intentional or not, there was absolutely no chance to predict what would happen. All that time he thought that was good, the change he could see in her was thrilling, cages make you act in only one way, turning you into a trained beast.

He never considered the possibility that perhaps someone can be lost behind the bars.

Perhaps her uncle spoke the truth after all, perhaps it is best to leave her with her hate and not meddle with her heart. He pulled out from his cage, but that doesn't mean that everyone is as strong as him.

Isn't the slaughter he left behind a proof of that?

"Maybe it's worth a try" Flare mumbled emotionlessly

"That's the spirit man!" Sparx clapped his hands lively "Now let's really get a move on team, we've been standing in one place long enough that people started to take us for statues"

"Where are we going?" Flare asked excitedly, springing after the duo, walking slightly behind, snout in the line with the priestess shoulders

"Home" Coriza stated

"Home? Who's home? Yours?"

"I would like to believe that we are heading to an abode belonging to everyone" the silvery voice shook with vibrations of pain and disappointment "Sadly this is not the case and unfortunately it might never be"

"I'm lost, could you repeat that please?"

"Dude!" Sparx snapped, turning around with a fierce glow spitting by his natural sphere of light, grabbing onto the cleric's horn to make flying backwards easier

"Someone ever told you that you ask too many questions?"

"Hmm" Flare huffed, eyes tilting up, thoughtfully "You know, I think someone actually did"

"Yeah? Do you remember what those someone's said after asking you that?"

There was a moment of brief silence when as Flare dived into the chest of memories.

"Shut your pie hole"

Sparx grinned.

"There you go" with a triumphant smirk he returned to his previous position

"Go where?"

Sparx slapped his hand into his forehead, amused gold eyes of the cleric looked in his direction.

"We're going to a temple" Coriza explained, just as her red companion opting for the literal meaning of words

She looked behind her shoulder, noticing the fire drake jump back slightly with a full of awe gasp.

"Have you ever been to a temple Flare?"

"I-I-I don't k-k-know" he stammered, mesmerized by the beauty of the sun-like eyes "I-I-I've been in s-s-some buildings, m-m-maybe some w-w-were a t-t-temple"

"You're stammering, is everything all right?"

Sparx waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't bother Cor, Crouton always stammers and always is dimmer than night. You get used to both eventually"

"It's your eyes, they are s-s-so pretty, they m-m-make me feel f-f-funny"

"Oh yeah and a cheeky bastard" Sparx growled, clenching his hands into fists

"Oh!" Coriza gasped, swiftly turning her head back to its natural position, directing her gaze on the ground as she bit on her lower lip, delicate blush filling her cheeks

"I...I apologize, I had no intention to make you uncomfortable"

"No, no! Don't be upset!" he blurted out "It's a cool feeling actually! It makes me feel like...I don't know...like maybe I didn't screw up after all and everything is going to work in the end"

She rose her head sharply, tilted back horns quaked gently as if trying to stand at attention like feline ears.

"I wake hope in you?"

Flare nodded slowly.

"Yeah...maybe it's hope. All I know is that you remind me of the sun, all my life I've been stuck in a cage with only one small, barred window. We all wanted to press our snouts against it and warm our scales under its rays, all dreaming of hugging the ball responsible for them hanging so high in the air"

He looked up into the sky, squinting his eyes as he directed his gaze at the burning sphere above. Remembering with great satisfaction the times when his snout remained pressed against the barred window, longer and longer with each passing month. Seconds of sunbath increasing with levels of dried gore covering his claws and decreasing number of cellmates.

"And in the end it was only me who made it. Only me" he almost cooed

Coriza's mouth stretched into a loving smile. She felt undeniably proud, accomplished and humbled, comfort and help in general was something she always strived to achieve, it is her duty as a cleric. The feeling was so much more potent when she remembered her role in the universe, a willing, loyal servant to the divine Ancestors.

Their watchful gaze directed at her, feeling pride and happiness washing over her.

They were smiling.

"I'm glad I could be of assistance" her melodic voice wavered, at the brink of exploding into a joyful scream

After a walk combined with less and more important conversation topics the trio of companions arrived at their destination, sneaking into the temple right after some family that just recently left it. The huge doors began sliding backwards automatically behind them and the thud they created when they closed, or lack of any to be more precise, was as much awe inspiring as it was frightening.

It was almost as if silence itself made its home here and was sucking all the unnecessary noise. Allowing only the sounds of burning candles, whispers of conversations, quiet prayers and careful footsteps resound within the pristine halls of the temple.

Even the sound of flowing water seemed to be dampened.

Spending nearly all of her time in this place Coriza still looked around the temple with the same amount of awe as always, in fact the temple seemed to be more and more beautiful with each visit. Sparx also couldn't shake off the first punch of respect.

The only dragon in this place that was reacting more lively than the others was Flare. His yellow eyes were as big as dishes, head chaotically jerking from side to side, unable to comprehend how something so grand could be made with stone.

He felt so small in this place, this was his first time in a temple and yet he was certain that he will never see anything more beautiful in his life. He was lost for words, usually when he noticed something pretty words simply jumped out of his mouth on its own, now it seemed like they couldn't find a way out.

No.

They couldn't be formed since his brain was momentarily shrunk to the same level as his sense of importance to this world. He felt dumb and unimportant, simple and simplicity was everything he had to describe the things he saw before him.

"THIS" Flare grumbled, his raised voice sounding like a small earthquake in the eerie, nearly silent hall.

"IS" his increasing in strength blare drawing the attention of other visitors as well as his two companions, from which the only the female looked absolutely terrified

"AWES-"

"Eek!" Coriza yelped, lunging swiftly forward like an attacking viper, both her front paws were extended forward, both dropped strongly on the top of the opened red mouth, clamping it shut

Flare grunted, flexing his leg muscles to keep his balance, preventing himself from toppling down and supporting the delicate dragoness who for a moment had both of her front paws on his nose

"Shhhh" the cleric huffed, one paw dropped quickly on the floor to recover her balance, one remained on the nose, putting pressure on it to prevent the mouth from opening. Head was swiftly turning from side to side, pupils jumping in the eyeballs as they scanned the surroundings

"Shouting in a place of reverence is considered as offensive" she whispered respectfully "Offensive to the praying and more importantly to the ones those prayers are dedicated to"

Gold, warm, polite and submissive eyes aimed themselves directly at his own, observing him from the opposite side of the short bridge his red nose created.

Flare gulped audibly.

"You must understand that the Ancestor's presence is more potent here than anywhere else in the world, this is their sanctuary and we, the priests, are the embodiment of their will, their loyal servants and protectors. The believers are their hearts, disrespect stabs those hearts and the pain that traverses through the universe is felt in every part of the world, because Ancestors are this world, it's due to their sacrifice we can live and breathe. I beg you in my name, their name, and especially your name, don't pollute the air we all breathe in to sustain ourselves. Let life thrive in peace and serenity"

"This is the plea I bestow upon you, the rest I put upon the hands of your conscience, your will is your own"

And with those words she put her second paw on the ground, freeing the red snout.

Flare's mouth remained closed for a moment, but then suddenly the upper part of his maw opened, reacting like a delayed spring fighting against pressure of some weight pressing against it. His jaw opened to the same position from which it was forcefully closed.

Yet this time no sound came from the throat.

He respectfully closed his mouth.

Coriza smiled, lips stretching into a line of gratefulness.

"Thank you, just to shed some light of understanding on the situation, I pleaded for you to tone your emotions, not cut them off completely. You can speak"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know"

"It's ok, this a temple, sanctum of forgiveness, where if not here our faults can be redeemed"

Sparx snorted.

"You might want to repeat that to that boss of yours" he nodded at the carved letters that greeted everyone who entered the sanctuary

EXPEL THE TAINT

"Faith is like music" the cleric said, moving next to the dragonfly, eyeing the sentence together with him "Everyone hears the same lyrics, sings the same words and yet, when a song is perfect, everyone finds a different interpretation for it. The music means what they wish it to mean, means exactly what their hearts feel"

Her paw pointed at the carved sentence.

"Here are the lyrics of a song called Faith, for you the words means aggression and threat, for me hope to change our ways no matter what happened"

"Pretty words Cor, but open your eyes doll, cut the strings that make you dance. Even among you guys, who worship the Old Guys are those that see exactly what I do, that witch that got to talk with us earlier showed that precisely. She looked at me like I would be some kind of ape. Me! The guy that saved the world and brought the hero out of one really, really fat purple dragon!"

"I apologize if I upset you, but you didn't make any attempt of changing her mind, quite the opposite in fact"

"What I did doesn't matter, nobody should ever suspect me of being the bad guy, it's only a matter of time until people turn against Spyro. And we both know they'll do that if the thing that we both know about comes out. Poor Cyn will have to spend the rest of her life dodging rocks thrown at her"

"This place is so cool" both of them heard Flare's bewildered whisper, yet only the cleric looked behind her shoulder

Spotting the dragon shambling across the hall, curious eyes scanning every bit of detail found on the walls, ceiling and floor. He didn't pay any attention to the people around him, yet the same thing couldn't be said about the visitors to the temple. Many of them were constantly looking at him, whispering and throwing glances of distrust, fear and hate, silently demanding some holy smite to fall upon the strange dragon that many consider to be the Darkness' lapdog.

All of those eyes that scrutinized the drake turned eventually at her, asking...

No.

Demanding that she will use her divine influence to clear the taint from this sacred hall and when she did nothing, blaming her for her passiveness and perhaps even questioning her sincerity to the Light.

Threatening her even, reminding silently of one important truth, sacred to everyone.

Ancestors are watching.

With a painful wince she turned her head, aiming her gold gaze at the three words that for her shouted louder than a whole legion of bloodthirsty soldiers.

Wondering that perhaps she is wrong, methods that she stands against are actually the only way. Perhaps cleansing should start with her and all that holds her back and pushes her in the wrong direction is her cowardice, her inability to take arms.

Here, in this place, the thought was so much more potent, here the gaze of the Ancestors was sharp. Here their voice so much more stronger. Here their presence was felt, wearing the skin of every believer.

Except her and perhaps a handful of others guilty ones.

"What's upstairs?" Flare asked when he stopped in front of them, tail wagging happily and eyes directed at the curtain and the stairs behind leading upwards

Upwards towards the stars.

Towards the Ancestors.

She could hear their whispering when she slept in her quarters.

They spoke with the voice of the Seeker.

Since the pause that occurred between his questions and the upcoming answer was too long Flare decided to take matters in his own paws, acting with the impatience of a child that could no longer hold back its appetite after seeing a bag on unpacked candies lying on the table.

He walked onwards, towards the stairs and the blue curtain cutting them off from the main hall.

Her unfocused sight caught the image of the moving red rump, she felt as if something exploded within her very soul. As ferocious as a dynamite explosion can be so were the combination of emotions that unexpectedly struck her, accompanying the original blow.

Emotions differed, not because of the size of the explosion, but because of the place where the dynamite was placed. Explosion not always meant destruction, but also hope, also protection.

In this particular, unexpected discharge it was difficult, nearly impossible, to pinpoint the exact location of the keg of dynamite.

Every time in such cases, where her beliefs couldn't decide what is right or wrong, her natural instinct of a coward took the reins and it always had one solution to problems.

Escape.

"No!" Coriza suddenly let out a muffled scream of terror, throwing one of her paws forward, grabbing the red tail and pulling at it fiercely, making the red dragon drop on his butt with a painful whine

"You're not allowed to go in there!"

"Why not?" Flare asked painfully

"Man, what do you think?" Sparx folded his arms, smirking proudly "Her quarters are up there, she used to sleep there. Not to mention she's a cleric and priesthood can get kinda lonely. Trust me dude, you don't want to dig through all the toys she has stuffed in all those drawers"

She winced, looking at the dragonfly pleadingly.

"Put the mask away please, you're out of control and it's hurting me"

He cringed, pressing his hands together as if ready to prey, pointing upwards fingers he put against his mouth.

"Shit" he mumbled in agony

"What are you talking about?" Flare inquired, confused

"This is where the caretakers quarters are, where someone like me has a room of her own. Also the stairs connect with another tower, a place where the Seeker and his close companions spend their time. Both a normal citizen can't enter"

"What's a Seeker?"

"You remember those big ass-"

"Sparx" the cleric scolded the dragonfly softly

He cleared his throat.

"Big, very big golems you call Keepers? Well the Seeker is something like that, you don't want to mess with him or he will send whole mobs of angry people with pitchforks at you. Like the golems he is trouble, he is the reason why Cynder has such a funny life here and we slowly sink into the same circus"

Flare's eyes widened, his body suddenly flared up with brighter flames, his eyes sparkled, it was like something would lit the invisible candles within his eyes.

His eyes were burning gently.

"The den?" he asked, parts of the naivety and innocence in his voice was replaced by note of hoarseness

"Uh-oh" Sparx gulped

Coriza frowned, spotting the strange reflection in the drake's eyes, she looked behind her shoulder and all around the temple, looking for the source of light that could cause such an odd trick.

"This is where the worms hide?"

"No!" the dragonfly exclaimed, cackling nervously "There are no worms there! Right Cor?"

She didn't answer, her attention was locked on the burning eyes of the red drake, flames of which were growing bigger and intimidatingly more peculiar.

"Cor!"

She shook her head fiercely.

"Of course not, there are no worms there"

Sparx clapped his hands.

"See? No worms! Besides every city has a bug here and there, look at me! I'm one of them! The most important thing is to not remove them, they have a life of their own, they clean dirt from the city. If we would...let's say...chase them off, it would cause a lot of trouble for all of us. All that mess would fall on our heads and it would be a very painful weight. It would also cause troubles to your friends. like Cynder, Iris or Coriza, you don't want to hurt your friends right?"

The cleric looked at the dragonfly, intuition of a deer already making her heart race, intuition already sensing danger.

The intense light surrounding the dragon died down, together with the burning candles within his eyes. If Ignus is right he hurt one of his friends already, he hurt Cynder too, all those things happened because he thought he was doing the right thing. It would be best to listen to someone else, they know better after all, they were free far longer than him.

"I don't want to hurt my friends" he repeated sadly, looking at the ground in shame

"What was that Sparx?" Coriza whispered, her usually silvery, toned voice shaking just as her body

Sparx chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"You know how I like to brag just how smart I am? Well I have a feeling that bringing Flare here was not one of my best ideas" he licked his dry lips, lowering himself towards the cleric "Do you really believe that the Ancestors are watching us?"

"Of course"

"If you will have the time could you perhaps ask them to put more attention to their vigil? Tell them it's life or death situation"