FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 16

"This doesn't look like the way to Volteer's library" Flare slowed down his pace, the Ice Guardian's tail swashing away from him as he basically stopped to pay more attention to his surroundings

He wasn't really the most perceptive type, truth be told Warfang, especially its interiors looked the same to him, just stone in different colors. Time spent in prison really made him indifferent to the art of architecture, rendering everything made out of a building material similar to rock uninteresting and boring.

Preferably left behind.

While he understood that the city and its buildings had many shortcuts he did not know about, even his prison had corridors like that so there was no doubt that a city as big as this one has some too and who wouldn't know them better than a Guardian? A guy who spent most of his life here.

This is why the path to Volteer didn't surprise him that much, even if it didn't feel like much of a a shortcut to him, he himself knew a better way from the hospital, like the one they took with Spyro when they went to visit Iris, he didn't want to interfere with the big dragon, he was like a Master and he learned already that you don't cross a Master.

Last time it almost ended in a fiery bath in the Disposal Room.

Even if he wanted to start a conversation his words were met only by grumbles or short answers he couldn't make much sense of. Sparx explained to him that when people react like that they are thinking and don't wish to be disturbed, he said that he must respect that if he aims to make and have friends.

So he did, following the ice dragon's boring pace without a word, focusing only to keep the distance with the blue tail, barely noticing the world around.

Until now.

The encroaching darkness and the dimming of light made him feel again feel like he would be shoved back into a tight, cramped tunnel with worms and bugs all around. Fear even if latent is still fear and this similarity was really what made him look around the place with more focus, to check if he sees worms again like he did in that narrow tunnel way back in the mole's special volcano. This caution was what made him notice the unrecognizable difference at first glance on the walls.

They were simply too dark, too common to lead to the resting place of the usually excited Electric Guardian.

He inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring and then his burning body spat tendrils of flames when he sneezed, dust irritating his nose.

"It doesn't smell like a library either" he rubbed his nose, giving his paws a more intense sniff to catch the familiar and welcoming scent of tomes and burnt wood

There was no such scent present.

Flare winced, his dangling, burning mane touching his frowned brow.

"Are you sure that you are going the right way?"

"Be silent" Cyril snapped, not bothering to turn his head, his mouth flashing blue, tendrils of ice magic curling up the walls like webs of spiders

"Follow, we are almost there"

The red dragon sighed, this was probably the hundredth time he heard the dragon say that, typical way of dismissal of someone you think is not worth your attention.

He got really strong purple dragon vibes here.

He wasn't angry though, something he himself found strange to be honest, back in the days the Beast would already snap, especially at a dragon like Cyril who has the ego of a Master, but has only blue scales in the end. However the Beast was silent for a time now, not counting the mornings where it has to feed it nothing else is happening.

He still couldn't figure it out, but he suspected it had something to do with his friends, he had never so many creatures around him he could trust, creatures that care for him one way or the other. Muses all of them, characters worthy of mentioning in a story where the plot is secondary to their development, such creatures can never be forgotten.

Maybe he will take Volteer's offer after all.

"This place looks like a dungeon" despite Cyril's order, Flare's youthful curiosity just didn't allow his mouth to remain shut, his tail flipping to the side to scrape over the familiar, sharp stones "Yup. Dungeon. In my prison we had walls like that too, rough and ugly, back then I didn't even know what comfort so I didn't much care.

He sighed longingly.

"I miss a bed" tongues of his burning parts stood on end like ears of a cheetah "Is there a bed in here?"

Cyril growled loudly, making chips of the ancient old rocks fall down onto the ground, his steps becoming slow and heavy, each tap on the floor creating a frosty paw print behind. The insubordinate child was getting on his nerves, he hated when his orders were ignored, especially frustrating was the fact that even a criminal doesn't hold them in any regard.

A criminal that for now remains only guilty in his head, it was an irritating obstacle but one every judge should respect nevertheless. In their culture you don't tie or cut tongues of those charged with criminal activity, so since as a Guardian he had to follow a certain code he was forced to entertain the young drake just to keep him close.

Besides history taught them well where blind pursue for power leads to, while he was a fan of blunt and straightforward actions, he had enough reason, despite the popular opinion, to realize that followers are a hefty chunk of every triumph. Malefor himself couldn't stand against the whole world alone, so their was no possibility he would achieve victory where even a purple dragon failed.

The only good thing about all of those damn rules is that you can twist them in your favor if you know how population and opinion work.

And there was no stronger leash than that of blame.

"This is a dungeon, there will be no beds here or any other comfort" Cyril answered the dumb question, he had to lick his lips several times after that just to get rid off the taste of idiocy and worthlessness from his mouth.

"So why are you taking me here? I didn't know Warfang has dungeons, I also didn't knew that they connect with Volteer's library"

"They don't"

Flare stopped, cocking his head.

"They don't? So why are you taking me here if Volteer called me?"

"You shouldn't expect a different result when you repeat the same thing again and again"

"Oh no, not you too with the smart talk" the fiery drake shook his head in disappointment "I have troubles understanding stuff like that"

Cyril looked back with disgust, there was nothing more infuriating for him than a dragon whining his heart issues away instead of facing them horns first. Not to mention that this constant crying developed a social tendency in the populace to show support in such cases, or at least empathy if you cannot help.

Otherwise you are impolite.

Ancestors only knew how much he wanted to thwart this worthless and pitiful acceptance of weakness. He couldn't though, Ignitus' rules, as a Guardian, when you take matters in your private paws, you must display the attitude worthy of a leader.

Fuck.

"What I mean boy is that if you keep asking the same question when I didn't give you an answer for the first time, not much will change if you repeat it"

"Ohhhh" Flare moaned in realization and then he frowned, his fiery body parts flashing briefly "Why won't you exactly?"

"Because I chose not to" the Ice Guardian narrowed his eyes challengingly on the young dragon

Red shoulders rose in an indifferent shrug.

"Okay"

Cyril's expression relaxed in a shock of surprise that soon morphed into doubt. This boy was strange, while he heard stories about his blazing alter ego he simply couldn't see it fitting into such a simple mind like that. If that would be the case than all of this is a mistake.

Shit, better to press it before he falls into a pit of guilt.

"Come, I want to show you something before we go to Volteer" and just like that, as if the previous doubts and questions didn't exist, Flare began following him

It was unbelievable that in a world ravaged by wars, schemes and death such trustworthiness and serenity could be found. For a second there he wished that he possessed such limited brain power, life would be so much simpler then.

"These corridors were erected before Warfang came to be, they served as the holding cells for important figures during the wars before Malefor, even during the reign of Cynder and the Dark Master several high ranked ape leaders had the discomfort of finding themselves here. Now that Warfang was built on top of these dungeons they were forgotten, prisoners are now kept in more...civil environment"

Flare chuckled.

The sound of unexpected joy made the Guardian's tail tip flash blue.

"What's so funny?"

"I just remembered Volteer talking about history and the way it makes circles. I'm from the past, my prison was made of corridors like that and now I find out that you guys did the same thing. I mean it's small compared to my cells, but you still experimented on people here, made them do all sorts of stuff"

"We did not experiment on anyone boy, we are not barbarians"

"You put leaders here, masters have information or special skills, something you wanted and you made them give it to you" Flare shrugged "Sounds like experimenting to me"

He couldn't believe the audacity coming from the boy, how he dares comparing primitives of his age where purple dragons couldn't even wield more elements than fire to their time with developed politics and understanding of magic far beyond the understanding of simpletons like the red dragon who not so long ago learnt that plates are used for eating instead of shitting.

Whatever doubt and feeling of guilt that built up inside his heart was washed away, not to return for some time.

Good riddance.

"We're here" Cyril grumbled, his nostrils flaring with magic blue as his paw touched a nearby wall, toes spreading apart, each claw sinking into the stone, thrusting into cracks only the Guardian could see

The wall slid to the side, revealing nothing but a pitch black room within, stench of dirt and presence of chittering rats was strong in here. Cyril breathed a wave of ice magic inside while he himself stepped in, the room flared up with a bluish hue, several braziers located inside burned with a pristine, blue flame as if the magic of an ice dragon would be the only thing that could flare them up.

The light in the room remained dim however, no matter how strong the flames were, blue was simply not a perfect hue that matched with strong black when it came to lightening up an interior. Still it was enough to tell what was inside.

And there wasn't much.

The room was small, maybe two or three strides of an adult dragon were enough to cross its entire length, it wasn't wide either, there was place maybe only for two in here and even that would make them grind their scales against each other. At both sides of the room there were two cages, giving four in total, the pens were rectangular, embraced by thick, solid balls, grime hugged each metallic pipe.

The cages were big enough to house an adult dragon if need be, nevertheless their size was unimportant in comparison to the fact what they reminded the fire dragon of.

Purple dragons locked him in cages like that when he couldn't no longer tell if he is seeing the world through his or the Beast's eyes. Sometimes they locked his wrecked female opponents together with him, as spoils to whom he can do whatever he wants while they observed and taunted him.

They called them the pens for rabid animals, why he could never tell when they always locking dragons inside.

The displeasing memories held Flare in the doorstep, making only his head to poke inside, his entire body flickering weakly.

"I think you went the wrong w-w-way" a slight stammer slipped into the red dragon's voice, his red eyes dilating as he looked over the creepy, horrendously tight room, pupils pulsed so lively that there were moments that his natural black slits rounded into a typical orb

"I know what I'm doing boy" Cyril snarled, clearly disliking the idea of a brat like that calling him an idiot "Get inside"

"I-I-I see everything from here, t-t-thanks"

"You don't, what I want to show you is on this wall here" blue paw tapped on the dirty rock, kicking dust in the air

Flare craned his neck, twisting all around to gaze on the wall the Guardian mentioned, his view was limited due to the fact that the massive, scaly body was in the way, however it was still enough for him to form an opinion.

"I don't see anything. Wrong place, let's go"

"You can't see it because I'm covering it"

"Back up and I will check"

Cyril's tail tip started to bounce up in irritation.

"It won't help, I need to be here with you, this wall is from your time, two symbols are on the wall here, fire and ice I think. Together we can open it to see what's hidden behind"

"That makes no sense, there are a lot of fire dragons here, someone else can help you I'm sure"

"Have you not heard that I said this thing is from your time?!" Cyril growled, ice breath wafting from his mouth, turning the wall ahead chilly blue

All this time this young moron was blabbering nonsense and now when this whole farce was about to end the kid starts using logic. It was maddening.

"Get in here this instant"

"Just move back, I'm sure I can help from here, my fire reaches far"

Cyril growled, the frozen wall cracked in places under the vibrato of his infuriated voice. He tried to make this civil, calculating all rights and wrongs about his plan, but the annoying audacity and now even more maddening reluctance of the dragon was unbearable.

Screw this.

He was never wrong.

The Guardian's tail tip flashed brightly, sending a bolt of ice that quickly manifested into an icy wall behind the fire drake. Flare gasped when he felt a rigid, frozen poke in his butt when the unexpected jolt of magical energy startled him. The thick tail then swung towards the young drake, wrapping itself around his neck and giving him a strong tug.

Flare chocked, thrusting claws into the scaly snake around his neck, yet before he made any damage the clench was gone, leaving him coughing and rubbing his painful throat. Flare was unaware that the tail made a swing just to strike him soon after, sending him flying inside the pen.

The bars clicked loudly when Cyril locked the cage while Flare in the meantime gathered up himself and his thoughts from the ground.

"W-What are you d-doing?!" the red drake blurted out in between rough coughs, his throat sore, body pulsing with each pulse of choke clenching his throat

"Enough of this nonsense. I know what you did criminal" Cyril stared at the gasping dragon callously

"What? Why did you attack me?"

"At first I wanted you to get inside willingly, but then I decided that you are not worth my civil approach, after all you gave none to your victims. As a Guardian, even when I might not show it sometimes, I do care about the well being of my people. I still treated you lightly all things considered"

Flare sprang up, his body burning brightly, he stared back at the ice dragon with a mixture of fear and anger.

"I don't know what you are talking about"

Cyril callously scratched the bars with his claws, playing a morbid tune.

"Several people went missing in the past, a pair of young cheetahs, a mole, a child unexpectedly died and to top it all there was a day when an entire house exploded, killing a whole family inside. A lot of unfortunate events happened after our victory over the Dark Master, all those events happening after the appearance of the Crystal Drakes, like yourself" he gripped the bars tightly, making them squeal while his blue eyes flamed up icily "I don't believe in coincidences"

The flames around Flare's body flickered in uncertainty, at first he couldn't put the pieces together, genuinely not knowing what the Guardian was talking about. He had no idea that there were people missing, even the family he mentioned was nothing now but a hazy afterthought not worth dwelling on, he even forgot where the place was exactly. But then he realized one thing, whenever it came to taking life he was hardly present, the mentioning of the murdered family made him rekindle the memories from a day that looked like ancient history now.

Like a completely different life.

He couldn't understand why it was coming back to him now, the Beast fed on the ashes a very long time ago so it should not matter anymore. Besides whenever it he wanted to take vengeance on the worms, it was always the Beast pushing his paws, he was innocent in all of this.

Cyril noticed the realization in the dragon's eyes, the obvious enlightenment making him gasp faintly. He could feel a confession coming and instead of feeling pure anger at the young killer the sense of relief was simply too strong to be overcome.

He had no evidence against the dragon, following only the words of some random earth dragon and his own instinct, coupled with the desire to see his people and city thrive without the shackles of a madman rattling near the ears.

There were times he feared that between the people listening to Brill's poisoned tongue and himself he was the one being crazy here. What he did is unworthy of a Guardian, he broke every rule of law by condemning a dragon without solid proof of his crimes, but now he could see it was worth it, he can bathe away the shame when he will save this city from becoming a pasture for sheep.

And all that without even trying to call to the dragon's naivety.

Come on boy, say it so we can move to the next step of the plan.

"I didn't do it" Flare finally answered

And the answer gave the Guardian basically a heart attack, his paws slipped from the bars to thrust into the chest, sending a shocking pulse to make the most important organ beat again.

"What did you just say?" the Ice dragon whispered back, his voice barely hearable over the cracking flames surrounding the red dragon

"I did not kill any people"

Cyril growled slamming his fist into the bars, ice magic crackled all around after the impact. The metal did not bend under the strong blow, instead it returned a bolt of pain back along the blue foreleg.

"Stop taking me for a fool boy! You won't get out of here with lies!"

Flare shrugged.

"I'm not lying, it was not my fault"

"You are only making this worse for yourself. If you won't cooperate then you will never get out of here. Someone told me exactly what were you doing when the house exploded"

Flare gulped, not because he was afraid that some worms were gone and Cyril will find about it, he was afraid to learn the name of the one who gave the information to the Guardian. In this city there was only one dragoness who he told about what happened.

"Iris told you everything?" he looked down on the ground, saddened

Of course he could expect something like that from her, it wouldn't be the first time she punished him for something he did, but this time it somehow felt different, almost like Diazen when he betrayed him. He could feel something changing between him and Iris, something special, where she in a small bit starts to care for him too, genuinely.

And now this, betrayal of a secret. Of course he was aware that it might have happened before all these changes, he understood it, nevertheless it hurt, hurt very much..

Flare wasn't even aware when his body became almost dark, every flame barely a twinkle, just like he wasn't aware that his legs gave under him, making him drop on the dirty floor.

Cyril was dumbfounded, at the beginning he couldn't believe that the moron trusted him, just like that, without questioning his intentions, he was truly a naïve fool. Not to mention that he gave him the perfect response on a platter, if he would mention the green boy he doubted Flare would cooperate any further. This Iris might have been the leverage he was looking for.

But then the boy dropped like a tired fish, he was no longer sure what he should say, he doesn't want the idiot to drop dead with a broken heart, not when he needs him, if he pushes it harder he will most likely need a healer and that was something he has to avoid as well.

The troubling news of someone else knowing about the crime without reporting it is a problem for another time.

"She didn't do it willingly"

Flare's head snapped, his whole body bursting with fresh flames as he threw himself at the bars with a ferocious roar, slamming against the metal so hard that the shocking pulse reaching the ceiling made several rocks drop like rainfall.

Cyril jerked back from the intense heat wafting from the dragon, eyes carefully observing the red bars, while they were made of magic resistant metals their blazing shape was a worrying sight nevertheless. After years of neglect their resistance might not be the same and perhaps it was only a matter of time before they melt.

Luckily nothing like that seemed to happen, he was once again affirmed of the mole's craft.

"What did you do to her?" the red drake growled, his voice strangely modulated, switching between two tones, high and low as if there would be two dragons speaking at the same time

For a moment he really began to believe Flare's words that he wasn't the one who did the killing.

"She got drunk and started blabbering around" the Guardian lied, observing the dragon carefully, he felt that success of his plan strictly depends on the fact that Flare won't feel betrayed by this girl, nor when he feels as if someone had hurt her

Luckily the bright flames surrounding the red drake calmed down a bit, while the young drake didn't seem to be convinced, he clearly didn't suspect him of lying for some reason. He had forced the boy into a cage, locked him up against his will and the dragon still believes everything he says.

What a weird boy.

"I never seen Iris drinking" the red eyes blinked, lost in thought

"What she wants to show you is her business only, my interest lies in the accusations and as a Guardian of this city and one of the embodiments of order I charge you with the murder of citizens of Warfang"

Flare didn't seem to be affected by the charges, either not caring or simply not understanding them. When his eyes rose to meet the Guardian's, it was Cyril's mouth that dropped in shock.

The dragon was bored.

"Fine, but it wasn't me, it was the Beast. And Beast only kills worms and bad purple dragons. Not Spyro though, Spyro is cool" he sat down, scratching his burning mane in confusion "So why did you lock me up here? We are waiting for Volteer or something?"

Cyril was speechless, the more time he spent conversing with the dragon the more he felt that he was becoming stupider. For a moment he no longer knew who was on the right side of the bars, because each minute felt as if he was trapped here with the red dragon and not the other way around. He threw Flare into an empty, dirty cell in a middle of nowhere, put serious charges against him, to which he plead guilty in a way and it was him who felt as if he was in trouble here.

"I'm not sure you are aware boy in what situation you are in. The crimes of murder are a serious offense, faced only with serious consequences"

"Like what?"

Cyril narrowed his eyes on the dragon, eyes burning menacingly, he put up his most intimidating of expressions.

"For murder of so many the only sentence you can get is death"

"Okay, but after that I can leave and see my friends again?"

The ice dragon thrust his claws deeply into the cracked floor, tongues of ice slipped into the openings, turning the floor into a pulsing volcano of magic.

This had to be a provocation, the idiot wants to trigger him and force him to make a mistake. It had to be mockery, it is not possible to be so stupid as to not realize what means a death sentence.

"You will never see your friends again"

It was that sentence that made Flare's head jerk back up in attention.

"Why not?"

In this moment Cyril thanked the Ancestors that he was an royalty with some intelligence and cleverness under the skull, otherwise he would throw a fit and start explaining to the fool why exactly he won't see anything anymore after his carcass will become food for the rats. This intelligence helped him see the spark of fear in the boy's eyes when he mentioned the improbability of meeting his friends again. It was the same type of leverage that the Iris girl was, a friend and for some strange reason Flare seemed to be more afraid of losing connections with the ones he cares about than his own demise.

"Because you will stay here forever"

The flames around the drake flickered.

"I don't want to! Just kill me, or make someone else do it! All crimes will be paid and everyone will be happy!"

Cyril smirked, for his own sanity ignoring the absurdity of the boy's request and focusing solely on the leverage he had. Friends. This will be the trading card he needed.

"Naturally everything can be arranged if you accomplish one task for me, then all the restrictions will be gone"

Flare sprang up, looking at the Guardian with huge, hopeful eyes.

"What is it?"

"Do you know the temple? And the main priest that lives there?"

"The den? Yeah. I know the smelly, old mole too"

"I want you to burn the place down together with the mole"

Flare's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Only then you will see your friends again" the Guardian assured the drake callously

"If you want the guy dead why won't you kill him yourself?"

"You are the murderer boy, you must pay for your crimes"

"And to pay for killing worms you want me to kill some old guy?" Flare cocked his head in confusion, scratching his head fervently "Your law is weird, so is killing a crime or not anymore?"

Cyril couldn't believe his ears, he was being chastised by a bloody killer, he tried to be patient all this time, but the bluntness and questioning made him feel like he was the guilty one here and this is what ruined the delicate balance of patience. He was doing it all for this city and its people and the only thing he gets in return is an retarded murderer who has the audacity to claim that his logic is flawed.

Nothing would be flawed if this idiot had a brain under that red skull!

"Stop questioning me!" Cyril roared, striking the bars with his magically infused paws, the blow made Flare jump back, but not because he was startled by the aggression, but because the bars of the cage send out a strong shockwave that threw everyone nearby backwards.

Cyril who had struck the metal in the first place received the blunt of the force, the deflection made him remember that the bars were warded against magic and the slight twist in the paw that made a bone crack there somewhere made sure that he will never forget it again.

"I give you a day to think on the offer" Cyril hissed through clenched teeth and immediately turned to leave

"Wait a second!" Flare turned into a bolt, slipping through the bars and manifesting on the other side of the cage, giving the ice dragon an attentive tug on the tail

Cyril froze, his eyes growing so wide that they began poking his skull. His head turned around slowly, this whole experience had to be some weird dream.

"You want to leave me here?"

Flare was standing in front of him with his red paw against his tail. Cyril was shocked, he convinced himself that he must be seeing things, the cage the dragon was locked in is magically sealed, no amount of magic would melt the bars. He blinked several times, desperately trying to force his brain to see a hole in the cage but no matter how many times his eyelashes flapped, the cell was intact.

The dragon had somehow left the cage and he had no restrains from showing that it was easy for him to escape his lockdown.

He had enough, he couldn't be here any minute longer or he will surely lose his mind. His plan was stressful enough as it is, he cannot deal with idiocy any more.

Cyril growled, giving the dragon no wordy answer, instead sending a gust of ice directly at him, surprised Flare got struck by the magic flame, the force of it chilling his bones and sending him flying at the end of the room.

It gave the Guardian enough space to slip away and move the wall back into place, closing the special cell. The only thing good about it was the fact that it can only be opened from the outside, so the dragon might have slipped through the bars, but there was no way he can beat a thick wall.

Not even Cynder could teleport through such a barricade.

Cyril leaned over the dirty wall and let out a prolonged sigh of relief, his twisted paw pulsing with pain.

On the other side of the wall he could hear scratching of claws against stone and muffled shouting.

"Don't leave me here! I don't like dark, cramped places!"

"Fuck you" the Guardian grumbled, hobbling away from the cell as if he went through a serious battle

It won't be so easy as he thought it would be, but nevertheless he was certain that the future of Warfang being turned into a pasture for meek sheep is over.

It was only a matter of time before the whole concept burns into cinders.

As long as he lives dragons won't be on a leash.

He will never allow people to leave under the dictate of one soul.

*

"I'm so sorry this has happened to you" Cynder pulled back with a wince, gazing upon the eye patch over the cleric's eye

"I have survived, this is all that matters" Coriza responded, presenting a sweet smile

Spyro fiddled with his claws, aware that the situation was uncalled for, but his curiosity was eating away at him in huge bites. He knew what empathy is, he had seen and experienced many wounds, saw many people suffering under the pain.

But Coriza wasn't one of them who seemed to fall under the burden of ache, in fact she seemed to accept the fact and that knowledge alone was weakening his defenses against the desire of a childish urge to learn more about the surrounding world.

"I'm glad it doesn't hurt" he bit his lip, rubbing a foreleg fervently "Does it really glow?"

"Spyro!" his mate scolded him, punching him in the shoulder

"What?" he exclaimed in shock "It was only a question!"

"Coriza is hurt! You could show a bit more understanding here!"

"It's okay" the cleric giggled, rubbing her eye patch "If you do wish I can show you my eye. I'm getting used to the perspective, it no longer gives me a headache"

"Yes!"

"No!"

Both dragons blurted at the same time, looking at each other as if they would offend each other greatly.

"Coriza is not some exhibit to be poked and leered on!"

"Oh man, just lift the patch Cor" Sparx whined loudly "Cyn wants to see it just as much as Spyro does, she's just pretending otherwise"

The black dragoness glared at the dragonfly.

"That's not true!"

"Oh yeah?" he grinned "So if Spyro takes a look and you don't you won't nag him about it later to tell you what he saw?"

Cynder snorted, looking first at Sparx and then at Spyro who was smiling broadly, both brothers giving meaningful signs that they have seen her through. By the Ancestors, did they really get so close that they can read her like an open book? Just how many years have passed?

"That's not true" she squeaked embarrassed, looking away with a blush

Coriza smiled widely, her uneven teeth pushing from underneath the lips, but she did not mind, the previous sense of respect and care for each other that hung in the air was simply too addicting. The two of them were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, two seemingly opposite elements having so much in common that they match with each other perfectly like two pieces of a medallion.

She was humbled by the fact of being a part of this wonderful world.

The cleric brushed her mane away, the strands of her hair that she began combing over her eye patch already putting up resistance, getting more and more used to their new spot by the day. She lifted the patch up and with a blink to shield herself from the invading light she gazed upon the two dragons.

And out of the three of them she was the one that let out the loudest gasp.

Her special sight firstly landed on Cynder who became a distorted mess of colors, the view from the special magical glasses returned to her with strength increased by tenfold. Her body could barely manifest through the havoc of the mist that surprisingly only partially looked like that of Danox, even though her scales were as black as his.

In between the twirls of blackness she could spot that almost welcoming beat of light, bumping like a very slow heartbeat, pushing through like the rays of a sun through the cracks of the thick and black rainy clouds. After each second or third beat Cynder's figure manifested with bleak contours, entire frame crackling with black and yellow sharp lines as if she would be a walking thunderstorm thudding across a night sky.

Coriza's special attention remained on the black dragoness only for a brief moment, as majestic as Cynder was she could always feel that hard to describe tug like the strong nudge to turn around when you sense someone's eyes on you.

Her eyes landed on Spyro and immediately got awestruck by the radiance that surrounded him. He was a maelstrom of bright, heavenly color under presence of which she instantly felt extremely humbled. The distortion followed the same pattern like in the rest of the dragons that showed those special signs of shifting colors, but in Spyro's case the light did not seem to be some outside aura that pulsed like an unsteady light.

The shower of bright colors was emanating from inside of him, when in other cases it distorted the silhouette just to make it appear later on in more recognizable shape, Spyro's frame was visible from the start and the maelstrom was the addition here.

The way he shone was spectacular, this is how she imagined stars to glow if she ever got the chance to observe one from up close.

The yellowish colors became more white towards the middle, particularly strong light could be seen exactly in the place where the heart was. In other cases the strange distortions were somewhat troubling, stirring anxiety, Spyro's supernatural figure however was welcoming, warm.

Safe.

Desire to reach out to him wailed inside her skull, only with great difficulty she managed to keep her paws pressed to the ground.

"It almost looks alive" Spyro exhaled in awe when he looked into the otherworldly eye of the cleric, she had something special about her eyes already, but he couldn't deny the fact that the darker, crackling hue in her wounded eye added some kind of special, mysterious allure to her already charming personality.

"Does it hurt?" Cynder asked curiously, unable to shift her gaze from the beautiful eye

Coriza remained awestruck, her eyes drilling into Spyro, her agape mouth showing no signs of moving, she didn't even seem to hear them saying anything.

Both Spyro and Cynder gazed at each other in surprise.

"World to Coriza" Sparx knocked gently at her head, helping the patch to fall back on the eyes, the cleric blinked several, regaining her senses.

"You guys have to take it easy with Cor here, she sees some weird stuff with that eye"

The cleric smiled weakly.

"It's the best reasoning for this time and I'm afraid you must accept it as it is. My knowledge about my condition is limited, but you do not need to worry about me, I am not in any pain"

"Let's go" another voice suddenly joined the fray, an accented voice which only one dragoness wielded

Iris joined them in the square where they gathered right in front of the hospital, she walked normally, all the wounds gone, the only thing that remained from the past trauma was the mask which she still had to wear if she wants her bones to mend properly.

"Hey you're a literal knucklehead now!" Sparx grinned widely

"Sparx" Spyro hissed, scolding his brother

Iris glared over the group, her eyes sparkling with disgust, without a word more the dragoness turned away and took the lead, throwing her full hips from side to side arrogantly.

"Let's go guys. Time to snatch Flare and go" Spyro announced, his words prompting the rest to move

"Watch out for yourself Cor" Sparx rubbed the blue cheek lovingly

Coriza nuzzled the gentle hand.

"Come back soon" they exchanged last smiles and goodbye waves

Coriza observed the group of her friends as they followed Iris, she lifted her eyepatch as she watched them go. The vibrant colors emanating from Spyro and Cynder were like the tails of two comets. She did not know what she sees or what any of this means but she couldn't shake off the feeling of strange jealously and loss when she observed the shrinking light of Spyro especially.

For some reason she felt almost betrayed that such nourishing force decided to share its gifts with another world. A childish desire woke up in her which got infuriated when the attention of the one she adores is divided instead of focused solely on her.

In all this arrogant mannerism she caught herself forgetting about one crucial thing.

Gods are the one making the rules.