FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 18

The eyes of the trio of the toppled down dragons kept bouncing between the two new draconic figures, unable to focus on either at the beginning, their survivalist instincts looking for an opportunity to get out of the dangerous situation they were in, searching for a weak spot in the formation of the two dragons.

But even though a big mound of earth was held magically above their heads, dripping tiny scraps of dirt onto them like droplets of saliva from a wet maw the pair of dragons, despite the gore surrounding them, weren't attacking immediately, this gave the jumping eyes enough time to settle on one dragon to finally recognize in detail with who they are dealing here exactly.

The female was the first to land under the scrutinizing gaze.

She was undoubtedly an Electric Dragoness, the palette of colors painting her body betrayed her element on first glance, yet even though she was quickly recognized as the wielder of the literal shocking power her scale illumination was still eye catching.

She was a tricolor, where most dragons have their bodies painted only with two shades.

Her body was mainly dipped in orange, a delicately darker shade like that of a pumpkin, it painted her entire feminine frame that was nothing exceptional when put together with Cynder's toned and Iris' exceptionally curved figure, both of which stirred the lustful instinct of a male.

The electric girl in front was of a normal build, pretty, but nothing jaw dropping at first glance, something that changed when the dragoness rose on her haunches, raising her forelegs high in the air to give them a proper stretch, only to bend backwards soon after without effort, something that would shatter most draconic spines the dragoness paid no mind to, as if her spine would be made out of elastic gum.

She was flexible and lithe beyond means, her body like that of a snake, each muscle gracefully bending in unison with the rest, a pose that would cause frowns of discomfort the dragoness turned into an elegant show of poise that was eye catching for instincts of both genders. All the much so when the undoubted level of dexterity and finesse was complemented by the shifting colors of her scales just like there would be a gust of wind brushing against them, bending and stretching them like grass.

Grey, a tone darker, like that of a fossil lively marked the edges of her frame and painted the parts that gave her body a formidable draconic shape. Lines of grey stretched down her underbelly, clearly marking the line where it separated her main tint from the third, a bright pink, color of a citrus. The line of fossil all along to her tail where it began to come together the closer it got to the tip to eventually split from the tip at two sides into two, sharp zigzag shapes in the form a electrical bolts, trapping the tail end in between. Both greyish shapes were cracking at the end, spurting colorful sparks of dangerous electricity.

Similarly curved and colored were her two horns sprouting directly upwards, a small lightning bolt kept cracking in between them in seemingly random time patterns. Grey colored her claws as well, just like the two crests on her shoulders that looked like shoulder pads of an armor. The same tint stretched out all along her wing bones on the inside as well as the outside where at each thumb a similarly colored talon protruded out, curved to the inside, at the tip of each cracked a small ball of electricity like a flame of a lantern.

The citrus like color possessed her underbelly and chest, filled the pupils of her eyes and wing membranes as well as colored the hair that stretched out from the top of her head, hair that was sharply stylized, with several strands protruding in all directions like small spikes, now with the dirt covering it two locks hung at both sides of her snout like tongue of a corpse. The honed coat ran along her whole back until it eventually thinned into nothingness at the tail.

She had a juvenile shape of her snout that paired with the two lovingly glowing pink eyes gave the dragoness a cute, full of innocence youthful look, despite her body size being the same height as theirs which clearly stated that she is similarly aged to the trio of dragons, her youthful appearance however made her look several years younger.

She would almost be an image worth of painting if not for the gore matting her body, blood and pieces of flesh clung to her snout, both got intertwined into the hair that was now sticky and dirty, twisted like intestines. The energy cracking in her eyes was exactly like her element, unstable, restless and prone to causing trouble.

Her mouth was constantly chewing on something, the bloodied strands of fur that kept poking from her lips indicating that it was the flesh coming from the meaty arm she kept holding on to all this time, not bothered by the fact that it bled onto her as she stretched.

Then the curious set of eyes moved towards the male dragon, a single glance was enough to tell that he was no stranger to battle.

The boy was the complete opposite of the girl, while she seemed dexterous he displayed raw strength. He was big, muscles ripped his scales, each seemed to constantly beat, always active as if he would hatch with an unquenchable bloodlust that kept his muscles working all day long.

While his partner's figure didn't display any eye catching characteristics at first glance it was entirely different with him. If someone would write poems about the strength and power of dragons then this boy would serve as a role model for each phase of growing up.

Normally the physical prowess is shown in fighters when they put their bodies in motion, in effort, in this dragon's case everything was visible even when he was idly standing in place. His figure was so intimidatingly toned that a single look made you step back in awe and fear, every muscle looked as if it was more than capable to break your neck, without the dragon even having to resort to magic.

Yet despite all this roughness that would make more than one female drool, it was not the obvious physical allure that made eyes linger on him, but the indescribable aura of gentleness that surrounded the dragon, this powerful silhouette, as intimidating as it was, kept sending signals of warmth and safety, like a fluffy teddy bear that you just want to cuddle every single hour of the day.

The feeling empowered even more by the fact that carnage surrounded them, with his female partner seemingly raveling in it, he however was squeaky clean, not even a drop of blood dirtied his frame.

Or perhaps the bloodbath was only an additional argument here to support the thesis when the main role that spread the aura of serenity was played by his snout which was as youthfully shaped as that of the girl, calmness radiating from it, something that was simply inviting when put together with the visible fortitude of the body.

The numbers of tints present on the muscular figure was exactly the same like that of the girl, muscles bulged under a tricolor.

His figure was bathed in green, if the obvious earth manipulation wasn't enough of a giveaway than the main hue of his scales that was of deep green, like the color of a moss, was enough to tell that they are dealing with a young Earth Dragon here.

His tertiary color had the hue of a thick, creamy white and just like with his female partner it clearly drew a separation line between the underbelly and chest and the rest of the body. It stretched out all the way to the end of the tail where it also split into two shapes that reminded them of the blades of a double edged axe with two holes in the middle where twirled small oceans of green energy.

His horns had the same creamy color, there were eight in total, two main, big ones that stretched backwards like Cynder's to roughly round down at the end, two small balls of green energy vibrated above the tips. There were six small horns directly in the front of the big ones , three on each side that pointed at the air, two small lines of green energy kept bouncing on each side, jumping between each horn tip in totally random patterns.

He too had pads on his shoulders, also bearing the tertiary coloration they reached a little longer than that of the girl, covering a bit of the forelegs as well. The crests also differed slightly in shape, while the dragoness had a single solid crest in the boy's case a second paw grew from underneath of the main one and it was that second piece that touched the paws past the shoulder.

His wing bones also were colored white, from each thumb however instead of a single horn sprouted several small ones one next to each other like a miniature formation of jagged rocks.

His secondary color, that of caramel painted the wing membranes, chest and underbelly, together with the same hairstyle that stretched right from the top of the dragon's head and right towards the tail where it eventually dissipated into nothingness.

It was thanks to this close examination that they could see that the green color of his eyes they saw earlier was not totally natural, his eyeballs were momentarily magically infused, but even thanks to it they could see a brown pupil piercing through in the right eye.

The left however shown nothing like that, as if the magical green color brightening it up would be a real one instead of being a consequence of Elemental channeling.

It was due to seeing Coriza's eye that they came to a quick conclusion that the dragon might have suffered a similar fate like the cleric. Something the group telepathically agreed on when they noticed scars upon the dragon's body, something that should normally heal maimed the flesh of this particular dragon. The scars weren't ordinary either, instead of being bleak they glowed with bright, green energy, pulsing steadily in the rhythm of a heartbeat.

He had three such cuts, two on his neck, small ones, and one considerable gash right next to his heart.

Despite the small differences here and there, it was obvious that the two dragons in front of them were siblings. One seemed to carry the triple color patterns of one parent while the other of the second one.

Iris was done with the observation, she dug her claws into the earth, shaking violently to kick off the tail and scale of the two fools that followed her. Her white eyes glimmered coldly from underneath the mask.

"Where is Athron?"

The growl did not intimidate the two dragons in the slightest, in fact it seemed to amuse the female who burst out with a vibrating laughter.

"She wants to know where Athron is!" the chirping sound ended, pink eyes narrowed on the blue dragoness, the spark of electricity that calmly cracked between the horns now appeared in its full shape, thrashing around wildly like a restless, miniature storm "Try looking for her up in your ass Featherbrain! Why would we want to tell you anything Parrot?"

"Because I'm done asking!" with a ferocious roar the dragoness sprung towards the electric dragoness

"Iris!" Spyro let out a condemning shout, his eyes immediately glancing towards the earth dragon who's glowing eyes blinked threateningly

He did not want to fight his kin, there was a chance that perhaps didn't want either but since Iris threw herself at one of the siblings it was only natural for the second one to react instead of asking questions.

He immediately spat an earth projectile towards the male dragon, purposefully sending it flying next to his head. The attack shocked the young drake, making him hesitant for a moment when he noticed a projectile formed by his own energy being sent from a mouth that is colored completely differently.

The drake quickly recovered his bearings and with a flash of his magical eyes sent the mound of earth tumbling down upon the two dragons. The time few seconds that Spyro managed to buy them was enough for both of them to jump out of the way of the falling earth, he escaped unscathed, Cynder however got struck in the rump, making her drop flat on the ground, nothing serious, but enough to slow her down.

Spyro darted towards the earth dragon while Cynder immediately pulled herself up, ready to join her mate in the fray.

But then she felt a strong tug on her tail.

With a gasp she was lifted from the ground, held by the tail she hung upside down only to notice that the earth that crashed onto them molded into an earth golem, that blared a hollow roar directly into her draconic face, making stones and dirt splatter across her snout.

Before she could react the golem swung its arm, sending her crashing into the nearby trees.

The electric dragoness spread her wings, taking a deep breath in the same time, in a moment she sent a thunder of electrical energy at the charging blue dragoness, sparks bursting from the maw as well as the orbs locked in the wing thumbs.

Iris' scales turned to diamond, deflecting the bolts that were sent straight at her, however the ones shot by the wings swiveled in the air hectically, curving and bending, attacking from all sides, a pair managed to hook themselves under her paws, biting at her underbelly that still wasn't completely covered by her magical armor.

The strong bite made her groan in pain, springing her own magic to life, the ground under her striding paws turned to snow instantly, she bat the fluffy mist up with her feathery wings and with a roar released an ice breath right towards the orange dragoness. The freezing air momentarily turning the snowy veil into ice cracking it into pieces and sending shards flying in the direction of her enemy.

Brow raised in surprise on the bloodied snout of the electrical dragoness.

Wind dragon wielding ice magic? Something is not right here.

Yet she discarded the confusion quickly, trouble is trouble and she still hadn't scratched the itch of being a pain in her brother's ass.

She charged an electrical cage around herself, whips of lightning lashed out at the shards, slicing the icy breath and the shards away, several slipped past, cutting her flesh with their chilly touch.

Iris cut the necessary distance, springing at the dragoness with a ferocious roar, slashing her charged with magic claws at the orange girl. A small explosion of magical energy burst from around the females when they clashed, meeting claw with claw.

Each blow that Iris threw at the dragoness was gracefully dodged, the orange dragoness bent and swiveled like the bolts of her elements, totally chaotic and always away from the touch of her natural blades.

She kept throwing quick slashes and jabs with her paws and tail to find a perfect opening for a counter attack in Iris' vicious aggression. However the ice dragoness was no stranger to combat either, she too had speed worthy of an experienced female fighter and matched each blow with her own.

"We don't have to fight!" Spyro's shout echoed from the other side of the battlefield as he ran up to the earth dragon

The drake didn't hear, or rather ignored his yell, taking it most likely for a worthless distraction. The dragon swiped with his tail along the earth, momentarily a crack spread towards the running purple drake, while at the same time sending all sort of rocky debris flying his way.

He did not want to attack the dragon as to not provoke him further, as a fighter he will definitely notice that they weren't here to fight if he won't strike back. He instead tried to force his Time powers to awake again, if he would surprise the drake by pinning him down out of nowhere it would surely bring an end to this unnecessary struggle.

The world around him slowed, but like before his Time magic didn't still fully recover from the time travel, merely slowing the flow of the clock, allowing him to dodge some of the projectiles and jump away from the crack on the ground.

A crack through which several tree branches sprouted out, slamming against the earth like tongues, curling and swiping, prepared to wrap themselves around the paws that were no longer there.

If the dragon was surprised by his sudden disappearance he made no sign of it, immediately reading another magical strike.

It was then when Sparx dashed towards the earth dragon, stabbing him with a stick all around his head.

"Whatcha' gonna do about me Brick huh? Huh?!"

The distraction worked, Sparx' swift, harmless offense confused the green dragon, making him swat at the quickly glowing ball, giving Spyro enough time to cut the distance.

He leapt at the dragon, digging his paws into his stern body, ready to topple him down. However all the power he put into the effort of pinning the dragon onto the ground returned back at him, the muscular frame did not even budge under his assault, instead though it was him that was thrown back, the energy punching him back sending him flying flat on the ground on his back.

"Crap he's strong" Spyro let out a dumbfounded gasp into the air only to see a green snout appear in front of him, one eye glowing with green energy

"Hey!" Sparx slapped the green drake across the snout, pulling up his fists into a boxing stance "You gonna get through me first if you wanna touch him you overgrown mountain!"

The dragon's head kept bouncing between the strange glowing creature and the dragon below him, as purple as the sky during dawn. This had to be more than a trick, if someone would spring up an illusion he would never came up with a glowing fly nobody ever saw accompanying a dragon who was only a fairytale.

Illusions have to be believable.

This was simply too strange to be a trick of an magician.

"Stop!" a deep roar burst from the green mouth, the dragon's paw stomping the ground heavily

A branch snapped from the nearby tree, crashing right between the two fighting dragoness, the loud thud making both jump back, startled.

"Stop Iris! It's over!" Spyro let out a blare of his own, deciding that it would be better if she heard a familiar voice in the air

The dragonesses observed each other closely above the fallen branch, panting heavily from the skirmish, both carrying cuts and slashes relevant to their opponent's element. The fury sparkling in both their eyes clearly stating that they weren't really keen on ending it this way, but both were intelligent enough to tell that this fight won't be easy to win and both of them still had something to live for.

In the distance they heard an otherworldly hollow blare, while their fight was over there was still battle going on in some distance away from them.

Cynder was shook by the golem's roar, its breath feeling like a small earthquake when it struck her wings, the pieces of rocks bombarded her like sharp darts.

She flew right at the creature, breathing a strong gust of wind at the massive earth construct, getting close to it at the same time, from her experience, as bad as it may look, it was better to fight with a golem in close combat, these powerful creatures were slow, their lack of speed giving enough time for an experienced eye to look for a weak spot.

She clashed with the artificial creature, the crack her wind breath blew out giving her a proper space for a good grip.

The earth dragon next to Spyro grunted quietly.

The golem exploded in a tornado of dirt and sand, leaving Cynder hovering in the air, utterly confused and coughing when she was showered with the bits of earth. She gave her head several fierce shakes to get rid of the sand that burned her eyes, she rubbed them fervently, still coughing, comprehending the situation around her.

The golem was gone, dissolved.

The earth from which it grew arranged itself perfectly on the ground, patching up the torn wound in the soil like it was never there to begin with.

It was quiet, too quiet.

She turned her covered in dirt and sand head towards the dragons who stood perfectly idle, the fighting obviously over. Spyro standing right next to the muscular drake was enough of a confirmation for her that he spread the charm of his golden heart that had smitten all this time ago.

He still had it.

Of course he did, otherwise she wouldn't be so crazy about him.

"Thanks" Spyro smiled gratefully, giving the green dragon an appreciative nod when he spared his mate the trouble of the fight "We really aren't your enemies"

The earth dragon didn't respond, or actually did anything for a few seconds, staring directly at Cynder in complete silence as if she would be a monster recreated from the worst nightmares. Eventually his head turned to face the purple drake, his one healthy eye wide and unfocused, pupil darting all around in chaotic motions, unable to concentrate on one thing. His other eye, the glowing one pulsed like a fireplace that oscillated between fully lit and entirely burnt out.

"Not our enemies my tail!" the electric dragoness flexed her bent paws, having her eyes locked on Iris who too never dropped her battling stance "That chick over there blows air with no feather to her scales while Birdie here spits crystals like winter itself. Not the first crazy gig we fell into bro" her tail flickered threateningly, drawing a sparkling line in the air "Doesn't have to make sense to be fun" despite the wounds covering her and the fact that they were outnumbered the dragonesses chirping, lively voice showed no signs of worry, singing restlessly like flock of birds that couldn't stay silent

"You fought with an ice wielder?" the earth's dragon head popped up, his magical eye cracking with what seemed to be anger even though the healthy pupil was completely indifferent

The girl threw her sibling an arrogant glance, showing her bloodied fangs in a smirk.

"You mad at me bro?"

"This is pointless Goldie!" Iris growled in irritation "Just slice that fucker's throat while he drools and then I'll finish this little bitch over here" she snarled, freezing aura cracking all around her mischievously

"Just give me your best shot this time slut, I hate being bored" the dragoness snarled back

"They know how to fight Iris!" Spyro blared out in irritation "We won't get what we came here for if any of us dies here! You really want to risk it all now when we are so close?"

Iris' skull boiled with fury, the purple fucker had the audacity to order her around like some vermin! She would rip his throat out the moment this idiot looks the other way!

Will you really?

Of course I will!

And collapse the road to finding mother? Who else will be willing and strong enough to show you the way?

With a deep grunt she channeled the fury into her paws, killing nature all around her, burying it underneath callous layers of ice.

The medallion hanging from her neck jingled as it was swayed around by the gentle shockwave of the magical implosion.

You have brought it back to me, after so many years of prayers and hate you finally noticed me.

If it would be someone else she would tear him to pieces right now, you're lucky Spyro that you're so useful.

So sweet.

Why?

When I gave you no reason to be.

Her muscles began to relax, something her usually angered nature noticed immediately, throwing her head into a fierce fit of shaking to dispose the mind of all these irritating, manipulative thoughts.

She gave him a chance to prove himself, that was all, as for now he managed to satisfy her expectations by bringing them here, back in time as she demanded. She still haven't used his potential to the fullest, it was too useful of a leverage to simply throw it away.

She wouldn't be worthy to be called mother's daughter if she wouldn't be smart enough to notice opportunity.

"Fine" she snarled coldly "Get me what I want however you wish, I don't give a fuck. But I won't tolerate waste of time Goldie, I will gut them if you won't speed up your pathetic weeping game"

Spyro chuckled innocently as he watched the dragon's eyes narrow on Iris in clear, provocative attitude.

"Just forget the words you heard and focus reading between the lines" he whispered with a forced giggle "Iris doesn't know how to be friendly, but she is willing to talk, she just has her own way of saying it. Takes some time to get used to"

The earth dragon carefully observed the strange group, his attention jumping between the strange group, a purple drake, a feathery dragon breathing Ice and a black dragoness wielding Wind and to top it all there was this strange, glowing fly with them.

He was aware that something out of the ordinary was going on, the sudden thunder despite the sky being calm and the screams that distracted the group of Vaccarus was enough of an evidence that something unexpected has occurred.

He however never expected to see dragons and creatures that he didn't know existed before his very eyes. He was always suspicious, the scars and the troublesome attitude of his sister were enough of a proof for anyone to tell that they had more enemies out there than friends, nevertheless this group seemed to be different than any other party they had ever met.

The reckless tackle of the blue girl didn't change his opinion on that matter, he was used to juvenile irresponsibility. What really made him consider this meeting to not be a trap was the purple dragon right in front of him, a dragon that had no intention to strike him from the very start and entirely focused on gaining his attention to their pacific intentions.

Also there was something about this purple drake that really spoke of his good nature, he could see honesty in his eyes, he never believed that he would ever see a creature that radiated an aura of friendship by looks alone, but there he was, in those amethyst eyes he saw nothing but good natured energy that only wished for peace, a merciful set of eyes willing to give a chance to even the most vile of degenerates.

A rare sight indeed.

Something that was never present in this world.

"They come in peace" the earth's dragon low voice announced, rough like two scraping rocks against each other

"Drat" the electric dragoness shrugged nonchalantly, her aggressive posture relaxing immediately, the flickers of electricity puffing out like they were never there, she turned around from the ice dragoness she just fought like she was never there to begin with

"At least I can fill my belly now" she bit into the corpse of one of the beasts who was definitely sentient when it was still alive.

"Ugh" Iris recoiled at the sight with a grunt of disgust, Vaccarus were trash worthy of the worst fates, but they were vermin and a respectful dragon would ever eat vermin. Their purpose is to stomp worms, not make delicacy out of them.

Fucking savages.

"Broooooo" Sparx moaned, eyes widening and sweat building up on his forehead as he watched the orange dragoness chewing on the corpse like it was a cake "They are eating people" he whispered breathlessly, the sound he let out however wasn't quiet, his words loud enough for anyone to hear

Despite their better judgment both Spyro and Cynder looked into the direction of the feasting female, their noses crunching in abhorrence.

The electric dragoness ripped a piece of the torso, skin snapping into her mouth when she gave the flesh a solid tug, she turned around towards the group, happily chewing on the piece of the bloodied meat, long enough that a slice of it dangled from her moving mouth, painting her chin red with each slap of the bloodied flesh.

Besides her brother every single one of this newcomers were staring at her like she was a freak.

"What?" she mumbled with her mouth full, making pieces of the still not sliced by her fangs skin burst from her mouth in a shower of crimson spit, making all of new guys groan loudly and twist their heads as if they smelled something foul

"Spit that out you filth" Iris commanded weakly, hacking, her stomach curling inside out making her retch

"Why?" she swallowed, sucking the slapping piece into her mouth with a loud slurp, her eyes widening in sudden realization "Oooooohhhh. Chest is your favorite right?" she waved her paw dismissively "You don't lose much I tell you that, my favorite part is the arms, they're really something, especially in males, they are really beefy and their meat has that special flavor when they flex and die during a battle" she wiggled her eyebrows "Lucky for us these poor sods all had dicks! Beefy biceps for everyone!" with a triumphant blare she bit into the said arm she so lively advertised

The earth dragon observed the group that so visibly backed away from his sister feasting, it wasn't the most beautiful sight in the world, but nevertheless it was normal in this difficult times. Seeing the group's revulsion allowed him to relax considerably, no longer expecting an ambush.

This reaction was genuine, to fake such an emotion would in such a considerable party would take a lot of skill and a lot of practice.

He doubted that even these newcomers had enough time for it.

"I've done some bad stuff when I was corrupted but not even then I truly enjoyed eating sentient creatures" Cynder shivered "That's just barbaric"

"In a war torn land you eat when you can. It is not ideal but we hardly have the privilege of a choice in this matter. A fight might await you just behind the next slope, we need our strength" the green dragon's booming voice echoed loudly, ringing in the skull of everyone nearby for several more seconds even after he finished his speech "From where do you hail from if you are not aware of our situation?"

"It will sound weird" Spyro bit his lip for a second, trying to perhaps find an explanation that wouldn't necessarily mean mentioning time travel to the first met dragon, especially a one they skirmishes for a while

He really didn't want another Diazen drama.

But there was hardly a convincing lie he could come up with, not to mention that he isn't good at selling bullshit to begin with. They had no other choice here, truth was the only option.

He took a deep breath.

"I pushed us through a time traveling portal" Sparx chimed in, silencing whatever words were building up in Spyro's throat

"Don't ask how tho'!" the dragonfly stretched out his forefinger in a warning gesture "You won't be able to do it anyway, it's all about this sweet booty" his fingers made a sensual trail over his figure, the light emanating around the yellow body flashing brighter "I'm a literal light in the tunnel"

Spyro's mouth clapped shut immediately, he might be a terrible liar and perhaps there was really no point making up a story here, but that didn't mean they still have to show all their cards to strangers. And this is where Sparx' quick thinking comes into play, he always had a talent for painting reality with mind numbing colors, stretching out honesty to its limits.

It worked against Diazen before.

It was only logical to use the same trick here since it paid off last time.

His brother might be little compared to him, but the weight of his presence was heavy as a volcano. There is no legendary purple dragon without a dragonfly by his side.

It was like that from the beginning.

And it will stay like that till the very end.

"If you'll get any ideas about telling someone about it or trying it out for yourself than I will gut you, peace deal or not" Iris turned her freezing glare the mostly silent earth dragon "Get it? Nobody will show you anything, the means of crossing over is for us only, savages like you wouldn't be able to comprehend it anyway" her eyes again landed on the happily eating orange dragoness, the sight of the whore alone made her sick "Don't even bother thinking otherwise"

The trio that accompanied Iris kept their faces straight, in every other situation at least one of them would remind the blue dragoness that she wasn't the one calling the shots here, that they are doing her a favor and not the other way around. However right now her natural hate towards everything that lives was a boon neither of them wanted to discard freely, it wasn't nice but a warning gave to the siblings was a welcoming one nonetheless.

They don't need an entire world pilling up here to make a time trip to their Dragon Realms.

"Don't clench your cloaca so hard there Wormsucker" the electric dragoness licked her bloody claws clean "Me and my bro here don't own anything to anyone, we just do stuff people expect us to do because it kills boredom and boredom suuuuuuuucks" she pulled on her dirty hair with a prolonged whine "But somehow it makes us find cool stuff that we tell nothing about to anyone, why would we give away our perks for free" she tapped her temple meaningfully and then with a flash of sudden enlightenment that was clearly noted by the spark of electricity bursting between her horns, the girl's pink eyes widened

"If you don't believe us I want to remind you that back in the days we sparred with some guys in all that mind numbing, brainwashing, runs inducing training sessions all the dragons had to participate in. Total shit let me tell you, BUT!" she wiggled her eyebrows "BUT it all happened in the wild you see, an idea to improve our survivability instincts or some other crap, nothing important. And as the lucky bastards as we are we found a hidden stash, marks and the scent told us that it was the Pups that left it there!"

She rolled her eyes with a tired sigh.

"Now I know what you're thinking, as good soldiers we should support our army and share the spoils since it's war blah, blah, blah" she waved her paw and immediately grinned widely, electricity cracked all around her wings "WE DIDN'T DO IT! Finder's keepers right? There was some in there Binders and such that helped us beat the guys after us. They could cry all they want after that we cheated and crap like that, but it didn't help, nobody listens to losers ha!"

She puffed her chest out proudly, a slice of bloodied meat that clung to her scales there slid down, drawing a dirty, crimson line across her chest.

"See? We're good, secrets are safe with us. Nobody will ever know about this portal thing or whatever, let me tell you that if anyone will be making a trip through that thing from this world, it will be the two of us" she nodded quickly, supporting her own words "Yes, yes, only we will use that thing"

All four from the group of time travelers starred at the electric dragoness with dumbfounded expressions with their mouths frozen open. The flood of words that bombarded them from the orange mouth still ringed inside their skulls, the sheer speed with each the dragoness talked made miss several sentences in her wild speech, crucial sentences that made them lose sense of what she talked about in the first place.

Cynder giggled.

"Oh man, mini Volteer"

"How can you say so much and say so little" Iris shook her head in disbelief

"Of course" Sparx' arms dropped in defeat "Another chick has to have be not right in the head, with attention span of a hatchling she will be great addition to our team. You know how to choose them bro" he spread his arms wide, forcing himself to smile "Welcome in our gang!"

"This is not how it happened exactly" the earth dragon commented calmly, running his claw against the glowing cut on his neck, tendrils of energy stretching out, slapping his toes hungrily "But the moral of my sister's story remains true. As a sign of good will between us we will not betray the location of the door you crossed, as unbelievable as it sounds"

Sparx clapped his hands, knocking at his brother's purple head.

"See this bro? Now that's what you should be interested in and not some crazy chick's fetish"

The dragonfly wrapped his arm around the earth dragon's horn, leaning in close.

"Say my man, might you be interested in a relationship with not exactly pretty, seemingly male dragon?"

Spyro rolled his eyes.

"This joke is getting old Sparx"

"Look there" he pointed at his purple brother, twisting the green snout in that direction "Okay, I know Spyro is not a dream come true, but he has those feminine shapes if you look REALLY after emptying several bottles of wine. He's chubby, but I'm sure a fit guy like you" he patted the thick shoulder "Can put him to work to lose a few kilos, that ass is getting quite heavy" he poked the drake with his shoulder, wiggling his eyebrows "So what say you? Interested?"

"No" the dragon rumbled, slithering away from the unasked for hug, callous voice not even betraying a tiny flicker of emotion

"Forget it, he doesn't know what fun is!" the electric dragoness pranced towards the glowing ball in the air, bending on her legs, her butt swayed back and forth by the tail that swung happily from side to side "What are you? You sound like you know how to party, nice change of pace from my stiff brother"

"Enough!" Iris roared, stomping her paw, a flood of ice burst from underneath her legs, creating a ring of freezing chill that killed the nature around her

"I lost my patience, Where. Is. Athron? I'm asking for the last time"

"We won't betray the location of our commander to a group of creatures we don't even know the name of. Time travelers or not" the earth drake commented, for the first time relief could be heard in his low, thundering voice when finally the conversation took a more business like turn

"Commander?" Iris threw her head back, for the first time since they met these two fools the veil of hatred that clouded her mind relaxed its pressure, allowing her to take a closer look at her surroundings

They never called her mother anything but Queen.

She looked at those two fucks closer, something that didn't interest her much in the slightest before now proved to be an important detail. The two cocksuckers had visible elemental energy vibrating around them, traits that became more scarce with the passage of time. She herself and her contemporaries no longer had visible magical traits touching their bodies when they hatched.

Goldie truly brought them back, not months, not several years but decades, many, many decades.

"Listen to me fools" Iris groaned "Do the names The Horned Beast, Grazers or Rime mean anything to you?"

"No" the earth dragon swiftly answered

She looked at him in disbelief at first, but then decided not to accuse him of manipulation, the signs all around her were clearly pointing out that they were in the past. How far exactly was the question here.

With all the information she had now and the way that the orange bitch taunted her she was quickly realizing at what time period of the world they were in.

Before she could only read about it in books.

The times of Fracture.

Where kin fought against kin.

"You hate wind dragons, you fight with them on Athron's side" Iris mused out loudly, her eyes distant, pupils bouncing inside frantically as if sorting through a book's many pages "It's the year... the year of..." the frowned, head aching from the amount of focus she put into trying to catch the date that kept slipping her mind.

"1000 of the Second Eclipse" the green drake once more replied in his typical low-keyed tone as if he would be interrogated

Iris' eyes widened.

The sun of this world comes in a line with its moon every three thousand years for a long period of three months of total darkness.

She was born in the first year of the Third Eclipse.

It was not decades, it was not even centuries.

"You brought us two millennia back Spyro" she gasped, her breath hacking

"Two millennia of this world, we can only wonder just how far back in time we are counting from the present of our own time" Cynder added, her heart beating up faster when her mind began to realize the weight of Spyro's abilities

Previously they walked through a Veil and simply appeared in the past, well perhaps simply is not the perfect word to use here, but the truth was that besides the nauseating moment of teleportation they never really thought about the process in details and what it meant exactly.

This was the first time they heard a date, even if it didn't mean anything to them Iris' shock was enough of an evidence that this was really something.

Spyro had so much power, a power worthy of divinity.

"Holy crap" the purple drake gasped himself, suddenly breathless, he too was taken aback by the sheer perspective of bending history to their will

Now out of his own will where almost nothing was the consequence of an accidence.

"Damn, they're really serious about this time stuff Orby" the electric dragoness scratched her matted hair "Guess they are not some hybrid freaks after all huh? Dragons from the future, now that's a first" she cocked her head, eyeing the feather winged dragoness with a disgruntled snort "You would think that evolution would learn to fix its crap after who knows how long" she shrugged nonchalantly "Guess the world needs its freaky playthings"

"All this trip from the future to find one dragon" the earth drake stepped back, his sister immediately reading the meaning and flexing her muscles just in case "We might accept your explanation, you look like creatures never seen in this world after all, however your seemingly peaceful intentions seem questionable"

This time the baritone voice cracked, ringing like an approaching earthquake.

Spyro balked, with a slight bounce spinning towards the backing up drake, his natural intelligence immediately putting the pieces together, he realized in a moment just how suspicious it all might be for someone who's undeniably Iris mom's loyal warrior.

Or at least fights on the same side she does considering the fact that if they would believe the two dragons, they keep stuff they see to themselves.

"It's nothing bad! We have no bad intentions! Seriously!" without thinking he reached out to the dragon in a pleading gesture, making his unnatural eye glow menacingly

He clenched his toes tight together, immediately pushing his leg onto the ground and slapping his other paw against it to keep it in place.

"Look" he licked his lips apprehensively "My name's Spyro, this is Sparx and Cynder" he gestured to both his companions and nodded his head towards the ice dragoness "That's Iris. We came here to find her mom an-"

"Shut up you wanker!" Iris roared, storming towards the imbecile with the long tongue

"Wait a minute there Spyro!" the electric dragoness pranced up to the purple drake excitedly, her eyes glowing exactly like the sparks of electricity cracking around her tail "You came looking here for that chick's mother and all she does is screaming our commander's name?" she whined excitedly, biting onto her still covered in dry blood toes as she stuffed them in her mouth "You want to tell us that Athron frolicked with the Flows and popped THAT" here her claw pointed at the blue dragoness "abomination to intelligence?" she burst out with vivid laughter "Oh man that's rich!"

Cynder bit her lip, watching Iris turning red with fury.

"Hey!" Spyro growled, snapping at the laughing girl, making her snap her mouth shut in an instant "We came in peace here, this alone should be enough to grant us a little bit of respect, but we won't stand here idle while you mock and insult us. I personally won't tolerate you insulting my companions, believe what you will, but if you're not interested in what we have to say and think that all of it is a joke then there is nothing for us here and we will part ways" his eyes grazed around the carnage, trailing some of the blood leading towards the electric dragoness

"And maybe it would be for the better"

Despite the aggression in the purple dragon's voice the earth dragon visibly relaxed. Among the dragons there were fairytales about purple drakes that painted them like heroic icons of action, always there to triumph evil and serve good.

He grew up from the stories, yet the presence of Spyro here, the way he defends his friend while not letting himself get provoked by his sister's uncalled for taunts rekindled that childish spark of fascination within him. In this world there was hardly any tolerance for such politeness, most of the time taunts lead to blows and useless death, yet Spyro instead of pouncing at his sister simply scolded her.

In protection of his friend, without unnecessary bloodshed.

It was sight for sore eyes after so many Yeats years of continuous battle that it practically seemed impossible for him anymore to part ways peacefully with a party you don't quite see eye to eye.

Yet the rekindled child within him screamed inside, tugging at his heart fiercely, ordering him to not let the dragon and his group go, yelling that he will never have such an opportunity again.

Opportunity for what exactly?

Peace?

That too.

Yet he knew deep down that this fighting was a one way path towards premature death.

This dragon was an opportunity for both of them to live.

And he loved his sister too much to allow it to slip away.

"Forgive my sister" the earth dragon stepped lively in between the two of them, bowing apologetically "Her natural energy mixed with her jarring element combines into a very explosive mixture"

"Orby" the orange dragoness threw her head back with a disgruntled snarl "The fuck you're doing?"

"Be silent for a moment Dawn" he cut his sister's protest off sternly, his low grunt leaving no room for quarrel

This was probably the first time when the green dragon showed any kind of emotion and the group had to admit that his low, rumbling scold was extremely commanding, making even Sparx to straighten up politely as if he would be listening to his own father.

The orange dragoness reacted exactly like the group, painting her draconic face with an expression of defeat and regret she put her head between her forelegs, claws restlessly wrestling with each other while her mouth kept mumbling silent monologues of curses.

"My name is Orbis, the girl behind me is my sister Cellsa"

Cynder scratched her choker thoughtfully.

"Didn't I hear you saying Dawn?"

"Only he can call me like that!" Cellsa cried out from behind the muscular drake, spitting arches of electricity in the air

"Whoa. Sorry" the black dragoness flinched after the sudden outburst

"It's ummm..." Spyro's eyes made another short round across the bloodied ground with the massacred bodies of creatures he didn't recognize were lying all around

He wanted to say that it was a pleasure to meet them, but honestly he wasn't so sure about that after seeing the electric dragoness feasting on the remains like a Death Hound.

Sparx noted his brother's defensiveness, he could sense what was bothering him, but Spyro sometimes suffers on Coriza syndrome where he just doesn't want to say what he really thinks in fear of insulting someone.

Damn golden heart of his.

Luckily he still has him to cover up the mess.

"What my bro is trying to ask is that if you're gonna cut and bleed us like these dudes here when we turn our back on you?" the dragonfly asked bluntly

"Sparx!" Spyro exclaimed

"What?" he folded his arms with a shrug "It's an honest question. Orbis here looks like he knows how to talk business, right big guy?"

The eyes of the dragon looked around the massacre, neither of his eyes showing any sign of regret, or any emotion for that matter, as if the sight before him was a standard, daily practice.

"Unnecessary carnage"

"Unnecessary?!" Cellsa pounced from behind her brother's back with an electrical flash "Necessary all the way dude!"

The dragon's eyes rose up, tired and sad as they looked towards the orange girl who immediately started prancing and dancing around, she kicked one of the cut hooves, sending it flying across the air, making Sparx dodge to the side.

"They had it coming, shouldn't have turned their backs after hearing you guys farting into our world, heh!" she bent on her legs, grinning widely, hips jerking happily from side to side, making the tail swish and swoosh everywhere.

"You should have seen me jumping on them, they didn't even know what hit them. One tap of my paw and bam!" she slashed at an invisible foe "I smeared them with my electricity, cooked them so hard that they started to boil in their armors, just to burst like bubbles soon after with that funny sound like a rumbling stomach"

She balked suddenly, as if hearing something.

"That reminds me of one thing, you know those kettles the Pups cook their food in on their travels? I'm sure you do, anyway those pots make some cool sounds, they put all sorts of stuff on them, decorating the junk like it's some totem or something. One of those pots made a sound similar to the stomach one, really deep and evil, eeeewww"

"BUT!" she laughed merrily "Some of those kettles played like a flute I tell you, I managed to attract a beaver with my song, don't know what the little guy thought I was but I swear he started nibbling at a tree perfectly to the rhythm of the song" she dropped on her haunches, throwing her head in the air thoughtfully and tugged at her matted locks "Wonder where he is now, haven't seen him for a while, but I'm sure you guys saw him. He looks like an ummmm...furry rat?" she looked at the group hopefully "Anyone?"

The group stared at her bewildered. Only her brother was indifferent to the tirade bursting from the mouth.

Cellsa shook her paw dismissively "Not important cause this little story reminds me of another-"

"NO for fuck's sake!" Iris blared out, the gust of frost that burst from her mouth made everyone shiver "No more fucking reminders and no more fucking time wasting. You" she pointed at the green drake, her white claw turned green, steaming with freezing energy

"Will you try to kill us when we look the other way?"

"No" Orbis replied shortly

"This bloodbath is the result of your unstable sister?"

"Yes"

"Hey!" Cellsa's wings dropped in defeat "I'm not unstable" she whimpered quietly

"Do you know Athron?"

"Yes"

"Will you lead us to her?"

"No"

Bloody veins popped in Iris' strained eyes, icicles of ice appeared on her extended claw.

"Say that again" she hissed menacingly

"No, we won't lead you to our commander. You must earn our trust first and as Athron's daughter you should be aware that she doesn't tolerate slacking. I suppose she had the same expectations for her own blood as she did for her servants" his tail flicked, drawing a green line in the air "Or am I wrong?"

The fucker has the nerve to question her allegiance?!

Every bit in Iris' body began to shake, she wanted to tear this dragon a new one so badly that she lost control over her magic, her entire body steaming like a pile of dirty socks. If not for the information she gathered that they were far back in time of her world, world she only knew from stories, then there wouldn't be anything else stopping her right now, not even Goldie.

But they would be lost again, Rime, her home city doesn't exist, she would not know where to start looking for her mother. Not to mention the war ridden lands, falling into the trap of any of the warmongering races right now would cause them a lot of trouble, they would waste a lot of time and who knows if they would even survive or even be counted among enemies of her mother's faction.

It goes without saying that mom would be pissed if she found out that her fury disposed her of two soldiers she so desperately needed.

There was no other way that if they want to get to mom without trying to slaughter their way in, which would only turn her hostile, then they needed recommendation from someone.

Like these two fools for example.

Fuck.

She absolutely hated when other people were right.

"Earn our trust" Iris mimicked the dragon's voice, spitting on the ground after "You want to use us, one thing in this fucking world remained unchanged it seems"

"It's too much of a risk, if you help us then this will show to us that you are really the ones you claim to be"

"Dude" Sparx knocked at his forehead "Just how many purple and black dragons did you see in your life to call us a lie?" he spread his arms in question "And dragonflies, how many besides me?"

"Belief can be manipulated, only knowledge is dangerous" the green drake cited

Iris' heart skipped a beat, her mind momentarily filled with words, echoing inside her skull with a voice that Silence tormented her with.

"Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive"

Orbis and Iris exchanged understanding glances between each other, the drake nodded in acknowledgment.

Those were the words her mother kept repeating to her.

Perhaps at least one dragon from this family wasn't a total fool.

Spyro noticed the spark of understanding between the two, even though Iris wasn't a keen helper he was certain already that she was willing to commit herself to the bidding of the two dragons. Orbis was also fluent in using the bartering argument against her.

Besides, it doesn't really matter if the dragons are telling the truth. He knew perfectly that this is a test during which the eyes of the green dragon will be drilling into them, watching their every move, evaluating.

To check if they are not a deceptive delusion.

Actions matter more than words after all.

"What do you need us to do?" Spyro inquired, speaking out loud the question that was rattling in each of his companion's head

Cellsa grinned, giving the purple drake a lustful once over, she had to admit that he wasn't too bad to look at with those purple scales of his.

"We will see just how legendary you are" she purred, slapping her tongue against the cheek to collect the drop of blood there that was itching her