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Chapter 22

Broken glass cracked under his paws, he did not dare to look down, even if he could feel earth underneath his scaly hand, the desire that tugged at his neck simply demanded him to look down.

He didn't want to, knowing he wouldn't gaze into the solid earth of a street but directly into the eye of oblivion. He already fell low enough, there was no point to let yourself be devoured by despair any more than it is necessary.

He won't let it get to him so easily, he will fight his corrupted counterpart like he did it all along, you cannot win every battle. Dark Spyro might have tricked him, might have fulfilled its secret goal, but he was still himself and as long as he will remain so he won't give up.

He went through too much to simply lay down and fail.

He sacrificed too much.

Quiet life for adventure, his entire childhood, only to be able to fulfill a destiny he never truly believed in. All these lives that paid the price for his actions, both allies and enemies, he can't simply discard it as nothing, it wouldn't be fair.

What about the good things he managed to accomplish?

He saved the Guardians, stopped Corrupted Cynder, stopped Gaul to finally stop Malefor and literally save the world.

Not to mention his current life now, life that no longer is selfish and independent, it's a life on which depends at least the fate of his brother and mate.

Kick me how hard you want Dark Spyro, I won't bend, I won't fall.

I will look you straight in those demonic eyes.

Spyro turned around sharply, the glass underneath his paws let out a screeching whine. His body shifted in the direction of the nearby window, its surface cracked and broken, some slices were even missing.

It was enough though to see what he wanted to see.

His black snout white gleaming white eyes.

He touched his cheek gently, at first his head emptied itself of all the thoughts, with only one remaining inside, twinkling like a match.

Is it really real or am I dreaming?

He rubbed his draconic face, carefully, strongly pressing a toe into the scales. They bent under the touch, emitting a faint, scratching sounds as he rubbed his black armor.

Tough scales of a draconic male.

If this was a dream, it was a really vivid one.

He grabbed his cheek, squeezing a patch between his claws it filled the space between the blades like a baked cake fills its form. He tugged at the scales, instinctively wondering if this isn't just dirt he simply can peel off.

He let go off his cheek, scales snapped back in place, not even a tiny speck of dust kicked in the air.

They were real.

Fuck.

He should end his examination here and now, yet for some reason he just had to examine his white eyes, he didn't even know when a claw was climbing towards his new eyeball.

His heart simply wanted to know if there is anything left of the sentient, good Spyro in him, alive, emotional Spyro he liked.

His claw danced right in front of his right eye, making a small, unexpected jerk as if ready to pluck the eye right out of its socket.

He blinked and threw his head back.

Instead of moving his neck back into its natural position he remained like that, frozen in place with his head jerked back in a very uncomfortable position.

He blinked.

Out of nowhere a smile stretched his lips and before he could record it he began to laugh, harshly, loudly, the wave of relief hitting him almost threatened to kick him off of his paws.

HE BLINKED!

What about that you fucking piece of corrupting shit?! Ha?! Change my body, change my eyes, but you will never get my soul! You will touch me only if I allow it to!

And before it happens another Destroyer will begin its walk!

He smashed his paw into the glass, clenching it into a fist before, the laughter morphing immediately into a snarl. The remains of the window shattered with a sharp crack, he observed it from up close as the shards started to fly all around when his fist thrust into the building, his black paw bursting with dark flames, black mist embracing the length of his forelegs.

He began to pant, each breath releasing a faint cloud of black mist from the mouth.

He remained there, frozen, the only thing moving was his chest, taking breath after deep breath, he inhaled so intensely that he could hear his lungs whizzing in effort.

His white eyes remained locked on the darkness inside the room, somehow the light from the outside world just wasn't able to reach into the building even though he opened the way with his strike. The mass of blackness was thick there, almost like flesh ready to be touched, ominous and intimidating.

But not still.

The stocky mass wiggled.

Something moved there.

He pushed back with a gasp, his paws slipped over the glass, the stretch made him drop on the ground harshly.

The unexpected stab of pain he felt made him scream, even though in his life he experienced far more worse agony.

The paw he used to break the window impaled itself on a shard, one of the pieces had its sharp edge directed straight up as if waiting to take its revenge on him. The glass pierced his scales, ironically finding the perfect angle to sink into the tiny, inaccessible spot that not even a perfectly shot arrow could hit, nor claws of a caressing lover could find without a delicate direction.

And yet the shard wedged itself right there, where almost nothing can reach.

He immediately clamped his teeth over the glass and pulled, yet the moment he tugged pain a fresh jolt of pain shot through his nerves which made him stop and hiss into the wound.

Pain.

He didn't know why, but this usually disliked feeling that majority of the living population wants to avoid somehow made him feel some weird relief.

Made him feel alive.

He blinked and pressed his teeth once more to the shard, discarding the strange thought, he pulled the glass, a sprinkle of his own blood splattered on top of his nose. He spat the object out and immediately licked his wound clean, tongue gathering a sharp bit here and there that managed to hide somewhere.

Of all the strange things that happened today it was good to know that at least the taste of his blood remained the same.

He squinted though when his tongue ended its macabre slide, he wasn't sure but did his scales just flashed with purple color?

He shook his head, readjusting his sight and he could swear that something pulsed near the wound. He leaned in closer to make sure what it was, the nearer he got the more certain he became that his black scales were shifting colors.

His scales were really turning purple.

He really d-

There was a sudden rumble, the blare was so loud that he thought that the world was breaking apart all over again.

Whatever he saw was gone, his scales were again completely black.

It was like the sky itself would scream and judging from the uneasy shaking of the blackness above this is exactly what might have been happening. He immediately forgot about the wound, straightening up on his all four legs and watching the sky above.

Was it really so dark here? This was unnatural, as if shadows would crawl over the clouds, how come he notices it just now? Having oblivion hanging right at the top of your horns should be the first, most noticeable thing the moment he entered Warfang.

Only now though he could really remember that he was actually putting his mind to work, he was thinking. Only now he could really tell that he was in really deep shit.

Ominous sky was one thing, he experienced more than enough magical phenomenon in his life to be really moved by something like this, no matter how serious such unnatural occurrence might be, he doubted he will ever meet anything more frightening than the destruction of the world.

What really stopped the beating of his heart was the tremors running through the ground, some heavier than the others, every a complete chaos however. He noticed another moving mass, this one moving along the ground, cutting through the city in a blur of many colors, a blur of fur and scale.

People.

People of Warfang were all charging in one direction like soldiers after a battle cry.

The fervent crowd made the walls of the nearby buildings whine from the stress as the foundations fought against the wave, sound of which was constantly growing in strength. Before he could really realize what was happening one such wave burst through the alleyways, rooftops and doors right into the street where he was standing.

Every living person in that mob froze as if time stopped when they noticed him, even the dragons in the air ceased their flight, slowly descending down to the earth. He too became paralyzed, staring at the crowd back with what he believed to be wide eyes, he couldn't tell really since all he thought about was his own fear of big groups of people that find unhealthy interest in him, as well because of the empty stares gave to him by the citizens ahead.

His black scales might have something to do with it, after all among them surely were at least friends of the massacre Dark Spyro committed in Boven. Strangely though there was no surprise, no anger or fear, the eyes were empty as one could imagine them to be, just like he would be staring at an unexpected wall that grew from the ground before him to stop him in his tracks.

The awkward silence seemed to last forever, to the point that his spine began to sting, the tail behind demanding to make at least a tiny swing to relax its stiff posture.

After some time he was no longer sure if all these people were really staring at him. Maybe there was a chance to slip away? What if-

The moment he thought about an exist all of the people jerked fiercely, craning their necks forward burying him under their intense stares.

He let the tail make a swing, the amount of eyes giving all this attention made him shake as if he would receive a blow to the snout.

"You are Dark"

The people spoke up in perfect unison, their combined echo of voices made his eyes dance all around the faces, instinctively looking for the one responsible for articulating the sentences.

"You will behave like Dark. Carry us further even when our essence dissipates, it will remain in you"

Spyro cocked head, a puff of smoke stretched out from the form of his snout as if dust would fell off of him.

Was this the Darkness Dark Spyro argued with? Was this the one who tricked him by shape-shifting into Cynder?

"You are Darkness!" the mob screamed at him, their combined blares creating a wave so strong that it made his claws scratch against the stone

He growled, thrusting the moving blades in between the cracks in the street, gaining a proper pawhold, muscles flexing from underneath the scales. Like always people even if he knew it was fake and a provocation, didn't see the bigger picture, falling again into the spiral of madness of the past.

Thanks to his scales this time it felt more personal, this time he could really experience what Cynder was going through practically on a daily basis. It didn't matter that he fought, got tricked and swore to not succumb to this evil parasite, no, for the people mattered that he was black.

And black meant evil.

He already could feel the wave of disdain radiating from the mob, he already knew there was no point in trying to convince them, all of it was useless, stereotypes were set in stone and it will take many generations to destroy them.

This defenseless, this cluelessness, lack of any logical thinking, it was mind-numbing and so, so irritating. Actions of the present is what matters, not the past and the decisions of your ancestors, new life, new perspective, it is that simple.

Why are you so blind people?

He opened his mouth, ready to vent out words of protest and sense, but the only thing that left his mouth was a snarl, once more he reminded himself that people had made their mind, even if influenced by Darkness, those that really would believe that life has changed would resist it. He knew it first paw that Corruption can take control over you, but it can never take control of your soul, the moment you break the chains of control, it is that soul who fights to keep your sanity intact.

If your heart is in the right place, you will pull through it, like he did many times before, problems arise the moment Corruption begins to feed on the festering wounds eating at you from the inside. In a situation like that the black magic is no longer trying to change you, it becomes you, pushing to the front the desires that you kept bottled inside.

This grief, this illogical hate for the sins of the past you had no control over, this is what made this city so easily overwhelmed by Darkness, why rise weapons when stupid hate is far more deadlier weapon.

The faces of the mob twisted, crunching in every possible direction as if everyone in the crowd would just smell something terribly bad. Darkness was not satisfied with his lack of reaction, it was clearly waiting for him to make a move, after all it feed only on one thing.

Emotion.

Bad, blind emotions who shut off your brain and turn you basically into a rabid beast following the dangle of a bait.

He smiled when he realized his opponent's failure.

"We will make you behave like Dark!" with the final blare that managed to rip of a loose stone from one of the nearby rooftops the crowd lunged in his direction

The sky roared once more, its horrible blare sounded like the screams of a tortured prisoner who just had his limbs cut off.

Spyro's eyes widened, not this again, he cannot kill his own people once more.

"You will have to!" Darkness roared triumphantly

One of the cheetahs sprung from the crowd, succumbing to his feral instincts and stretching out like a plank in the air, arms with sharp claws extended forward, ready to latch against his neck.

He immediately backed away, paws blindly tapping against the street, only wanting to retreat from the attacker. He did not think about anything in particular, did not prepare any tactic, all he wanted was to be out of here, preferably on one of the rooftops where only the winged creatures could get to him easily.

And then out of nowhere his hind paws slipped, losing solid earth underneath, back legs fell somewhere, dragging his entire frame onto the ground, he tried to yelp but his voice was cut off by his chin smashing against the street. He chaotically patted with his forelegs, trying to grab something to hold on to, yet the pull from his rump that kept being dragged down by force of gravity was simply too strong.

He was falling.

Before he managed to grunt out a huff of shock he noticed a black frame of a shadowy hole.

Then the street and the people were gone.

And he was lying on a rooftop.

He blinked several times, unable to comprehend what was happening, another roar from the crowd though immediately put the thinking gears in his head into a higher pace, even before that he managed to notice a pool of shadow shrinking to a dot underneath him.

He shadow walked.

Of course he did, this strange, unnatural union gave him the possession of the Dark element. How and why did not matter, all was important was the fact that he managed to escape from the crowd, the lives of all these people were not thrown away, at least for now.

The rising dragons all around him reminded him quite well that it might be only a temporary victory.

All sorts of magical projectiles were sent flying in his direction, followed by even more dives with sharp claws ready to tear him apart.

He immediately sprung forward, sprinting as fast as he could, shaping an electrical cage around him he directed his run where a lighting bolt was heading his way. He absorbed the projectile with a wince, the magical cage cracked lively when it devoured the bolt. At this moment one of the attacking dragons managed to reach him slashing with her claws, the blades though touched the cage first, cracking it open and releasing the stored energy there with a literally shocking burst. Yellow energy cracked in the air, hitting all the charging dragons close to him, making some fall, pushing others back while even some making to fight for their balance in the air.

Darkness didn't care about defense, this is why the electrical charge had so much hindering potential.

He leapt into the air, preparing to glide towards the next rooftop, yet unfortunately Darkness once more reminded him how short lived his victories will be, the combined projectiles struck the spot behind him, their combined explosive power created a powerful, burning shockwave that he was unable to fight back.

The wave crippled his wings, made them flop like flags under the assault of a harsh gale, he spun in the air chaotically, hurled forward like a rock thrown by a golem, he could feel his mass increasing tenfold from all this pressure his body was put through.

He reached the rooftop he aimed for, roughly crushing into its surface, sliding along the ground, kicking some of the more fragile tiles in the air, droplets of red blood jumped into the air occasionally when some of the sharp edges of the rooftop managed to shed some of his scales.

He eventually stopped on some obstacle, he couldn't care less what it was, the black dragon immediately pulled himself up, letting out a rough cough followed by a wet spat, saliva glistened with red hue of blood. His legs shook after the impact, he pushed forward anyway, trying to stabilize the shaking world before his eyes in the process.

He didn't succeed but it was enough to spot the edge and begin a new leap. This time the magical energy was quite behind him, the dragons let loose more projectiles, yet while they were commanded by Darkness they not only lacked speed, but also prediction. The combined forces of magic struck the rooftop somewhere behind him, the shockwave too far to reach him.

The sense of danger still drummed against his spine however, he didn't want to look, but he could feel that more dragons appeared around him, many of them were diving in his direction like hawks after their prey.

Rooftops weren't safer in any way.

He glanced at the building he headed to, eyes catching the shape of a room through the window, before his mind could make the connection the Dark energy he possessed immediately acted, gathering up a pool of shadow on the rooftop, exactly in the spot where his glide was about to end.

With the corner of his eyes he managed to catch the silhouette of draconic claws readying themselves to skin him alive. Even the feeling of the air changed with so many wings demanding its attention.

Black paws touched the surface of the building and immediately sank down into the pool, followed by his entire body.

Claws cut through the air just when he was nearly gone, tips managing to catch his fins and cut him shallowly in between them.

He appeared in the room he saw, falling from the ceiling, dropping like a stone into the floor, crushing a table and a lamp. He rolled with a grunt onto his back and instantly released an icy bomb towards the window, the projectile formed a freezing platform all over it, creating a chilly blockade of magical ice.

The moment he got up he heard something heavy slamming into the ice, cracks appeared on the surface and chips fell to the floor. He managed to buy himself some seconds, he entered the corridor, but instead of rushing towards the window on the opposite side he made a turn, cutting through the room, changing direction to mislead his opponent and catching a moment to think about this whole situation.

He needs a goal, he needs to do something, he can't simply run forever all this time. Something had to trigger this roar, something had to force Darkness to react in such a way. These people were running somewhere, he was pretty sure that their meeting and the Darkness' change of plan was a coincidence, he didn't know why it sacrificed a part of its army to take care of him when most of the time it left him to his own fate.

Dark Spyro accomplished his goal, that is why, this mess is just a provocation, a taunt, something personal. Darkness simply wants him to commit the act he swore he would never repeat, it wanted him to kill his own people, these poor, innocent fools.

Why?

The answer was clear wasn't it? The rumbling call, Dark Spyro's argument with fake Cynder, it was all a hint, Dark Spyro never believed in the triumph of this Darkness, calling it practically primitive. It looked like that Darkness accepted its fate and it looks like it wants to show them all that it will go down swinging.

There had to be something else though than just a internal struggle. It had to be his friends, Cynder and all the other guys must be there somewhere, this chaos could only mean that they are alive, he needs to find them.

It was time to rise in the air, he already knew that opening himself like that will hurt, but he had to do something.

He sprinted towards the far window at the end of the house, in the meantime the glass behind him shattered, pawsteps filled the room, the clicks of claw clearly stating that the house was invaded.

He jumped through the window and immediately directed himself up, climbing up the sky, his big, black wings making him look like an overgrown bat from a distance. Magical energy rippled the atmosphere and even the wind itself shook under the pressure of many wings beating in the sky, practically all were cutting the distance to him.

He didn't care, immediately looking around.

First thing that he noticed was a burst of energy coming from the City Hall, the royal building looked like a ruin, many holes dotted the exterior. The exploding energy had a bluish color, he spotted several people being shoved from the one of the holes by it. When the bodies finally cleared his view he spotted what he believed to be feathers and blue scales.

Iris?

The feathers shifted while he was sure that the blue body didn't move. This was not a single creature, besides the blue scales seemed to be too muscular to be of feminine nature, and looked too battled to belong to a girl who's looks are nearly divine in their perfection.

Cyril?

Cloudas?

They were not fighting?

Was Hunter with them too? After all they disappeared together with the wind dragon.

He couldn't see the cheetah, what he saw though was the mass of people swarming the building like bees wiggling around their hive. The Guardians were with them and whatever they were doing it seemed to threaten Darkness enough for it to split its forces again.

Volteer for sure had an idea how to struck a blow against this thing.

His eyes made another turn.

He immediately figured out where all these people were heading to, he spotted the hospital, the entire building was covered in black fire, there were tentacles lashing at anyone who tried to pierce the barrier. Whatever magic it was it was powerful, and Darkness was set on crushing it, or the one holding it together for that matter.

People amassed around the building, the crowd was restless and seemed to try reaching something the first rows most likely where all the action happened, he could already smell death emanating from that place.

After a moment a figure rose in the air, followed by several others and one specific blue one that he immediately recognized as Iris, this time for certain. The blue dragoness released a powerful hurricane of ice that he could sense even from here, the figure he noticed was blown from the sky, crushing somewhere out of his sight.

His heart let out a painful blare and a chill ran down his spine.

It was Cynder, she was the one getting hit.

His entire body burst with fierce black flames, eyes narrowed on the blue dragoness in the distance, for everything that is holy Iris, you better be corrupted because I will tear you to shreds if I find out that you backstabbed my mate once more.

His goal was set, he can only chose one to help and sorry guys but my mate has the privilege of my attention.

The air rippled around him.

Experience kicked in and Spyro immediately made a sharp roll in the air, his claws immediately reflecting the blades that tried to catch him as one of the dragons descended upon him. He instantly went into a counterattack, latching onto the legs claws of which he deflected and forced another roll, clinging to the attacker.

It was a bigger dragon than him, yet the momentum of the attack allowed him to create enough force to at least changed the direction of the dive. With the claws in place he rolled back into his original position, with a grunt twisting his paws and releasing the hold, sending the dragon flying straight at one of his companions. While it was not a throw, the size of the drake still managed to halt some of the attackers from that side.

He was greatly outnumbered, but luckily for him Darkness crippled the militaristic potential of its army, the people followed basic rules, basic desire to kill with no tactic, thinking or planning behind it, they were like children chasing after a ball.

He dived right after the attacker, the massive body serving as perfect cover and a jumping point. He smashed into the big lump of scale, his momentum shoving the drake a bit backwards, slowing the rest of the enemies stuck behind the big dragon a little further while he gained the perfect pawhold to change direction swiftly.

He clung to the scales, claws having no troubles finding a proper gripping spot, he immediately began to run along the flank of the drake, just as expected, the other dragons had no regard for tactic and simply sent their combined magical powers right at him.

He sprang from the rump of the drake, pushing his wings as close as he could he threw himself into another roll, as he was lying on his back he sent a big fireball flying at his dive path, right in the way of the incoming projectiles who if left without attention would struck the group he stopped, at the very least crippling seriously the first drake they would hit since Darkness knew nothing about defense.

He already knew that his aim was perfect, he rolled back into a natural position and unfurled his wings, making a single, powerful flap to catch some wind into the membranes.

At that moment his fireball reached its place, blocking all other magical projectiles, the combined forces created another casket of magical dynamite, just like before it exploded with a rumbling force, sending a strong shockwave across the sky.

This time he was prepared for it.

He absorbed the energy perfectly, maneuvering with his wings in such a way that they flapped in the perfect angle, in the perfect time to take advantage of the boost to the fullest. He did not lose control this time, instead the wave pushed him forward, increasing the speed of his flight greatly.

While his enemies were thrown back and those unfortunate ones that were too close to the explosion point were simply knocked down from the air.

Such a thing was not deadly for a dragon, they will survive, very bad luck was the only thing that could cause any casualties here, as long as the falling drakes won't impale themselves on some spikes or as long there won't be anyone on the street just when the rain of dragons begins pouring, he was sure that he outplayed his enemy perfectly.

The lashing wind was blinding, he flew forward with squinted eyes and yet even though his pupils were gone and eyeballs filled with glistening white, his eyes still produced tears that only blurred the already limited sight. He didn't mind though, he knew where he was heading and he knew that he gained a massive head start over his personal group of corrupted people.

Cynder hold on, I'm coming.

As he flew something else caught his attention, a moving slowly figure, from this distance it was small and impossible to tell what or who it is exactly. The detail that drew his attention to this strange silhouette that seemed to limp awkwardly was its loneliness. When the city was grouped, split into many charging armies with people amassing like an army of ants, the figure over there was completely alone, walking across one of the main streets, bigger streets, in a situation like this it was simply asking for trouble.

And yet the awkward figure continued forward undisturbed, walking towards the temple.

Was this one of his friends? Why the silhouette isn't attacked by Darkness? Or maybe this is Darkness itself possessing some poor soul.

He needs to-

His squinted eyes practically closed when suddenly a fierce flash of piercing light exploded in the sky.

And then he started to feel heat.

The moment he began to turn his head something crushed into his flank, strong pain exploded from the side as he felt claws sinking into his scales. Fire seemed to explode all around him when the unidentified attacker rammed into him, dragging him down from the sky.

The fall was quick, he managed though to channel enough earth magic to at least morph his scales into stone, the magic pushed the invading claws out of his body.

And then they collided with the ground, a cone of fire blasted into the air at the moment of impact, the fall creating a small crater in the street, nearby windows shattered due to the rumbling aftereffect of the collision.

Spyro immediately took advantage of his favorite new power and sunk into the ground after a second of absorbing all the damage onto his stony scales that did not withstand the impact, cracking immediately. He immediately dragged a shadow under his opponent and leapt from it, kicking upwards his foe like Cynder did so many times before.

His imbued with darkness claws dragged a trail of ominous energy behind them, he clenched his teeth over the shoulder of his enemy and immediately used the momentum to force a spin, with the help of his strengthened claws he gripped his opponent tightly and hurled him at the ground, a trail of darkness was painted in the air when the body of his enemy was shoved to the earth.

Only know he began to feel the burn on his snout.

It was like his enemy was made of fire.

A bolt of enlightenment shot through him when he realized who he was fighting, he gazed down at the settling down dust, only to notice a fire dragon getting up, burning wings spreading like petals of an awakening flower.

"Flare!" he yelled, ignoring the irritating snap coming somewhere from around his mouth, the already weakened by fire scale cracked under the sudden pressure of a stretch when he opened his mouth "It's me! Spyro!"

The drake did not answer, instantly sending a stream of blazing fire straight at him.

He dodged the attack by quickly cutting the sky to the side, what he did not expect though was for Flare to materialize from that very flame that just missed him. Flare attacked, his forelegs were already slashing even though his body was still a living fire, only starting to be covered by scales again.

Spyro gasped, throwing his own paws up, catching the slashing red ones right at the wrists, while he managed to stop the physical attack, the fiery claws also left a mark, drawing a vertical blazing trail which he didn't expect and had no time to dodge. They painted, painful, burning scorch marks across the top of his nose and extended forelegs.

His grip wavered at the shock of pain, something Flare immediately took advantage of by lunging forward with his neck, sharp, wet with saliva teeth clamping fiercely, trying to get a bite out of his neck.

His trained reaction saved him, he swiftly jerked his head back, feeling Flare's nose bumping against his throat while the teeth that were meant to rip it apart clamped just a few centimeters away, splattering blobs of saliva on his neck.

Spyro let go of the red paws and sent an uppercut that bumped the red snout and made teeth rattle inside, he followed the blow by another punch, right into the cheek that dizzied the drake for a short while, allowing him to get a bit more space.

"Flare!" he roared at the drake, once more trying to bring him back to his senses

"Die Aspect!" Flare blared out, sending another gust of fire

He covered himself behind his wing, sacrificing altitude, with the flames crashing against his membranes he came to realization that Flare wasn't under the control of Darkness, or at least not in the way like all the rest of the people. His attacks were coordinated, while fury induced, there was some sort of tactic in them, not to mention speed, out of all the attackers Flare seemed to be doing it out of his own free will.

While he doubted he would play an Iris card and betray them to satisfy his own need for vengeance or simple spite, not after everything they went through, Flare even admitted himself that he was a different purple dragon after all. It was also not the Beast, he recognized that by the voice alone, it had to be Darkness, it had to twisted his mind somehow, yet not corrupting him.

There were also his black scales, it was no secret that Flare had bad experience with purple dragons and now this Aspect thing again, whatever it was it also left an impact on the fire drake and just looking at Cynder it was enough for him to recognize just how influencing trauma can be, especially for a prisoner like Flare.

When feeding trauma all you need is a spark and if Darkness had any role in this he was certain that a force ruling with Fear knew how to take advantage of that.

This fight won't be easy, Flare was wasting his time, not to mention that the mob he managed to outrun was catching up to him. In all this delay there was Cynder fighting her own battle, every second he wastes here he puts her in more danger.

Time.

He could use it to gain some distance, wouldn't help much with Flare, he would catch up to him with ease, it would help against the approaching mob though. Even if he decides to do that, then what then?

Hope that either Cynder or Iris manages to wake up Flare? But then he doubted that this will have any effect on Iris, she doesn't care about anyone, who know how it would escalate from there, especially if Flare would be forced into a decision to choose one of his two friends. It might make things even worse.

Also who know how would Darkness react if it would notice that it's loosing control over its weapons.

It might spin even further out of control, despite the ugliness of this situation, here, alone, he has more command over the situation then he would have with Cynder.

The question is will Cynder hold on? Especially with her peculiar state? After all, it was not her who was commanding the body, but that monster Creep.

Can he trust him to the point where he is willing to put the life of his mate into his black claws?

"Of course not!"

Spyro's eyes widened when together with the unknown voice that seemed to ring right from his brain came another rumble in the distance, exactly from the place where he saw Cynder last. Another powerful tremor ran through his spine, for a second paralyzing him completely.

He could feel with every fiber of his being that his mate is hurt and in great danger.

Flare however was free of any distractions, the fire dashed forward, using the second that paralyzed Spyro to cut the distance between them and force the wing away with a slap. Another paw was momentarily swung, claws cutting across the black flesh.

Blood gushed into the air.

Spyro roared when his scales were torn and cauterized in the same time, the heat was barely bearable when he had his defenses ready, getting hit by the infernal claws though was a completely different story of agony, he couldn't even know if he could compare it to anything, it would probably feel like having your leg amputated with a blunt saw just for it to be sewed back up for the process to be repeated.

Flare attacked again, his red claws drawing a line of fire behind them, this time not only fused by his element, but also radiating it.

With a roar Spyro managed to reflect the blow, in the meantime trying to counter the attack, yet the lines of fire forced a muscular response from his leg and pushed it back which opened enough space for Flare to land another blow.

The black dragon roared once again in agony.

"Time is running up! Cynder is dying!"

The voice exploded inside his skull, which only increased the power of his blare.

Red paws made another swing, as before he managed only to deflect one, the blood that shot from his torn body splattered against Flare's snout.

"Cynder is dying!"

"DYING!"

"Fuck off Flare!" Spyro roared at the top of his lungs, in time deflecting another attack but this his paws moved with unnatural speed that he even managed to push back the second strike from the fire dragon, not only that but his paws were again ready to continue the assault. He slashed fiercely, hitting several times the exposed yellow chest and unprotected red snout, he was moving so fast that blood was unable to catch up with his claws.

He then stretched out in the air, kicking the red dragon away with his hind paws, wounded Flare flopped in the air, trying to recover. He didn't give him a moment of respite, releasing a Siren Scream at the drake which struck fear into his heart, that he began to pull back away from him on his own.

Flare's body was filled with deep cuts, every single one bleeding profusely, he was like a scaly cloud pouring crimson rain.

"And stay back!" Spyro roared, his head thudded, body screamed in pain, he could barely record what was going on around him, between the rapid thumps he could hear only one sentence

Cynder is dying!

Cynder is dying!

Cynder is dying!

He immediately directed himself away from the fight, beating with his scorched black wings as fast as he could, heart racing inside his chest and it had nothing to do with the adrenaline from the fight, it was all because of worry, he could feel that he was late, very late.

But there is still a chance, the fight didn't take so long, he still has time to-

A body rammed into him, kicking him out from the air.

"NO!" he screamed when teeth sunk into his scales, he didn't feel pain, only despair

A dragoness kept him steady in her maw, while she thrust with her forelegs, looking for a place to sink her claws into.

She didn't manage it however since a building abruptly ended their fall, their combined weight nearly ruined the wall, the impact kicked the breath out of both their lungs, the maw that held him released its grip.

He swung with his tail blindly, the tip exploding with a fierce blue light, it connected with the body of the green dragoness that attacked him, the strike drew a freezing dash across her chest while also pushing her back.

Space.

He had space.

He unfurled his wings swiftly that something cracked in his joints, one of them struck the dragoness, the black flames scorched her snout, yet the membranes had enough room to feed upon the wind completely.

The other wing however struck the wall of the building they were sliding down, stopped halfway during its opening.

"NO! NO! NO!" he cried out, beating with his wing, trying to force his way through the wall, his joint began to burn from the pressure, yet he didn't care, trying all the time to open his wing

And then came the ground.

They hit the earth with a rumble, piles of dust rose in the air after the impact.

Spyro felt no pain, immediately getting up, ignoring the shaking in his paws he began to limp forward slowly, his bitten body painting the ground with blood.

In front of him grew up the figure of the adult dragoness.

"STAY BACK!" he cried out a rough grunt, sending a wave of fear at the annoying reptile it was so strong that his tail stood up and froze

The dragoness didn't react to it at all.

The Scream didn't work.

The dragoness parted her mouth, releasing a stream of green breath at him.

"CYNDER IS DYING!" he screamed in desperation, every stone around him began to shake and rise in the air, the triggered levitating power even managed to rip off one of the weakened pieces of the building behind

He moved the rocks in front of him, the magical strike crashed against the hastily built shield, some tendrils of the attack managed to squeeze through some of the holes the uneven rocks were unable to patch, the attack burning his scales.

Spyro kept on walking, the stony shield hovered in front of him as he walked towards the dragoness.

Noise stirred up all around him, many footsteps echoed from every direction, people he tried to lose caught up with him, he wasted so much time that the mob managed to catch up!

One set of boots was creating the thudding noises far more quicker than the rest.

A cheetah was charging at him from the side, pointy spear aimed straight at his flank.

He growled in fury, releasing a massive earth bolt at the mass of rock hanging ahead, the hit sent it flying swiftly right at the dragoness who due to being controlled by Darkness cared nothing about defense. The pile of rocks smashed into her frame, making her drop under all this weight, something also cracked, the created noise however prevented the chance to form the right judgment, if the thing that broke was a bone, or a rock.

Spyro turned swiftly, snatching the spear in his jaws, he lifted the cheetah above the ground, not ending the spin he turned around together with the additional weight before releasing his grip, hurling the feline somewhere towards the nearby rubble.

He began to run immediately, shadows gathered up above him, dragons began to spit their projectiles at him.

There was a passage open, as he run he noticed a green paw twitching under the rubble, a pool of blood pouring from underneath the rocks. He ignored it, Cynder was dying and the dragoness was big enough to survive some small rocks.

The black dragon's mind was too chaotic right now to notice that those small rocks he mentioned were the size of a modest house.

He can still make it, there was a space between the buildings, it was tight enough to prevent many people from squeezing through he can slow the crowd here.

And then a group of people appeared in the very space, blocking his way.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" he threw his head down, in seconds activating his Comet Dash ability, his entire body bursting in flames, the swiftly tapping paws burning a gleaming trail of fire along the street

He ran straight into the group, catching whoever was first on his horn, the fire exploded from him, the shockwave throwing everyone around, making even the biggest of dragons totter on his legs. Stench of burnt fur reached his nostrils, but despite the discomfort of smell the path was cleared.

He kept on running, a body of a mole flapped numbly on his horn, painting it red.

He spread his black wings and lifted himself up in the air immediately the moment he found enough space to do so, the moment he stopped for a second, preparing his muscles to spring up, the body slid from his horn, falling numbly onto the ground, something burst like an egg inside the bloodied hole his horn created.

His heart was beating rapidly, he was panting heavily, all the time a thought nagged at his soul, a horrible thought telling him that he was too late.

He was too late.

"NO!" he roared in protest, unable to accept the horrid idea, he swore that he won't allow anything to happen to his mate, not when he is still breathing

He shot in the air, wings flapped so strongly that he could even hear the wind whining in stress. He gained a lot of distance, quickly approaching the burning black flames surrounding the hospital.

And then the corner of his eye caught a fiery shape heading right at him.

He wasn't prepared to dodge it, all he managed to do was to put up some elemental defense. He recognized the fiery form immediately, it belonged to Flare, the same image he used to burn through the bugs deep in the volcano.

He screamed, turning in the air chaotically, he could feel the burning silhouette trying to eat through his guts, the agony made his entire body burst with blue mist as Ice magic enveloped him. He was stronger than the burning shape, his magic devoured it before it could eat through him, the scorch mark was big enough however to make his eyesight blurry.

"YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" he howled at the top of his lungs, his roar made the black flames in the distance flicker

Flare charged him, he could feel the heat nearby.

Spyro immediately spun around, white eyes glowing menacingly, he punched the dragon before he managed to thrust his claws into his flesh. Flare immediately breathed a fire stream into his snout, he it scorched his snout, he could feel scales popping in his cheeks, instead of defending himself though he countered the breath with his own attack.

A stream of gray fog pushed out from his mouth.

The fire breath died almost immediately, unable to fight against the powerful Aether magic. Not even a draconic resistance could withstand such power, Flare was no longer burning, his scales were no longer red.

He was entirely black.

Like dust.

Like stone.

Frozen in the air because even gravity seemed to be surprised by the turn of events.

"LEAVE ME ALONE! CYNDER IS DYING!" Spyro roared, punching the petrified drake, with a single blow he took off his head, the ruined body of Flare dropped from the sky

Spyro continued forward, towards the burning hospital, head and heart burning from pain and desperation.

Cynder wasn't there.

He was too late.

He was too late.

He was too late.

His black wings were beating against the air so strongly that with each flap the dark sky above wiggled in fear.

And then after a mixture of green, yellow and blue explosion a figure rose in the distance into the sky, a healthy, strong figure, even if battered.

He recognized her immediately.

It was Cynder.

She was alive.

And healthy despite everything.

Far from dying.

Very far from dying.

His wings slowed down their beats, white eyes that burned brightly lost their shine.

Very far from dying.

The sky above rumbled, he realized that the wiggling wasn't caused by fear, but held back laughter.

The rumble of the sky sounded like laughter.

"You are miiiiine!" a melodic, hollow explosion of joy rattled inside his skull

He felt a strong pinch somewhere on his rump, he spun around instinctively, his eyes gazing down, mouth parting open in shock.

Down below he spotted a pile of rubble, streaks of blood painted the rocks, in the distance there was also a figure impaled on one of the statues, tightly gripping a spear in its dead hand. Some distance away there was an alley, it was scorched black, burned bodies littered the ground. Even farther he spotted a cracked statue, a black ruined mess resembling a dragon, one of its wings was intact though and if not for the petrification it would be burning like a torch.

I killed Flare.

I killed them all.

And it was all me.

He lifted his paws to his eyes, bloodied black scales appeared in front of his eyes, his paws were shaking wildly.

No purple scales, where are my purple scales?

"You are Darkness brother!" the sky cherished, the noise was loud very loud

Even the people chasing him started to laugh.