FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 23

Black body of a female dragon was hurled through the air, paws clutching to an icicle of ice that was so huge it could rip a dragon's head right off, torn away frozen pieces of buildings aren't familiar with small sizes, especially if they are plucked from a roof.

Black neck arched itself back, allowing a pair of dark eyes to gaze towards the obstacle both eyeballs were approaching, it was again one of the buildings like many in Warfang dotted by windows and all other embroidery that mortals are keen to adorn their structures with.

Like many of the other buildings in this city, this too had glass windows that allowed to evaluate part of the interior.

Enough for Sugar to guide them.

The black dragoness reached the wall in seconds, instead of being crushed into it however the feminine body pierced right through it, sinking into a splotch of shadow that grew in the spot she was heading into. The entire structure rumbled and kicked dust in the air when the massive projectile smashed into the wall, breaking into many pieces.

The rumble was muffled for the dragoness however since she had to deal with her own portion of noise, the speed with which she got devoured by the hole was just too high for any sort of control. She popped inside the building, pushed out from the black hole inside the tapestry with a force similar to the one shoving you on your butt after you prepare to rip a plant from the ground only to find out its loose.

She ruined a table on the way, one leg broke so unfortunately that a single slice of wood got torn in such a way that it managed to log itself in her thigh, irritating the nerves like an overgrown splinter. Besides some other furniture she toppled with her the crash was rather uneventful, the only thing that made her wince was the sharp noise when some really expensive lamp cracked when it fell to the ground, ringing sound filling the room as the shards scattered all around.

Splatters of the girl's blood painted some spots of the interior, one visible crimson line dashed across a white nightstand, marking it as if it would be a soldier ready to receive its battle mark.

"Life is not perfect Sugar" the dragoness groaned, pushing herself up, a tear of blood flew down her cheek "I dislike pain and noise"

"You hear that Iris you insane bitch!?" Cynder's voice rumbled loudly, the black girl's body bursting with intense dark flames "We don't like noise and pain! Time for hugs now!" the light flickered menacingly, two tentacles spurt out from the orb wiggling like a pair of excited tails

"I'll squeeze you real tight"

"Restraint false Sugar, we are powerful, yes, but we have limitations, we do not know our potential, I do not know how much this body can sustain, even with your talent infusing us. We must do what we are created for, we must kill to survive"

"Iris is crazy alright? I know that and believe me I would really like to punch her so she looses a few teeth, but as you said we don't know our potential, you might snap her neck with a smack only and I don't want that to happen. The bitch is nuts, but not an idiot, she nearly died attacking me once, if she would do it again she risks dying, not only to us but all the other wackos around, not to mention that every attempt of slobbering over Spyro would be in vain if she would impale my head on a pike. It irritates me to the freaking bone to see that she really tries to get Spyro's attention for whatever reason. We can't kill her Creep, she's rabid, but it is not her decision"

"Our feathery winged nemesis is only a nuisance if she would be our only opponent" Creep gazed through the window of the building where on the other side a considerable group of people was charging in their direction already

"The spectrum of death is wider Sugar. The risk of being overpowered is high, we cannot also forget about depletion, your powers Sugar are not endless, limited by physicality of your flesh, you will not keep the barrier around your mother and brother forever"

The tentacles sunk back into the orb.

"We cannot kill dragons Creep, the sensitive me wouldn't like that"

Creep wiggled around, bones snapping into their rightful places after the collision.

"Death our mark, its fulfillment forced upon us by the world, we fulfill its wish with precision granted to us by survival. We are branded Sugar, I warned we cannot erase this mark, we must allow it to burn, my idea of invading the temple was silenced, consequence of this is letting the mark burn for longer. Death is our essence of survival, it is brutal, but we are Dark Sugar, the hue of oblivion"

Creep's thoughts about redemption and probable impossibility of reaching it had a truth to it, she couldn't deny it, she saw too many hate to believe otherwise. It didn't matter if it was fair or not, stereotypes and disdain don't come from nothing, you really need to work to build a reputation like that.

She got used to it.

The giving up part was something she couldn't accept, personal redemption might be a fool's wish and perhaps even really unattainable, but that didn't mean you shouldn't try. Fuck the people and their opinions, you simply need to do it to yourself, the intelligent ones will see that you are not how they describe you while you will also keep the sanity of your mind intact.

If she would give up she would never be where she is now, she would never have friends and family, she would never have a legendary dragon for a mate. The goal might be unreachable, yes, but that didn't mean you shouldn't fight for it.

She didn't give up when she was tormented and at the brink of depression due to trauma.

She won't give up now when she is an essence of a power that existed from the beginning of the universe.

"Surpassing expectations is part of life Creep, it ain't all rainbows and bunnies all the time. We will not give up, no killing, not when we still have a say in this"

The ceiling of the building turned into ice.

The black dragoness thrust her claws into a nearby wardrobe, rising on hind legs she lifted the object above the ground with much ease, even though the wooden furniture was bigger and much more heavier than her. She toppled the wardrobe in front of her, the wood creaked and some splinters shot in the air when the thick mass crashed on the ground.

One wing of the door swung open, she dodged it easily as she ducked behind the created cover.

In the same moment when the wardrobe hit the ground the frozen celling collapsed, Iris burst into the room through the weakened spot, paws smashing against the floor, the impact turning the nearby area to ice, walls and furniture included.

Biting cold filled the room.

The falling shards from the ceiling stopped in the air, sharp ends turning in the direction she felt the black dragoness from. The shards stretched out, turning into heavy and deadly ice projectiles which momentarily got hurled towards the black dragoness.

Luckily moles are known for their mechanical ingenuity, whether it is invention or simple carpentry, quality was present in every new object coming from underneath their claws. The wardrobe was a fine work, thick, solid wood, allowing only the tips of the ice bolts to pierce through.

Creep immediately shoved the wardrobe with his shoulder, black waves pushed from underneath the spot where the feminine body met with the wood. The position he was in didn't allow for much movement and due to the icicles there wasn't much space to apply any sort of worthy force.

He wasn't discouraged though, giving the wood an awkward bump that didn't even create a smallest tone of sound.

The wardrobe was hurled towards the ice dragoness, the wood leaving deep scratches on the floor as it slid along the ground. Iris did not run, instead she rose on her hind legs, lifting the forelegs above her head and clenching both paws into a single fist.

The wardrobe reached her in mere seconds, the moment in touched the frozen ground the speed with which the furniture was moving greatly slowed down yet it was still dangerous.

It changed immediately when spikes burst from the frozen floor, many sharp blades pierced the wardrobe, shattering it and turning it into a brick of ice when the frost devoured its wooden atomic structure. Whatever remained of the wardrobe stopped right in front of Iris' hind claws.

Then the clenched paws went down, striking the frozen furniture and breaking it down completely. Pieces of ice were kicked in the air, momentarily caught by the gust created by Iris' swiftly flapping wings.

Not only they filled the room with a chilly, bone freezing air, they also ripped the icy spikes apart and sent the pieces flying towards the black dragoness, which were followed by the remains of the wardrobe.

Windows broke and doors were ripped of their hinges when more people barged into the house.

Creep threw his wing in front of himself, the fog surrounding pumped more thickness into the dark magic embracing him. Projectiles crashed against the membranes, spitting tongues of frost all around, the chill ate at the wings, finding cracks to sink into. The black wing was too small however to cover the dragoness from all the incoming projectiles, some managed to find an opening in the defense.

Shards of ice did not steal blood however from the black body, every projectile that touched the dragoness made her body fade, turning the spots into a mist through which the pieces entered her insubstantial body just to make the rest of it flicker as they flew right past through it, only to shatter on the wall behind.

The dragoness immediately responded with an attack of her own, sending a poisonous wave at the feathery attacker.

Iris was clearly a seasoned warrior, she expected a counterattack, the basic form of it made the attempt to dodge it so much more easier.

"Useless" Creep groaned clearly irritated , last tongues of the recently released poison breath still squeezing through his teeth

More rumbling noises filled the room, all sorts of weaponry was being readied to strike, from standard physical ones to magical. Creep wasn't an experienced fighter, he had to rely on his instincts alone since Cynder's perception of the surrounding world was limited.

He didn't hear people getting near the weakened by Iris' attack behind him for instance. The moment he realized something was off, it was already too late. The wall turned to rumble and almost immediately two spears pierced the rising dust, both stabbing him in the rump..

Creep screamed, due to his reaction Cynder immediately acted, filling the body with black magic, making black, pulsing veins to appear on the feminine body. Momentarily the shadows started to act nervously, wiggling like snakes until in a matter of seconds they began to stretch upwards, morphing into shadowy warriors with white eyes.

One of them sliced with is dark sword, cutting both spears short, Creep immediately used the moment to grab a hold of the wooden objects and pull them out with one swift motion.

The warriors formed a barricade of darkness in front of the dragoness, appearing just in time to absorb with their bodies the incoming combination of magical strikes, the colorful explosions made Creep jump back, his entire body disappearing with a puff before the black paws could touch the ground.

He reappeared some distance behind the two attackers, together with the remaining shadows that charged towards the nearby enemies. Creep bit into the hand of one of the spear wielding cheetahs, lifting her off the ground, smacking the one next to her and sending the female flying towards one of the nearby groups.

His mouth remaining practically free of blood, despite everything he fulfilled Sugar's wish in keeping his strength in check.

Something that he regretted more and more since he could feel that the longer it lasts the less strength he has and it won't be long before there won't be anything to save since the weakened state they will eventually achieve will be their final shape.

Iris shot from the building while the blurry mist of all the elemental attacks was still in the air. She threw herself at them fiercely, possessing a murderous agility and speed, far exceeding the sluggish pace of all the other citizens.

It seems like Darkness only managed to cripple the ones that were originally in the city, everyone else falling under its influence was a victim of an altered approach.

Making these particular enemies far more dangerous, especially those like the ice dragoness who have no interest in life in general in the first place.

He didn't finish his turn and Iris was already upon them, her horns sinking into their flesh, draconic scales were created by nature in such a way that they didn't allow things to get too deep so easily, at some point they bent back, preventing the damage to the organs, yet still cracking under the pressure. Especially if the horns were charged with ice magic.

Iris sent the black dragoness flying as she tore the black paws from the ground, the contact creating a small, blue explosion of ice following the impact.

The black dragoness rolled on the ground for several meters until she eventually stopped on a statue, Creep spat a pool of blood on the ground, throat burning from the inside, making him cry.

"We must kill Sugar or we die!" he howled as he lifted himself up, eyes rising to see a mole standing in front, preparing his crossbow to fire

Time seemed to slow down for Cynder, she might not possess emotions, but she was still herself in the end and she knew just well what killing this people meant.

A return to her original, corrupted ways, an end to her attempt in convincing people that she is far more now than they believe her to be. Emotions or not, it felt like defeat either way, she didn't have to sense anything to know that the things she done were bad and a horror she would never want to return to.

It might be easy breaking the rules she set for herself now, she will deal with it later when she gets back into her meatsuit, but she knew life and she knew it's bitchy enough to punish you in the worst possible way if you decide to take a shortcut.

This rising tip of a crossbow bolt in front of her eyes however made her think about survival and one crude truth that she simply has to accept. She might care about the people, but people don't care about her.

The blood right under her chin was all the evidence she needed, she is putting Creep, her own body through torture only to fight for purpose that is worth nothing to these people, corrupted or not.

In return she gets nothing but death.

Morality aside, it is what it is, in a fight of life or death there are no rules besides those you desire to cripple yourself with by your own will. It's kill or get killed, it were always the rules of this world, in the end it was always about survival and it goes without saying that it was better to breathe than to turn into food for the worms.

Sorry emotional Cynder, hopefully one day you will forgive yourself and understand this logic. You have plenty life in your draconic lifetime to forgive yourself for everything. It doesn't mean however that you must deal with all of this by your own, I will help, making the burden at least a little more bearable for you.

There might come a time you might appreciate it one day.

"Loose the brakes" she intoned callously "No dragon killing though, I might get mad at you for letting my claws thinning the population of my race again"

"I'm sorry" Creep said and in a moment a powerful gust of wind blew out of his mouth, it tore the mole from the ground, the bolt was released, but under such pressure it was unable to fly, merely falling down to be stolen by the gust like the device from which it was shot

Creep immediately sprung after the rodent, beating with his wings once he allowed the remains of the dying gale to give him that single, crucial push. He grabbed the leg of the mole with his teeth, biting hard into the bone that he felt parts of it clicking against his teeth.

He turned around, hurling the body at one of the gathering groups, blasting the mole with another gale to speed up his flight. The body turned into a cannonball, breaking and killing on the spot several people that prepared their distance weapons.

Several bolts of magic hit him in the flank, one more powerful than the other, blood splattered on the ground, the combined force making him fall on his side.

People started rushing in his direction, several more projectiles were sent his way.

He clenched his paw and smashed it against the floor, claws became rotten, a horrid stench was lifted in the air. His paw landed directly on the splotch of blood and immediately, together with the sideways crimson splatter a green, choking cloud was kicked in the air from the small pool.

People that got close enough immediately began to choke and back away, they might have been corrupted, but unfortunately for them they were still living organisms and simply reacted defensively when the air that sustained their existence suddenly got cut off.

The poisonous cloud bought the two of them enough time to disappear, devoured by a cloud of shadow that gathered under the black body. They vanished right when several projectiles, be it bolts or other magical missiles struck the spot once occupied by the black dragoness.

They didn't retreat however, the shadow moved under Iris' white paws who also got stopped by the green mist, coughing fiercely. Creep popped from the ground, smacking the defenseless dragoness in the air, he swung with his claws immediately, drawing a black line across the sky.

He cut Iris before she managed to react, leaving a bloody dash across her flank, Cynder barely managed to kill the rot polluting the silver blades, one cut was enough to bring Iris on the doorstep, the chances for her to survive a deep cut like that were minimal.

Creep made another swing with his dark imbued claws.

"No killing I said!" the darkness surrounded him grew thicker, a part of the shadow grew like a blob of air and instantly crashed against the risen paw, making Creep totter in the air as he fought for balance in the air

Iris roared, taking advantage of the break she twisted her body around, lunging with her neck, teeth sinking into the neck of the dragoness, fangs stopped only by the click of the choker.

Creep's eyes widened in terror, a powerful feeling of emptiness overwhelmed him, he could hear the heart thumping in his chest.

You are dead.

You are dead.

You are dead.

It seemed to scream with each beat.

He thrust the dark, flared up claws into his own draconic palms as he closed his paws into fists, he pushed both forelegs forward, aiming at the white chest.

Iris expected such an attack, her claws glowing blue, she slashed at the moving legs, her claws leaving a frosty trail on the black scales, eating away at them, minimizing the damage what she expected to receive.

But for some unexplained reason the black forelegs weren't slowed down, her magic had no effect on them.

Creep hit the chest with both fists, there was a hollow thud and Iris' eyes went wide open, tears filled the corners and her mouth parted in a silent scream, droplets of blood trickled from her fangs. The blow pushed her away from the dragoness, giving Creep enough space to turn around and kick the ice dragoness with both hind paws.

His unnatural strength sent the girl flying across the air, until she crushed into a thick rooftop of a nearby building, blue explosion followed the collision, together with a red hue suddenly bursting near.

Fire?

From where did the fire come from?

Among the settling dust he could spot the bruised, bloodied dragoness wiggling around on the ruins of the rooftop like a fish pulled out of the water, she was arching her back in steady rhythms, hollowly punching her chest, having difficulties to catch a breath.

They could end her now if they wanted to. The bitch would start torturing us, we do not like her.

"NO!" Cynder roared, a black tentacle stretched out from the blob, giving the black rump a fierce smack, before though it smacked away a volley of arrows coming their way

Creep roared, smacking his paw against the wounded neck, the feeling of the blood flow making him tremble, such a precious life, so fragile, and despite it he was still being held back. It was just impossible to taste the whole spectrum of living in such a short period of time, let alone understand it fully. Maybe after some time he would learn to understand why Sugar does everything she can to not survive.

He simply couldn't find any reason why should they appease people who see them as worms. If Sugar would only realize that the powerful use the weak as tools, there is no sense in trying to mingle with populace that is less developed than you.

They won't understand.

Simplicity is always in abundance.

The mundane and common have their minds set, it does not matter that their thinking mostly leads to destruction. Common are in the majority and the sad result of this is that they are hindering progress.

The only solution to this stagnation was death.

This is a single thing that hadn't changed through all of the generations seen on this world.

Pity the planet that chooses their rules by the votes of majority.

A draconic body collided with them, sinking its claws into their flanks it dragged them towards the ground, they weren't high and the pace of the action was simply too fast for Creep to react since he was still new to this entire stress.

A strong thud filled his head when he crashed into the street, he could feel rocks giving up under his weight combined with the attacker's, the enemy simply shoved him right into the floor.

He landed on his back, opening his eyes he noticed a big green dragon towering over him, strong legs got him pinned to the ground, claws of the drake mercilessly wiggling around, ripping more pieces of his flesh.

The green dragon parted his mouth, green light filled the maw.

And then he spotted a black fire bursting higher behind the attacker, they were close to the hospital and one part of the magical wall just stretched out, growing a massive dark tentacle that lunged towards the big dragon, wrapping itself around his body.

The dragon hacked, the green mist turning into a wet puff of saliva when he was roughly squeezed, the big tentacle making even the wings fold. With one move the dragon was lifted from the ground, his claws dragging trails of the black girl's blood as they were torn out from her body. The tentacle swung swiftly and unfurled, hurling the dragon away as if he was a toy they got bored with. The massive body rolled over a group of people that were just about to reach them.

Cynder did not dare to look to see what was left of them when a boulder of draconic scales rolled over their little skeletons.

The entire ominous barricade flickered like a candle's flame irritated by a tiny, too strong gust of wind, only to return to its normal intensity a few seconds later.

Creep coughed, letting out a screechy moan, his slick with blood paws were clenching the recently created wounds, a line of the same color trickled down the corner of his mouth.

"We will die" he cried, black paws clenching over the wounds, tears of depression were flowing from his eyes freely

"Stop with the weeping and man up" Cynder cut in sharply, the black aura surrounding the dragoness embraced her tighter, the intimidating flames sinking into the holes the body was punctured with, swirling inside the wounds, burning at the flesh to stop the blood flow just to create a swirling, shadowy shell that mended the flesh together

"Hurts! I do not like pain!" Creep whined again, this time though his cry was less rough, devoid of the almost palpable agony from before

She acted on instinct, at least this is what she would call it if she had any emotional sense left in her. It wasn't healing what she was doing, all she knew was that would prevent Creep from bleeding out and somehow minimizes the damage. It was like putting a bandage over a cut that won't heal without a surgical needle. While not helpful in the long run, she could feel the process of draconic regeneration moving to other priorities while she managed to keep these wounds from becoming too serious.

It was patching, and as a black dragon wielding Shadow magic it seemed this method of healing worked while most likely it would eat everyone else from the inside. Put white scales on them and with all those black spots they could be taken for a retarded cow.

"Get used to it" she retorted coldly "You said yourself that we are a creature of habit. Being hated is only one of our perks, constant pain is the other. You can get used to it, trust me, body will adjust, it kinds gets problematic with sanity though, that little bonus you lose whenever you wake up, but since you hardly know what is what and since you're have eons behind your belt, I suspect that you're safe in that department. I'm pretty sure seeing the world end for who knows how many times, with all the people there most likely coming up with some weird shit made you crazier than a mole pretending to have an eagle's sight sorting through garbage while telling everyone you're digging through a gold pile"

Creep lifted himself up, his legs shook, across the street he noticed a group of people, they were dragging their crushed bodies along the street, some of them were already unmoving, heads cracked and some insides spilled on the road.

This group was close, would attack them if Sugar wouldn't stop their determination, many more were coming though and despite their power he simply knew that they won't be able to hold them all back.

"Just a little while longer Creep" Cynder sensed the anxiety, immediately comforting the dragon to prevent him from tearing himself even further apart "Coriza is hobbling to the temple, she will make it right, somehow. We just need to buy her time, we just can't let her become a wreck, she has to finish her job"

"What about us Sugar? If we survive this will your body and mind not become a wreck?"

"Body was through worse and besides it will heal quite well now when I have someone who gropes its ass with affection instead of poking it with disgust all the time. I'm sure Spyro's touch will cure any physical illness I will be bothered with. The mind though.." the aura around the dragoness flickered unsteadily "...I dunno. I have a feeling that Coriza was right when she said that things won't be the same again"

Creep extended his wings, he hissed when something snapped in the joint, sending a jolt of irritating pain through the nerves.

"Does it mean we continue on with the plan? Or do we unleash our potential on everyone?"

"That means we keep avoiding killing, especially dragons, we change our plan though. We start to hope, in all this crap there has to be something good happening somewhere. Hunter and Spyro are better than us, they know how to turn a shitty situation into a good one"

She examined her body, the sight of dirt, blood and cuts were a solid ground for a very poor esthetic judgment.

"I mean come on, there has to be someone out there who knows what he is doing"

*

They have no idea what they are doing!

Cloudas kicked the door shut with his hind leg, they slammed into place with such a force that the hinges creaked in agony. The moment he away from them a row of arrows and crossbows bolts thudded against the surface, each tip piercing through.

A little longer there and those tips would really scratch his every itch.

What kind of plan was this?! Why he agreed to do this?! Who in the right mind thinks that getting people chase you like rabid Wretches is a good idea?

He quickly dashed towards the side door, another entrance into the room, there was a small closet near it, a push would be enough to block the entrance and buy himself some more time.

Just when he was about to reach the door though they opened, a single cheetah entered the room, the feline had her sword at the ready. He did not think about it long, immediately biting at the exposed arm and swinging the cheetah inside the room, towards the door behind that just began to open as well.

The furry body slammed into the jagged door, impaling on top of the many spikes, the cheetah merely gasped, hard to say if she died there or not, he didn't care to be honest, all that mattered to him was the fact that he closed the door, gaining another valuable second or two while also managing to block the entrance the chick got through.

Sorry lady, you didn't deserve it since you're not right in the head, but out of the two of us it is preferable that I see the next day instead of you.

He sprinted towards the end of the room, noise rose all around him, the City Hall was a big building, but even it had limitations, especially if it looked like half of the city just got inside here!

A wall on his left collapsed entirely, in a shower of rock and flames a fire dragon charged through, heads low, the girl sprinted through the room. This strange sickness had one perk though, it made people lousy aimers, it was obvious the dragoness was heading for him, yet she was unable to correct her attack when it turned out that he was a bit farther than she anticipated.

Darkness or whatever you are ruling over this city, you really need to learn how to aim motherfucker!

The wave of the blazing trail though still managed to catch him, while it only slightly burned his feathers, it was the general pressure that got him, it tripped him over, making his paws lose their footing and twist around themselves like twigs.

He fell, making a roll on the ground, in time to see the girl smashing at the opposite wall on the other side of the room, a ball of flame burst after the impact. She landed on her butt, unable to break through this wall, the flames devoured whatever furniture was around, setting the room on fire in an instant.

Cloudas scrambled from the ground quickly, the heat clearly made whoever was on the other side of the wall back away from the heated surface.

He continued his sprint, kicking up in the air his own feathers that got torn off from his body during all this physical strain.

He pulled on the handle roughly, the door swung open and smashed against the frame as they opened to the maximum, the rumble and bounce that was created made the hinges scream in effort.

The moment he entered the corridor something exploded on his right side, the shockwave that was created threw him off his paws, slamming him against the far wall. From the created hole a draconic body flew through, paws grasping a big ice missile sticking out of the chest as it dragged the drake across the ground.

Cyril repelled a flanking attack, in his style no less, without a care for the well being of his opponent, treating the attackers as if they were normal bandits instead of his own citizens. Hopefully Hunter will learn this lesson well and follow in his fake leader's example.

Two corpses lied next to the Guardian, the ice dragon didn't seem to care about showing any respect, the bodies looked trampled, obviously stepped on many time already. The sight of the intestines scattered across the ground wasn't pretty for sure, but it didn't bother the Guardian in the slightest. Cyril had other priorities right now, the big dragon had his claws locked with a green dragon they called Terrador, another one of the Guardians.

The green one was stronger, his powerful teeth found an opening to sink into the blue shoulder.

"HUNTER!" Cyril roared in anguish, the wall shook after his blare, his parted mouth released a freezing breath at the ceiling that immediately grew icy spikes and ripped itself off the rest of the structure

The spiked tile fell directly on top of the Earth Guardian, slamming against the back of his neck, making him release the sharp grip on the shoulder from the sharp clench of fangs. It was not enough to make the dragon fall, the icy plate merely made the muscular legs of the dragon to buckle.

Louder noise stirred somewhere on the upper level, from what he recall Hunter supposed to be somewhere on the upper levels of this ruin of a building..

Now all he needed to do was to keep the mob away from the ice dragon.

He lifted himself from the ground, his mind set on dashing to the area where Cyril was battling Terrador. His paws kicked, pushing his body into a sprint.

And then a strong shock paralyzed the nerves in his left thigh. The quickly appearing floor bashing against his chin silenced whatever scream he tried to emit, instead of running his entire body stretched out along the ground, the unexpected pain silenced any feeling in the back paw, making it trip over the floor.

Cloudas rolled, dragging his rump closer, only to notice a sword jutting from his thigh and a cheetah jumping at him, the feline sunk his claws into the hock of his wounded leg. He twisted unnaturally, reaching for the handle of the blade, his paws clenched over it the very same moment the feline's hands did.

The sword moved, sinking a little deeper into his flesh, the movement made his entire body arch while stealing a scream from his throat. Muscles flexed in his legs as he tried to pull the blade back, fighting against the cheetah who was pressing against the handle almost with the entire weight of his body.

"Catch boy!" Cyril roared, his command followed soon by a groan of pain

He tilted his head back, seeing an ice projectile heading right above his head. One paw let go off the blade, making the feline drive it deeper, he clenched his teeth and jerked his body fiercely, snatching the flying missile in his paw.

It burned his palm, but he ignored the pain, immediately swinging with the icy tip at the feline. He ran the projectile straight through the cheetah's temple, the long missile pushed out from the other side of the head, a piece of brain still pulsed on the bloodied tip.

The cheetah's body dropped to the side numbly as if he would be a machine that got its source of power cut off.

He reached for the sword, his paws slipping off the handle when the building shook suddenly, his eyes caught a glimpse of Cyril being pinned against the wall by Terrador, blood splashed against the nearby wall when the ice dragon got slashed across the snout, unable to block completely. the assault of raw, physical strength.

He removed the blade, his thigh kicked up automatically, he swung with the blade, noticing younger dragon than him heading his way, who clearly still had troubles mastering his earth element since his opened mouth merely glowed faintly with green light , but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous, claws and teeth were still sharp.

He hurled the blade, not at his attacker though, but the Earth Guardian who was preparing another strike, his paw however was pushed back by the blade sinking into his foreleg. This break gave Cyril enough room to break free, his own claws slashed against the dragon, followed by an explosion of ice that pushed his opponent back.

Cloudas lifted himself up clumsily, the dragon was already lunging for a bite, he was already prepared to say goodbye to another chunk of his scales that will only hinder his progress further and most likely mean the death of him since soon the rest of the mob will catch up.

And then Hunter dropped from the sky, springing from the hole above that Cyril created, he landed directly on the young drake, pinning him against the ground. The blade the ice dragon glued to his hand sunk into the young drake's neck with ease, the body below his legs became stiff in a moment, young eyes wide and losing their color as they stared directly at the wind dragon.

Hunter briefly gazed his way, his eyes were full of tears, many drops kept dripping from his matted fur, staining him even further with blood that seemed to cover his entire figure by now. Not even the magical light could wash away the image of despair the cheetah was right now.

The scout dashed towards the two fighting Guardians, Cyril once again losing the fight when Terrador with a fierce blare rammed into the ice dragon with his entire weight, one small horn on his snout sunk into Cyril's chest.

Hunter touched the Earth Guardian's leg, the dragon's silhouette was embraced by a golden light in a second, one paw kept holding Cyril by the throat, the ice dragon stopped struggling.

Cloudas began to hobble towards the group, after a step or two he was dragged inside by Hunter.

Terrador blinked, life returning to his eyes, he stared directly into Cyril's cold blue ones. He couldn't say what surprised him more, his friend's snout appearing out of nowhere, or the deep claw cuts running through his blue draconic face that spurted line after line of blood like a severed vein.

"Cyril?"

"Be our armor!" his friend hacked at him

His eyes grew wide.

Those were three words he didn't hear in ages.

When they were young they liked pretending that they were some heroic dragons with special powers, but since the four of them were always the best friends they weren't good heroes individually, only together they were unstoppable. Each of them had a special power that none of the rest possessed, the ability was connected with their element so it was easy to remember. If every one of them activated it, they became a single, unstoppable entity.

He for example was the shield bearer, his earth magic always granting the group defensive superiority by forming a barricade of earth around them. Volteer was responsible for speed, with him they were flashing from spot to spot, fast as lightning, Ignitus was pure destruction, he was the essence of power and Cyril represented wit, his ice powers used to trip and cripple enemies.

Be our wit.

Be our power.

Be our armor.

Be our speed.

Each of them shouted his dedicated sentence and then they morphed into an unstoppable creature wrecking havoc, in truth they just joined their tails together and tried to walk, despite having all this imagined power, he remembers they spent a lot of time learning to walk together without pulling and each other and losing balance.

In true realities of battle their imagined super being would be a very easy prey. The imagination of youth however was not aware of such consequences. The most important part of this memory was the fact that whenever they yelled out their super sentences, they activated powers always arrived with a bang of their element.

It was just for show in all honesty, to give a meaning to the superbeing, when they grew older they forgot about the game and discarded the idiotic shouts of heroism as an embarrassment of youth. Between words joking that if the time comes where they would be really in trouble they would shout those words, people will take them for lunatics while they will know that they are in serious trouble.

A perfect plan that never seen fruition.

Until now.

Earth magic exploded around Terrador, wave of green light touched the walls around which immediately began to glow with the same hue. In a second the walls started to stretch and bend, becoming flexible as a freshly heated piece of steel under a smith's hammer. The extensions while looking like stone were clearly magical, glowing fierce green and filling every hole and entrance, getting thicker and thicker with each second.

Terrador's scales glowed brightly.

Cyril hacked roughly.

Only now he realized that he still had his paw clenched over his friend's throat. He unclenched his toes with a startled gasp and Cyril fell down on all fours, taking a deep whizz of relief.

"What is happening?" he muttered, confused

"I was kicking your ass" the ice dragon coughed, massaging his sore throat "But then Hunter saved you from embarrassment"

"Did we fight Cyril?"

"It doesn't matter, we must find Volteer quickly, he won't be himself so keep that in mind"

"What d-" Terrador hissed when suddenly his body flared up, the magical walls started to pulse like hearts, spitting cloud after cloud of green smoke

Someone wanted to get through and they were banging at his magical barriers fervently.

"Short story short, Volteer will act similar to the people outside, they are corrupted and rabid like animals. Hunter woke us from the trance and we need him to do the same with Volteer, our irritating friend might have an idea how to patch up all this mess"

"Hunter saved us?" the Earth Guardian was clearly surprised by the revelation, unable to believe that a single cheetah could be the solution

The moment he turned towards the scout and noticed his body glowing while being in the company of a wind dragon no less, he was keen to believe in everything right now.

"I have questions" Terrador stated bluntly, his eyes jumping between the feline and the wounded, young drake

"They have to wait" Cyril cut in sharply, wiping the blood that kept annoying his mouth, provoking it to open without his consent "We must find Volteer"

"He is on the upper level" Hunter stated gloomily, eyes fixed on the cold blade that was covered in blood from top to bottom, the blood of the young drake he just murdered was only a speck, he was just one soul, there were many more who fed the magical steel already, if he paid attention he swore that he could see blood squeezing through the cracks of the ceiling

He simply couldn't rise his sight to meet Cyril's eyes, his heart pained with blame and hate, both directing him to the Ice Guardian.

Terrador's tail bounced up, the spiked ball on the tip drumming against the floor.

"There are many people trying to break through my barricade, whatever you want to do act fast"

"Without you trying to bite my head off, we can bring Volteer to us, we collapse the ceiling and get out that way, you keep people away. A word of warning though, Volteer won't be his cheery self"

"You can't just ruin the building Cyril! Do you know how long it took to build? It might be old but it's still a solid construction"

The Ice Guardian shrugged.

"We already scheduled a renovation. Crack the ceiling Terrador"

He would protest in any other situation, destruction shouldn't be commenced without reasonable arguments, however this was a very special case. He didn't know how he got here for starters, not to mention the strange company and unknown aggression from outside their earthy shield. It was total chaos and he will demand explanation, chaos is unwelcome in Warfang as long as he is one of the heads ruling this city.

Since he was shackled by confusion he accepted the fact that in this particular case he needs to trust Cyril, judging from his bloodied features he really was set on accomplishing something and such determination was a rare sight today. Cyril hardly seemed to care about anything besides his ego and blind arrogance, seeing him not hateful towards anybody, but instead working for a general cause, was a clue that he just had to trust.

The Earth Guardian sighed deeply.

A small, green dot appeared on the corner of the ruined ceiling, just where the natural stone of the building connected with his magical barrier. The dot stretched out, turning into a thin line that drew itself slowly across the visible length of the ceiling, wince of concentration remained on the Terrador's snout even when the rest of the group couldn't see anything else happening.

Another sigh left the green throat.

He could hear the rocks murmurs in his skull, how they adjusted to the changing weight across the entire structure, gentle tectonic brushes could be felt between the murmurs. What he focused on mostly however were the audible thuds, some more hollow and quieter than the others.

People of different sizes walking over the floor of the upper level.

Many people.

The deeper sounds gave him clear evidence who among the group was of draconic origin, the sense of elements allowed him to judge the element.

After so many years together there was no chance for him to not recognize which magical spark belonged to his lifelong friends.

Volteer was among the people, not in the area above them directly, but the room next to them.

"Next room" Terrador mumbled quietly

"Collapse the ceiling" Cyril reminded his friend, freezing the wall that connected their room with the other

"People are with him, if I do it they might get hurt. There is also a risk that whoever is banging at the shield right now will attack us in the next room. My shield cannot reach that far"

"We have means of defending ourselves" the Ice Guardian gazed at the devastated cheetah with flattened ears, the feline simply couldn't drag his eyes off the bloodied blade "We already shed our hesitations, do the same Terrador if you will need to. Make sure to keep the barrier up so the horde won't get to us and maybe it won't be as bad as I predicted"

The wall was frozen solid, Cyril's claws sunk into the ice and it immediately began showing spider webs of cracks.

"Now!" the wall exploded, followed by a grinding noise of parting stone not too far away, the ceiling in the next room opened up like a gaping maw and dragged whoever was standing in the unfortunate place down

Among the falling bodies Cyril managed to notice one big familiar one, the sight of it immediately made his head aim up where he released a powerful blob of ice. It exploded right in the middle of the hole, stretching along its whole length and blocking the opening in the ceiling, catching everyone unfortunate enough into its freezing embrace, entombing them alive.

Terrador's body automatically jerked, he gasped, instinct demanding to step in as the main protector of this city. And if not for the increasing in intensity drumming against his shield that steadily depleted him from energy he would most likely succumb to the notion

Most likely dooming them all.

Cyril is how he is, but even he wouldn't slaughter his own people with no valid reason, their relationship as friends might have lost their charm and became rather cold over the years and despite that Cyril remembered words of a game long since forgotten.

That alone bought him benefit of doubt, he just hoped that his ice friend knows what he is doing.

There were other two dragons falling inside the room besides Volteer and all of them created cages of electricity around them, lightning lances of which cracked all around the room.

Cyril dropped the idea of attacking and immediately jumped in front of Hunter and the limping wind dragon, covering his body behind his wings. Frost embraced his scales and membranes, lightning crashed over it sending puffs of icy mist in the air.

The defense made him realize just how tired he is. Wounds on top of all this struggle depleted his elemental energy greatly, not to mention that freezing parts of the building and maintaining such blockades was taxing, especially if your energy is being consumed by what seemed to be thousands of other things.

The bolts broke through his shield with ease, slashing with their shocking power against his membranes, a tendril here and there managed to burn his body when it found a crack in his defense when his figure was being tossed about by paralyzing electricity.

Some people managed to move under the Guardian's chest, stabbing at his legs and torso.

Some tried to flank them, yet Cloudas despite his injuries rammed into the group with his horns, holding their progress for a while.

Hunter immediately dashed forward, these corrupted people were easy enemies when they aren't focused on you, their reaction time was not existent. The magical blade he swung cut through the air swiftly, he cut the people like trees, with no effort from them to defend themselves and simply seeing them fall without a sound made him feel really like an emotionless lumberjack just doing his job.

Terrador noticed the trouble Cyril was going through and immediately stomped with his paw, the floor of the room the group was in currently pulsed green and immediately every part of debris that scattered the ground was lifted in the air, embraced by a delicate greenish hue of magical energy.

Immediately he commanded his magic to attack those that threatened his allies.

Rocks and pieces of furniture started to dash across the air, crashing into the dragons specifically that kept maintaining their electrical charges. They had no defense, focused merely on attack, the crashing stones had no troubles in breaking their attacks, he even feared that he will cause more damage to them than he expected.

Not even Volteer, the most experienced of them all, showed any will to protect himself and he was the one who received the majority of this crushing force. He felt his heart jumping into his throat at the sight, feeling a part of the pain he inflicted upon his friend.

Volteer charged with a roar, provoked by the constant attack he rammed into Cyril, shoving him onto the ground. Blood spurted from the Guardian's mouth when he coughed the moment his back hit the floor.

Hunter barely jumped out of the way, almost getting trampled under the big paws of the yellow dragon. Volteer didn't seem to care that before he reached Cyril there were several other people that tried to scramble from the ground, only to become embedded into it by his paws.

Electricity began to crack all around the big dragon, blasting as well from beneath his paws.

Cyril reacted with the last ounces of his strength, no way he will allow himself to get fried. He broke control with the ice brick that he used to seal the ceiling with. The huge block fell down, it's weight even pinning a big dragon like Volteer to the ground.

After this he wasn't the only one spitting blood any longer.

The bodies that were frozen inside the brick shattered into pieces, some of the eyes were still blinking as they shot all around the room.

When the Electric Guardian was slammed into the floor, the electricity he was emanating died with a sharp crack as if someone would knock at a door only once.

Hunter immediately dashed towards one of the sticking out yellow paws, he touched it instantly and then dropped to the floor when an arrow got stuck into his rib.

Cyril sent an ice missile at the archers killing them on the spot.

Volteer was embraced by the familiar light, his mouth parted and he began to roar in anguish when all the pain his corrupted form wasn't bothered with struck him.

"Terrador, crack the slab" Cyril pleaded

The Earth Guardian didn't hesitate, swiping with his tail he sent a magical boulder at the brick of ice, the. He slammed his tail when the ball was about to reach the fallen electric dragon, making it bounce up and place itself right above the ice pinning the drake.

The boulder went down sharply and with a rumbling smack destroyed the slab of ice, turning it into pieces.

Volteer's scream turned into a gasp of relief.

"Hunter doesn't look to good guys!" Cloudas yelled as he put pressure on the wound, keeping the arrow stuck in the cheetah's body, he had his wings spread wide open, forming a protective umbrella against any more airborne attacks

Hunter laid on his back, arms spread wide, he was breathing shallowly, eyes aimed at the ceiling, distant. His fur reeked of blood, dirt, and burnt flesh, his chest was completely red, presenting different stages of burns.

Volteer's eyes were wide, tongue inside the mouth already wiggling, beginning the morphing of ideas into words.

"No time to explain!" Cyril slammed the yellow mouth shut by putting a paw on top of his friend's snout

"People are sick, Hunter heals, we need to intensify his power to heal everyone, not only a single person one by one. How do we do that? Quick Volteer!"

Volteer possessed many annoying traits that only got more irritating the older he got, but despite everything his quick mind and intelligence was something spectacular and he could already see it at work the moment the purple eyes blinked and opened up again, shinning with brilliance and wit that was simply unreachable for everyone else.

He woke up from a trance, everyone else would be confused and lost, at least for a while like Terrador was and would be for much longer if not for the trigger he used. Volteer needed no such thing, already processing the situation from the perspective that was needed.

"Flare's crystal, it undergo a taken concatenations of actions in order to procure a stalwart affinity to the archetype. It caused an serendipitous function, a fusillade of energy when Spyro absorbed it, I can utilize it to effectuate into extant a similar instance of splitting as a ramification of internal pressure"

"Whhhhat?" Cloudas cocked his head

Despite the injuries, both physical and mental, a faint smile appeared on Hunter's lips.

"Volteer has a crystal that he knows how to go boom with Hunter's power. You're lab?" Cyril explained bluntly

Volteer nodded.

"Affirmative"

"Terr-"

"Protect Hunter!" the Earth Guardian barked before his name could be called out

The floor beneath the group flashed green, Volteer immediately snatched the cheetah and the strange young dragon in his grasp.

Cyril in the same time created a solid platform of ice below them.

The floor collapsed, dragging the group down through what seemed to be several floors, everything happened so quick that neither of them could really tell when they hit solid earth exactly. All they knew was the fact that the platform of ice crashed under them and the surroundings changed.

From a typical home to a cave of some scientist.

They were in the laboratory.

Thank the Ancestors that Terrador is so familiar with construction and buildings, he knew precisely that they were several floors above Volteer's laboratory.

They could hear the echo of battle coming from the top, Terrador was there all alone now and he had practically half of the city against him.

Volteer got up quickly, ignoring the snaps in his paws, he limped towards one of the most flashiest of desks, filled with all sorts of crystals, one particular stood out from the rest, trapped in a contraption which resembled artificial bird talons. The crystal had no colors, being completely transparent.

Hunter was put next to it, his glowing form stealing a part of his attention, yet an explosion coming from the top quickly shifted it back where it mattered.

Volteer pressed some buttons and plates, the crystal began to glow and spin, very quickly.

"Begin Hunter" the Guardian stepped back, observing the scene with palpable fascination

The cheetah turned towards the crystal, not knowing what to do exactly he placed a hand on top of it, like he did with all the rest of the dragons.

The crystal merely flashed with yellow light, the result was far away from the explosion Volteer spoke about.

"Increase potential" Volteer suggested

The thing needs more power.

How on the Ancestors is he supposed to charge more power when this magic isn't his own? He has no control over it, the lives of the people hang on balance and he sits here like a lost boy in the woods and absolutely doesn't know what to do.

He started to cry, like he did when he was a child all alone in a dark forest many years ago.

Should he beg and plead like he did when he was young?

His tutors showed up then, who will listen now to sweet words?

There is no one here that expects he will fail.

He slammed his fist against his chest with a depressed roar, instead of a empty thud, he heard a click.

The medallion.

Hope.

Hope is always with me.

His eyes widened, returning to a moment in his life that was as strange as today is.

"What is milady?" he asked

"Blood over your hands, pawn inside the master plan. Demon in your ear, evil on your breath. You brought the wolves right here, you brought the kiss of death" the young girl mumbled, her words quiet as if she would be speaking to herself

She brought her hand to her mouth, seemingly kissing her palm, but the moment she extended her hand to him he realized she was holding his medallion which she must have accidently slap away from his hand during her unexpected chaotic explosion.

He never felt it was missing, something that never happened before.

"I will always... " she licked her lips "here, your symbol"

He took it, a strange feeling of accomplishment washed over him which was as depressing as it was pleasant.

"Hold on to it, tightly, ok? You know what it represents, yes?"

"Hope"

The girl smiled weakly, it was a heartbreaking sight.

"Don't lose it ok? She's pretty. Treat her with the same amount of respect you treated me, she will like that fancy title you called me I'm sure. Use it only when you really need it ok? It was a little tiring to listen to it constantly. We girls like nice words, but only when they are used in the right moment"

She reached out, brushing her fingers against his arm.

"I owe you that much"

"I will do as you ask mi-"

"Nah-ah" she put her finger on his mouth "Right moment" she said sternly

He nodded in understanding.

She smiled, sending him an invisible, airborne kiss.

She knew, she knew all along.

Whoever you are, thank you.

He ran his thumb lovingly over the medallion before planting his hand once again against the crystal, squeezing it tightly.

"Please help me" he mumbled reverently, closing his eyes "Milady"

His whole body burned with such an intense light that Cyril, Volteer and Cloudas had to back away and shield their eyes. The crystal absorbed all of the illumination, turning gold in a second, a bubble of heavenly light stretched out from it and covered the entire laboratory in its embrace, making everyone inside disappear behind the majestic curtain.

And then the crystal shattered, sending a shockwave of shimmering gold into the sky and all around.

Every torch and brazier that was struggling under the thick layers of darkness flashed brightly with fresh flames, there was no speck of shadow visible.

When the light left the room, making everyone appear again, they started to exchange glances, they were confused but the smiles stretching their lips spoke volumes.

They knew it worked.

The fighting above stopped.

Peace and serenity fell over them.

In all this despair they found light.

They knew who was responsible.

Everyone in the city knew.

They have found Hope.