TLoS: Challenge of Hearts (Chapter 17)
Chapter 17: Time to Think
Several hours had passed since the entire dragon populace was standing in question all throughout the stretching corridor. The only thing that crossed their mind was what Ember might have been doing. Yet, they couldn't figure out what she was doing, because none were capable of looking through stone, or wood. To the dragons, this annoyed them to no end, but they could still hear slight grunts coming from her room throughout the entire time of waiting. Cyril quickly made himself known to the group, shifting their attention from the sealed doorway towards the head guardian. Although Cyril was naturally put off by the young couple's hasty interactions, there was nothing he could do about it, but wait.
It was obvious to him that Ember hadn't thought through her action. He knew all too well that none of the dragons that lived in the castle were any where near close to taking on such a burden, although there would be quite a bit of time before the dragonet would hatch, Cyril figured that much strain would be put onto the dragons it belonged to, effectively destroying their relationship. And that was something the ice guardian had pledged to himself immediately after he realised it was happening, he wasn't going to allow anything within his power to go wrong.
Although, yes, Ember and Flame had broken a rule, the ice guardian wasn't going to enforce a punishment on them. He would keep everything to himself, for he knew that Terrador would be completely against it, and that Volteer would only want to probe into the young couple's relationship all the more. The ice guardian sighed, looking over the rainbow of dragons seated before him. Countless greens, blues, yellows and reds looked on, almost eager to hear of what their pink counterpart had gotten herself up to. There was no worry or fear for her, but they cared enough to at least pay attention.
But how would the ice guardian word their actions? Cyril wouldn't tell the others that Ember and Flame had mated together, that would've completely destroyed his original idea to keep it between Ember, Flame and himself. Spyro happened to come into the mix, but Cyril figured that he wouldn't even talk to Ember or Flame about it, let alone Cynder. Sure, the purple dragon would know of what they had done, but he would try to keep his behaviour around the two as normal as possible. But on second thoughts, Spyro would want to ignore Ember altogether because of her hostilities towards Cynder. The ice guardian shook his head, emptying his thoughts of what might be to happen between Spyro and Ember.
Cyril looked out into the rainbow once more, already finding the effects of Cynder's choice take more effect, as many of the dragons had a partner to lean against. It was the worst thing that a supervisor against that exact thing would see. Cyril counted how many were still by themselves, managing to keep the number on one of his paws. It wasn't a good sign, and he needed to further his original speech about what would happen between a couple if something happened. It was only now that the guardian realised that the others had turned away, facing Ember's door once more as a faint roar found its way into the corridor. Cyril then realised what was wrong with how Ignitus had explained relationships between the students, he explained both sides of the argument, but levelled off before anything serious might happen. The seriousness of what was happening on the opposite side of Ember's door. It wasn't something Cyril wanted to do, but it was something he had to, re-education.
Cyril cleared his throat, effectively calling the attention back to himself. "Return to your quarters." He said plainly, causing all dragons to glance between each other. "Now!" The ice guardian spoke with a fair amount of force, causing all gathered to say goodbye between themselves, some with a lick on their partner's cheek, others with a sorrowful look between their linked tails as they walked in opposite directions. Cyril had become fairly annoyed at his newfound and apparent duty. He knew that the moment he left the corridor, doors would open, dragons would emerge, and they would disappear into their partner's room with nothing more than a flick of their tail to close the door behind them. His rule was weak, effectively, as by how easily everyone had agreed to his actions, it only further undermined his authority. Normally on an occasion like that, the dragons would argue in response asking for a reason for stay. Something wasn't right for the ice guardian, and it was the dragons around him that caused the problem. He needed to re-order his position, and enforce against everything thrown at them. The guardians had work to do.
Cyril sighed, his previous thought of the dragons leaving their rooms to meet their partners seeming like an all too real situation, so the ice guardian did what he never wanted to do. Permanent supervision would be required if any form of order was to be established. And the only place he was going to find help was from his fellow guardians. Cyril lay down in his position, the ice guardian had placed himself in the direct centre of the curving corridor, allowing him to see from one end to the other. He thought to himself for a moment, he knew that it didn't have to come to this, but something had to be done before any others considered blindly leaping into what could possible be parenthood. It wasn't something the ice guardian wanted for the dragons, and it had to be something that needed to be fixed. Cyril further thought about what needed to be done. The fighting had stopped completely between groups, which he supposed was a plus, but the cost of the fighting would, without control, become a fight between couples over children. It would truly be the worst thing he wanted to face.
So then he thought, Cyril thought about a way to keep them from acting in such ways, yet still allow such freedom between themselves. It was going to be a long night for the guardian, so he wanted to make use of it. His previous speech acknowledging their thoughts and impulses, that was something that he wanted to now change, as by revealing that everything was normal for them to feel that way, he allowed the dragons to think that it would be ok to start mating together. Yes, Cyril would admit that it was a mistake on his behalf, although what shocked him more was that Volteer failed to pick up on any of his words, possibly too busy trying to keep Flame in one place, but that wasn't the problem.
* * *
The ice guardian had thought for hours on what would effectively be his correction speech on what he had said the previous day, it now effectively being tomorrow for the ice guardian as midnight had passed. Cyril's first assumptions on the dragon's behaviour were exactly correct. One by one, each door tried to open at least once, quickly having a small icicle hurled towards it, which shattered on the door immediately causing it to shut. Only three doors hadn't been opened yet, they being Ember's, Cynder's and Flame's. Cyril knew that Spyro and Cynder wouldn't awaken to move into the corridor, they were allowed to sleep together. Spyro was the only dragon that Cyril could trust not to try and have a hatchling, although the ice guardian hated to admit it, it was impossible for them to anyway. He had thought about it many times, but could never come up with the right way to word such bad news. For after Cynder had been possessed by the dark master, certain traits which had controlled her would never change. She would never be able to remove the shackles that were locked around her neck, forelegs and tail. And she would never be able to conceive an egg.
It pained Cyril to think of such problems, he never wanted to tell the black dragoness of her disabilities, no guardian wanted to. Volteer had even gone to great lengths to try and reverse what magic had done to the young dragoness, but it was no use. There was a slight possibility that may be able to reverse the effect Malefor's magic had on Cynder, but the guardians believed that it was too dangerous to attempt, just for one extra dragoness to be able to fall gravid. It was Spyro that held the key to giving Cynder the ability to conceive, but it was through a method which could destroy the entire planet. Cyril then noted to himself that he would have to talk to Volteer and Terrador about it, and to never bring it up again. Some things were better kept secret.
It was a very small chance, but Cyril believed that Flame would try to find him as soon as possible, even if it meant waiting until Ember was asleep and then waking the guardian. Cyril knew Flame too well, for not a moment after the thought cleared from his mind, the crimson dragon slowly emerged from Ember's room, unaware that the ice guardian was watching him. Just as the lock on Ember's door clicked shut, Flame turned around, only to find Cyril standing over the top of him.
"Wha-!" The young dragon started to shout, only to find his mouth covered by the guardian's forepaw.
"Keep it down." He whispered in a stern tone, Flame immediately calming down, if not slightly. "Now, you have a lot of explaining to do before I even consider allowing you any inch of free space! I know what you two were doing in there, and I'll be damned if it's ever going to happen again! What were you thinking?"
"I-I- I don't know! I tried to go straight to you, honest! But Ember wouldn't let me... I- I couldn't resist! I tried, but before she allowed me any time to move, I was lost... You know what I mean? Right? I- I didn-" The ice guardian placed his paw over Flame's nose, holding his jaw shut. Flame knew that he had done wrong, but he couldn't help himself. The voice in the back of his head had taken control the moment Ember had kissed him.
Cyril sighed. "I don't know what you mean, but I don't want to talk about that. Regardless, what you did was wrong, and you obviously know it." Flame nodded quickly. "You do realise what could happen if Ember conceives?" The crimson dragon nodded again, still having his jaw held firmly shut. "And you are going to stay by her through everything, aren't you?" Another quick nod came from Flame. "Even if, by chance, Ember is now going to lay an egg?" The same reflex was all the fire dragon did, not wanting to give the head guardian any other reason to punish him. Cyril released Flame's jaw. "There, now you've seen me. And if Ember doesn't see you when she wakes up she won't be happy. Pray to the ancestors that she isn't going to lay an egg, because if she does, you have much work ahead of you."
Cyril knew that forcing Flame to stay away from Ember would only enrage her, and, on the off chance that she had fallen gravid, Cyril didn't want to cross her. The ice guardian pulled the door open ajar, enough for Flame to step back inside the pink dragoness' quarters. His immediate thought on what was going through Flame's mind. Panic was definitely there, the crimson dragon knew that he had done wrong, and was, in his mind, in more trouble than he ever had been. Not even if he had fought alongside the dark master would Flame think he had done worse. After destroying parts of the dragon temple, causing mass destruction amongst the ranks through revealing Spyro and Cynder to the world, and going against what was the guardians number one rule, the crimson dragon was still allowed to stay by Ember's side, he thought that he had gotten off lucky, and that was an understatement.
Cyril sighed once more, the night was nearly over, and he thought that everything that was going to happen had happened. The ice guardian retuned to his laying position against the outside wall, watching for any dragons looking for some last moment time alone. But thankfully, for now, none had emerged, although that had all tied at least once.
It had been a long night, but a productive one nonetheless for the head guardian. He had gone over everything that he needed addressing, and sorted out many of his problems, if not by chance. Problems still plagued the ice guardians mind, and certain action would be planned by how much Flame was getting away with. Cyril had seemed to play favourites, but it was all he could do. Flame had gone above and beyond all others, regardless of if he wanted to or not. Cyril figured that Ember would've started the advances, but he would figure that out tomorrow. The problem of Cynder's health had come up again too. The ice guardian silently cursed himself for forgetting it, but he wasn't going to break such news to her just yet, and wouldn't do it so lightly either.
Down the hallway Cyril heard the click of a lock, finding a door open ajar, promptly throwing another icicle into it, causing the door to immediately shut. This caused the guardian to smile inwardly at himself. As tired as he was, the night was definitely one to remember, because no doubt the day was going to be even worse. Although it was still a few hours until sunrise, Cyril knew that sleep, wasn't going to be an option.
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Ah, yes.... the boring chapter.... There needs to be one once in a while......
oh well.....