FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 20

"Come on man, you sure you're not interested?" Sparx swayed in the air in front of the walking, young green dragon who's eyes kept following him closely yet the pace of his steps kept a steady rhythm as if certain that there is nothing the dragonfly can do to stop him

"No" Orbis rasped, his voice carrying the tone of grinding against each other rocks

"It's a one time offer" the dragonfly wiggled his eyebrows "Spyro is very submissive and has enough fat on him for squishing" he gave the powerfully built dragon a once over "And you look like someone who likes to do some squishing"

"Males don't take other males for mates, it's unnatural and pointless. It does not prolong our kind, stop this futile distraction and focus, we are in enemy territory"

Sparx shivered, earth dragons had always this strange vibe that made them somehow boring and hard to be around due to the fact that most of them are only interested in business. Nevertheless, even Terrador who was the most prominent of the green dudes smiled sometimes, or at least there was a spark of emotion heard in his voice, where you could really tell that you are speaking with a living creature.

This guy though?

Stiff like the rest of his kind, but in his case even the voice was disturbing, unimaginably bland and emotionless as if the guy would be dead from the inside. As if you he would be talking with a statue.

And if not for the occasional blink of the brown and artificial eye he might actually take the dragon for one.

"You're my bro's only hope dude, he really has some taste issues. Sick or not it's still better..." he nodded, pointing at the two girls walking behind, Iris who's piercing eyes were glowing with freezing energy and Cynder who challenged his glance, immediately realizing that he was again playing his own silly games "than that" his head jerked to the side "And that"

A loud laughter boomed soon after from the direction he pointed. Not so far away Cellsa threw herself into a pile of leaves only to resurface soon after to prance forward into another interesting for her obstacle on her path. For the short span of time they traveled together the girl seemed to forget about their existence totally, wrapping herself, kicking, jumping over and doing all other energetic stuff to the elements of the world around them. Throwing her lithe figure into all sorts of restless posses, seemingly never walking straight like a normal dragon, her hectic attention throwing her into another fit in a span of several seconds.

The chick seemed to have unbridled amounts of energy.

"I'm not interested in your dilemmas, do not draw unnecessary attention"

A merry laughter cracked from the side when Cellsa made a roll, purposely tripping over a rock.

Sparx glared at the drake meaningfully, throwing his thumb back to point at the dragoness.

"What about that?"

Orbis lowered his gaze, even though the dragon tried very hard to remain indifferent and clueless about the direction the dragonfly pointed him towards the tired shimmer that glowed in his healthy eye betrayed the desire for the body to let out a depressed sigh.

"As long as our enemies hear only one of us our element of surprise is still valid" even though there was no hesitation in the dragon's tone, his inability to meet the eyes of the one he speaks to rather clearly showed his bottled up insecurity

Sparx sighed, another guy a slave to pretty eyes, he had no idea why it is always the seemingly strongest males who get wrapped so easily around fingers of the girls, letting them do whatever they want. First Spyro and now Orbis, both slaves to feminine eyelashes, thousands of years separated the two and yet Fate found a way to put the same leash on both.

The dragonfly returned to his friends and Iris, he snatched one of Cynder's horns, spun around it and laid down on top of her head, giving it a poke with his finger.

"What you chicks have in you that all the good bros lose their heads for you?"

Cynder grinned.

"Can't speak for everyone, but I'm super cool for example"

"And very modest"

"Comes with the package" she wiggled her eyebrows, exchanging pleasant smiles with her mate

Whatever rules of nature stood in between female and male relationships did not apply ideally to them, something they both knew. She was the one chasing after Spyro after all, still it was probably unfair to compare the two of them to the rest, legendary breed of dragons like Spyro set the rules for themselves.

And she was glad for it with all her heart.

"Hey Snowflake, maybe you know? You look like the type who likes to hang around all sorts of people" Sparx smirked

Spyro shook his head.

"Why do you have to provoke people?"

"I need my air bro! This is how I breathe" the dragonfly took a long, satisfying inhale

Unfortunately for the dragonfly Iris didn't seem to mind his nudging, if she registered it in the first place. The girl's eyes were locked on the swishing tail of the green dragon in the front, if not for the visible annoyance burning in her eyes one could say that she was very much enjoying what she was seeing.

Iris' mind however was occupied by thoughts of her mother with burning daggers of impatience slashing at her already weak resolve to satisfy the needs of those two retards. It was years since she felt such a crushing force pressing against her brain, all those gone by days were all the same, each of them making her sick and angry, pointless.

And now it was all flipped over, it was a very long time since she felt passion for life, and now when she finally smells it, her mother somewhere out there just at paw's reach, Fate decides to provoke her further by delaying what was stolen from her.

What she herself has mercilessly slaughtered.

She has to hold a bit longer, nothing is more important than that, she has to do it for mother.

She can't fail her again.

"You think she's having a stroke again?" Sparx asked indifferently, lying on his side, propping his bored head on his palm

Spyro and Cynder impulsively threw quick glances towards the blue dragoness, out of survivalist habit than actual concern.

"She's fine" Cynder noted, recognizing the determination Iris that reminded her of her own once when she tried to redeem herself, no matter the cost

Which led her being knocked out by Gaul.

The occasional ringing she still sometimes hears from that smack was a perfect reminder that you won't achieve what you want by pushing blindly towards your goal, you simply have to wait for the right moment, constant provocations will push Iris nowhere else but towards the heavy fist of her personal Gaul.

"Just give her some space" she delicately bobbed her head to pinpoint precisely to whom she was addressing her words "I mean it"

"Fine, sheesh" Sparx whined, pushing back from his resting place "Since when you became besties huh?"

Spyro tried to join the barter but the moment he inhaled his nostrils flared up lively, dragging his head away from the party and towards the slightly steep and rocky hill next to them.

"Do you smell that?" purple nose made several swift crunches, processing and identifying the aromas

Orbis immediately stopped, his paws digging into the earth, sending a tremor across the ground, making the group behind him cease their walk as well.

He raised his head to the sky, sniffing.

"What do you smell?"

The purple drake made several more sniffs, tip of the nose bouncing lively, the smell becoming familiar and yet having a special ingredient in the mix that eluded his understanding.

"Burning...meat?"

"Get over here Dawn" the drake hissed through clenched teeth, even though his voice was a whisper due to its extremely low tone it still sounded like a muffled volcano's eruption "We found them"

"Seriously?" the electric dragoness bounced towards the group, electricity sparkling from every spot on her silhouette that unconsciously produced magical current. She looked around them, spinning in place, instead of one turn though she made several, quickly

"Can't see anyone" she mumbled, stopping her spinning, the world shook in front of her eyes, making her stumble for balance, the state she threw herself into making her giggle enthusiastically

"I think I smell them" Spyro clarified

"For real?" she sniffed deeply, head pushed back by the inhale, making her already modest frame shrink even further, to the point that bones protruded from the scales

Cellsa exhaled loudly.

"Nope, no cows or dogs, only thrash and dirt, there is a bum somewhere close"

"It is you who stinks like filth you dumb bitch" Iris snarled at the girl

The electric dragoness sniffed herself, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Hey, you're right! It's me" she laughed "We had been traveling for some time, the road must have gotten in between my scales"

The group held back their comments, it was enough to say that they were skeptical towards the girl's reasoning, seeing as she was still covered in dried grime and gore from her last battle and barbaric, sloppy feasting.

"No insults, please" Orbis artificial eye gleamed menacingly

"I'll do whatever I want" Iris glared at the earth dragon "Dickhead"

The green dragon measured the ice dragoness with his emotionless stare, yet the group could sense the slight flicker in his welcoming, peaceful aura. The dragon was obviously not satisfied with Iris taunts.

Iris kept her challenging stare, only waiting for the fool to shatter this worthless truce himself so Goldie's tears won't drill a hole in her stomach. Out of the two of them the purple worm was more useful, she could find mom on her own eventually if the green imbecile decides to do something stupid, whatever the fuckers were offering was nothing more than convenience and she managed without it for years now.

Orbis could sense the blue girl's intentions, she did not like the deal they had no more than they did, yet he did not act, simply turning away from the female and focusing on the purple dragon instead. All of this was simply to unbelievable to be cast away due some childish beef.

It was not everyday that you meet a living legend and a daughter of your still single Commander after all.

He decided to keep the doubts about Iris being Athron's daughter to himself however, perhaps under the mask hides a snout he would recognize but for the time being this violent girl shared no traits with their leader, Athron can be explosive sometimes, yet her anger was always justified.

"Somewhere behind this hill" Spyro said, intercepting the obvious question he could read from the dragon's eyes

"Yes!" Cellsa spun around excitedly "I will finally get it back!" she dashed towards the hill

Only to be jerked back by a strong tug on her tail.

"Quietly" Orbis said

The girl whined pitifully.

The group climbed the hill, crawling along the grass, snatching grass and earth carefully to avoid causing unnecessary noise. Sparx kept close to the slithering drakes, avoiding rising in the air, while in their world seeing a floating, glowing ball hanging above the ground was nothing special, here it might draw unnecessary attention.

As they scaled the raise the rest of the group began to smell what Spyro did down below, someone was really cooking meat up there, yet no one from Spyro's group could recognize the aroma, it was not about the species that clearly were added to the meal, it was the meat itself smelling like something they never experienced before.

Cellsa's crunched nose however clearly indicated that it was nothing pretty and it was enough to feel disturbed when a dragoness who had no troubles eating sentient creatures just some moments ago seems to be troubled by the smell.

Cynder gulped, she could hear Sparx doing the same nearby, both coming to the same scary conclusion when they considered everything Orbis had said about war, food and strength.

Both decided to keep their fears for themselves, both hoping that they were wrong.

A line of bushes and small rocks stretched along the hilltop, thick enough for the group to be able to sneak up to them without being seen. The rise became more flat closer to the top, making all of them lift their bellies from the ground and beat the last distance towards the cover on bent paws like hatchlings that just learn to walk.

Spyro and his group, even Iris stayed a little behind, letting the siblings take the lead, all of them deciding that in the face of obvious danger it was better to put faith in the ones who are familiar with the threat.

The pair of dragons climbed up to the leafy cover, clearing their view enough to take a look at what obviously was a camp. The rest of the group joined them soon after, taking looks from their own personal holes in the bushes.

The eyes of the entire group of time travelers widened in shock.

They managed to sneak up on a camp, but before they truly focused who set it up, their attention was drawn to the campfire and the source of the now prominent scent, a scent that no longer seemed peculiar and tasty, but absolutely horrid, making their stomachs jump to their throats despite all the seemingly inviting spices added to the meal.

There was an adolescent dragon nailed by the shoulders to a vertical rack, back pressed tightly against the device. By silhouette alone they could tell that the dragon was male, identification was impossible by the face since the corpse had none attached to it, the dragon's killers beheaded their victim and severed off his wings.

The carcass' flesh was gleaming softly, every bit of scale peeled away in bloody cuts, leaving out only gory muscle to the open air. There was a huge hole in the dragon's chest, reaching out to the bone, the flesh carved away and now roasting over a campfire. Dried splotch of blood was sinking into the ground in between the dragon's legs, marking the spot where his intestines fell when his killers cut him open.

The same killers that were now sitting by the campfire, chatting and laughing merrily as they cut and chewed on the roasting flesh of their draconic victim.

The sound of their mashing teeth against the meat was drilling into the heads of Spyro's group like worms.

Cynder slammed her paw against her mouth and quickly covered herself behind the bush, unable to look at the disgusting sight any longer. She couldn't believe she would ever consider it, but from all the worlds they visited this one was the worst, not even the freaks from Flare's reality could match the cruel audacity of eating everything that moves it seems.

Even if the building up vomit inside Spyro's throat was not enough to turn him away, Terrador said that a leader can not falter and if he wants to keep this team together it was about time he started to follow the advice.. Not to mention that this was the perfect opportunity to get a good look at the creatures that he could only recognize by bones previously, bones that Amela and her people gathered from the place where Hunter found Iris almost bleeding do death.

He remember that like it would be yesterday.

Curiosity is a fascinating little thing.

It could not compare to discovering a new race though.

Vaccarus, the race of creatures who pierced Iris with a spear, nearly killing her.

He finally understood why a dragoness like her could fall prey to such creatures.

The Vaccarus were tall, bipedal creatures, higher than a cheetah, the feline's stretched out ears reaching perhaps to the middle of the chest of the creature. There were females also among the campers, they were however just as intimidating as their male counterparts when it came to high, their noses reaching to the necks of the males.

Both genders massive and muscular, while the silhouettes of the females were visibly more gentle and enticing there was still raw power radiating from them, getting punched unaware by those girls would still mean a broken bone or two. The males were towering hulks of muscle, even though they were cladded in thick armor, you could still see the power of their figures in the huge weapons they were wearing and slices of biceps bulging through the armor.

From what he could tell the Vaccarus had no fur that could be considered parts of their natural protection, some of those warriors had a tuft poking from here and there that most likely was a birth characteristic instead of being natural armor like dragon scale. The only common petal of fur was visible on the end of their thin tails, a tail that seemed to not go perfectly well with the rest of the intimidating, massive posture, giving the warriors a slight dose of timid aura that perhaps announced that under all this thick bulge of muscles was a pacifist side too.

The skin of the Vacarrus was dark, brown, black, purple, did not matter, the hues of the skin did not change from the dim tone, at least in males it did not. The females were visibly brighter, while they were some dark skinned among them, majority of the female warriors were more vivid than the males, ranging from white to bright purple, brown and red could also be seen among them.

What he noticed however is that no matter how dark a female's skin can be the insides of their ears were always bright , mostly pink or bright yellow while the male's were reaching all spectrum of colors. Just like the tails the ears, rounded with no sharp edges that could be intimidating in any way only added to the aura of timidity of the strange creatures.

Each creature had a set of horns protruding from their heads, these two parts did not concern themselves with the sex of their owner, being randomly bigger and shorter in both genders.

They had similarly prolonged faces like dragons, with the difference being in their nose, taking on the form of a rectangle that seemed to carry the colors of their secondary hue visible on the strands of hair or fur, like a dragon's underbelly. Many of the Vaccarus had all sorts of piercing work done, small rings or bigger brands were attached to their flesh, from the looks of it was quite popular in their society to have some sort of branding filling the two big nostrils.

All in all they didn't look like predators, while he could not see their teeth he doubted a face formed like that could possess any sorts of deadly fangs.

Nothing else could be seen due to the fact that all of the campers were cladded in thick armor, keeping their weapons close by, only a few had their helmets off. Practically every part of their body was covered in armor, only opening up near the end of their sturdy and full legs which instead on paws or feet ended in hooves.

The armor was also a work of art, it probably scared away by itself more than one thief who tried to sneak into a Vacarrus camp only to spot the armor hanging on the rack in a gloomy corridor that could easily be mistaken for a nightmarish creature under the moonlight.

The plates were of top quality, gleaming with an intimidating obsidian light, the armor made of the blackest of material available in this world, embroidered with red and green gems which dotted the chest plate, waist, arms and legs, bracelets of green were wrapped around the wrists.

All sorts of spikes dotted the length of the armored legs and arms, a clear protecting against any hungry maw that would try to take a bite off the warriors. The armor was completed with a helmet but it seemed like not all of the warriors wore one, the more bigger fighters had their visors pulled against their faces which perfectly aligned with their long noses, fitting ideally like Iris' healing mask.

Others opted for tiaras, bandanas to hold their hair or all other sorts of light clothing or jewelry, as a magical creature however he could feel that those weren't merely decorative aspects of their inventory. These pieces were imbued with magic, he was unable to tell what exactly their powers were but since this was a war torn land with dragons the Vaccarus needed a way to deflect, perhaps even counter magic in some way.

Spyro could hear Iris clawing at the ground, her nostrils bristling and wafting cold streams of ice magic, eyes burning with freezing hatred. The wounds these creatures done to her in the past opening up again.

Before he could not imagine how dragons could have fallen prey to creatures that weren't led by a dragon, but seeing the Vaccarus now Spyro was reminded again why the dragons of this era have been defeated, especially when the rumors about the dragons of this time being so full of themselves that they treated everyone else like thrash while fighting among each other.

Bleeding out from the within while the other races thrived in the shadows.

And when this hoofed, monstrous horde finally marched there was no stopping it.

"Why the hell did you bring us here dude?" Sparx gulped, quite confident that this hulking, dangerous creatures filled up his list of monsters he would rather avoid

"We have a mission to accomplish" Orbis stated calmly, his rumbling voice making sparks of the fireplace jump up higher

"Not here for sure! Look at the size of those things, we have no idea how many of them are there and you want to tell me that your boss sent you out here to deal with them? Either you're hiding you're true purpose or you're stupid enough to follow orders into a clearly suicide mission. Remember that there were only two of you before we showed up! So what is it big guy? Lying or you're trying to kill yourself?"

"Or us" Cynder eyed the drake suspiciously, Sparx had a solid point, if their leader didn't want to get rid of them the dragons obviously strayed away from their goal, if they had any in the first place. She wasn't aware of the Vaccarus combat capabilities, but she fought with enough powerful creatures to be able to tell which is a joke

The campers in front of them were deadly and her instincts told her that they far outmatched the potential of two young dragons.

"Do we attack now?" Cellsa whined excitedly, oblivious to the troubles brewing in her group, her claws were tightly latched against the ground, her butt swishing from side to side restlessly, tail making anxious swings.

She was like a Death Hound tugging at its chain, impatiently waiting for a permission to be set loose.

"Not yet Dawn" Orbis sighed into the grass, the energy trapped inside his tail tip making a tiny flicker, the only thing that probably emphasized his anxiety

"Our missions always include the task of cleaning the path of any rogue elements we encounter"

"All nice and all, but the problem here is that you are not the only ones familiar here with the concept of command" Cynder whispered back, her attention steadily locked on the green dragon "In my dishonorable times I commanded my own army and I know something about securing nearby routes and high ground as we marched to our goal. In such situations only one rule applies" she raised her claw to emphasize her point "Do not sacrifice your mission"

"It generally means that you don't throw yourself at forces that can cripple or kill you when you have orders to follow. That camp over there is full of tall, strong creatures, on my eye far too powerful for a pair of dragons so Orbis, what's the deal here? You're trying to set us up and get us killed or your Commander is an idiot sending you on a suicide mission?"

Iris growled, her nostrils flaring up with freezing energy.

"I won't let you speak about my mother like that Tat"

"I'm not stating anything" she turned fiercely towards the blue dragoness, her confidence in the retort pushing back the tendrils of ice that crept towards her "I'm asking, besides you know your mother Iris better than anyone. Would she send someone on a foolish errand?"

"How dare you even think of such a thing"

Cynder smiled, her claw tips sinking into small splotches of shadow, charging them with energy, just in case she would have to use them against scales.

"Exactly"

"Busted dude" Sparx tapped his temple with a grin "You can't top those smarts baby"

"So what is it Orbis? You're trying to set us up and gang on us with those things in the camp or are you running your private errands and want to use us to help accomplish them? Neither of it falls into the category of us proving yourself to you, this camp has nothing to do with your mission, if there is any to begin with, hence it won't help further our cause in getting closer to your Commander"

Spyro listened with intense attention to Cynder's and Sparx' interrogation of Orbis, feeling extremely proud of them both. He was familiar with Cynder's wit already, her reaching such accurate conclusions was nothing out of the ordinary, she always had interesting things to say from the very start even when he interacted with her corrupted form, there was something about ominous black and intelligence that just made your heart beat faster.

Sparx kept her pace, his brother was a perceptive fellow, seeing things others could not and acting on them even if his presence seemed minimal, leading to people mostly ignoring him only to find out that the consequences of his actions are more impactful than what first impression presents.

What made this really special was the fact that Sparx and Cynder shined when they were together, supplementing each other like they were siblings growing up together from the start.

It was simply precious.

He did not dare to interrupt them, mostly because he trusted his...well... family, Cynder joined this private circle of his the moment she agreed to become his mate.

Another part of him wanted to keep an eye on the beasts just in case. And finally he simply wanted to cherish the moment when two souls he loved the most cooperated.

Orbis shared nothing of Spyro's joy, or thoughts for that matter, out of the two of them he was the one pushed against the wall and while trying to remain stoic and emotionless as always the subtle signs his body was giving away, like uncontrollable flicks of magical energy or a flex of a muscle really gave away his distress.

"I don't have to explain myself to you"

"Fine" both Sparx and Cynder shrugged nonchalantly, sliding back down the rise "And we have no reason to help you" the black dragoness finished the thought that ran through the dragonfly's head as well

"Sorry Orbis, but we won't help someone who isn't honest with us. We already made such a mistake once" Spyro added his own words to his friend's statement, remembering well how nice the partnership with Diazen unfolded

"You will never reach our Commander otherwise, you need an admission or they will kill you on sight, especially when you scales are peculiar while traveling with an unknown creature and a half blood in your ranks" the earth dragon grumbled, his eyes never turning to look at them, insistent in their arrogance to continue forward

"Me and Cyn here my man?" Sparx poked the black scaled girl with his elbow before folding his arms confidently "We had more people wanting to strangle us than there are stars in the sky, we can handle it"

Cellsa whined in annoyance her horns cracking a bright spark of electricity between them, so bright that it stirred grunts of surprise from the Vaccarus in the camp who clearly noticed the unexpected spark of light.

"All work and no play makes for another dull day" she chirped and her dancing from the side to side rump finally stopped, pushing strength back into her hind paws from which she sprung right into the camp, cracking electricity all around her

A loud alarm blared out among the campers, causing a small tremor to ran across the ground, making the leafs that covered them flap hectically.

The group gasped at the sudden charge of the electrical dragoness, Spyro's startled eyes managing to spot a big finger pointing his way.

The creatures knew they were here, but they were still surprised enough that they had time to retreat.

"Back up guys!" he reached for Iris who in contrary to them all remained in place, eyes locked constantly on the creatures ahead, pupils coldly following the moving figures there

"Come on Iris, let's go find your mom" he gently tugged her, yet his toes slid off her scales, elemental magic whipped at the tips of his claws, her blue body becoming slick with freezing aura

"We will, but first I make them pay" and with a roar of such anguish that it chugged Spyro's throat Iris lunged into the fray

"Damn you girl!" Sparx screamed into the air, throwing his fists into the sky

"You will prove yourself anyway it seems" Orbis commented with an annoying dose of satisfaction, jumping into the fight

Spyro looked pitifully at his family, expecting to see disappointment in their eyes and silent taunts of pity for his poor commanding skills. He was greatly relived to see nothing like that in their eyes, not even in Sparx'. They weren't happy of course about putting their lives on stake for a fight that isn't theirs really, hell he wasn't happy with that either, yet they didn't show any sign of reluctance towards what they obviously need to do.

They were a team and they supported him no matter what.

Knowing well that he wasn't the type to leave one of his group behind, no matter how problematic Iris can be.

He wasn't sure he was worthy of friends like that.

Cynder smiled, noticing his clear gratefulness, black veins began to thicken around her snout and chest, shadow started to wrap a protective coat around its mistress.

He bowed thankfully, nostrils wafting a stream of fire as he turned, horns flaring up with red energy before he finally charged forward, leaving a trail of burned earth behind him.

Spyro sprang forward, smashing his horns against the thick armored chest of a surprised warrior, the material from which it was made was solid, clearly made to withstand Elemental magic, yet despite its protections Spyro's strike was powerful enough to send the creature flying through the air when the dragon smashed into him, with an explosion of physical prowess and magic throwing the beast across the camp.

The Vaccarus on the outskirts of the camp quickly prepared their weapons, rushing into the fray to counter the unexpected draconic attack. They were stopped in their tracks however when they noticed a black figure briefly springing before their eyes, a figure that sank into the nearby, covered in shadow trunk of a tree.

Just when the warriors were about to renew their charge several black, burning figures grew from the ground in front of them, immediately thrusting their hellish blades forward. Only one horned creature fell to the surprising strike of foes that weren't there before, being ran cleanly by the magical blade, the rest of the group, clearly more experienced than their fallen sister in blood managed to repel the attacks and push the magical figures into a skirmish.

Cynder sank into the tree after leaving some blackish friends behind to slow down the reinforcements only to burst not so far away from the ground, lifting several figures into the air with her as they were preparing to overwhelm Cellsa.

Her blackened claws latched against one of the growling foes, infused with magic claws managed to sank into the armor but the her surprise they didn't go far, she almost instantly felt pressure on her paws as if she would dip them deep into wet sand.

The weak grip and the surprise attack was enough however to turn with the creature, hurling it at the nearby floating body of his comrade, making both crash into the ground. While she breathed a poisonous cloud straight into the face of the third and last beast that her attack lifted up.

She was shocked to see her breath spreading sideways instead of hitting the Vaccarus straight into the face, as if her attack would be a torrent of water crashing against a thick shore that split it apart.

Those brief seconds of having her attack do absolutely nothing allowed her enemy to regain enough composure to unstrap a small, handy crossbow, tip of which glowed menacingly.

Just then the current created by Cynder's leap from the shadows lost its potency, giving gravity the rule once again.

The sudden tug towards the earth made the hand holding the crossbow jerk violently just when the bolt was released, instead of striking the black dragoness in the chest, the bolt hit Cynder's wing joint, the natural protective armor of the dragon's in that particular spot disallowed the projectile from getting stuck, deflecting it sideways like the most durable of shields.

The impact however caused a small shockwave for which Cynder was not prepared. The blow threw her back in the sky, making her wings and limbs jerk chaotically as both fought bravely to keep her aloft. For a second she lost contact with her body, letting out a numb cough, every part of her feeling weak and squeezed tight as if a golem would punch her in the stomach.

World swirled in front of her eyes, making her sick and extremely weak, barely able to catch a breath as if she would be drowning. Besides her muscles she also lost contact with her Elemental magic, whatever that bolt was infused with silenced her magical powers.

Luckily it got deflected and the moment that reminded her of being choked to death lasted only for a while, she was ready to continue fighting.

Vaccarus had different plans however.

She felt a thick chain wrapping around her left hind leg, before she could react a powerful tug pulled her down from the sky, making her slam right into the ground. Right after that another strong jerk made her slide across the earth, right in the direction of some hooved feet and a huge spiked shield in front of them, ready to impale her on its hungry blades.

Just when she was about to react the shield suddenly turned into a block of ice which covered the shield and its spikes behind its layer. The unexpected turn of events stopped Cynder from making any moves, she allowed herself to be thrown upon the block, the momentum she accumulated was enough to shatter the block into thousands of pieces, barely slowing her slide.

The force with which she slid made her crash against the thick, hooved legs, kicking them up in the air as she toppled the creature who pulled her down from the sky. The moment the warrior hit the ground the pressure on the chain loosened as well.

Iris sprinted towards the fallen warrior, body already having cuts running along the flanks that spat out blood lively. The blue dragoness didn't care obviously, cutting distance with confident strides, mouth parted open and blood covered wings bating at the air to give their owner a little more speed.

She was bombarding the hulking warrior with an unending torrent of ice, the magical stream, just as Cynder's poison could touch the creature, being deflected by an invisible barrier.

Only then Cynder noticed that there was some magical aura surrounding the horned creature, the barrier seemed to effectively deflect Iris' strikes, the gems dotting the armor pulsed faintly, beating steadily like calm hearts.

Protection or not, she could see the warrior wincing and covering himself from the attack, the defense was clearly not painless and if put under enough pressure the defense would eventually collapse.

Iris lunged at the warrior with a rabid roar, every bit of magic she assaulted the creature with was extinguished in an instant when she landed on the armored figured. Her claws sinking into the armor, making the warrior scream in pain.

Something Cynder was unable to do with her Darkness imbued claw Iris managed to recreate with her natural blades. Iris climbed quickly, moving like a snake, each reach forward sinking her claws into the cracks in the armor.

She moved to the top with unimaginable speed, jumping to the side, keeping her head low just in time to avoid the arm of the warrior who clearly tried to scoop her up.

Iris dexterously moved to the back of the creature's head, thrusting the tip of her iced tail right into the eye of the warrior, making him roar in pain, his instinctive reaction dragging the hands that tried to stop her right towards the source of pain, giving Iris enough room to snatch the head and tilt it back before she parted her mouth with a wicked snarl and sunk her teeth into the exposed throat, ripping it apart with a twist of her head.

The eyes of the warrior widened when blood gushed strongly from the cracked veins, painting Iris' snout crimson. She made nothing of the red fountain, she started slashing fiercely at the throat, splattering blood and muscle in every direction in gory streams as she kept hacking with a painful cry of a lunatic.

The body of the Vaccarus stopped moving quickly, unable to withstand the amount of blood loss his spirit had left this world, that didn't stop Iris however who clawed at the destroyed throat until she severed the spine and ripped holes in the earth.

It was then when ice blew from all around her, gushing from the hole she made like blood from the recently ripped apart throat, the stream of chill momentarily covered the corpse and the now freed from the shackles of the skeleton head, turning both into bricks of ice.

Iris lifted the severed head above her horns, holding it in both bloodied paws she threw it straight at the rest of the frozen body with a wail so loud that the body cracked even before the frozen block hit it, turning the dead warrior into pitiful shards.

Cynder looked away from the unnecessary brutality, fighting was a part of this world, present, past, future, it didn't matter, this is how it works and she was no stranger to death, being one of its favorite consorts.

Molesting the body of a fallen foe was not only dishonorable but also wrong on the moral compass, even in death and blood there should be some manner of civility, something Iris clearly didn't care about.

"Was it really necessary?" Cynder groaned

"Armor is enhanced, magic only from distance to weaken the protection, do not panic again when you get struck by shimmering bolts or weapons, binding magic will drain your elemental energy, be prepared and clean yourself of it quickly, you have more than enough time to recover before you'll drop, barely able to catch a breath" Iris quickly recited, her accented voice monotonous as if she would be reading a text from some book, she was clearly passing a lesson that left a lasting mark on her brain

With that Iris sprang forward, sprinting towards the fight, leaving the baffled Cynder behind who was surprised that Iris just gave her advice on survival.

Cellsa ducked gracefully under a slashing sword, her flexible body bending in such a way that the blade grazed over her scales without wounding them as if it would be a hand feeling a swishing in the wind grass.

The arc of electricity cracked lively in between her horns, immediately bending like a magnet at both sides of her snout. A bolt of electricity came rumbling between the bent arcs, running straight through the opening of her mouth.

She bit into it and momentarily the bolt extended itself to both sides, sprouting out several, long tendrils. Cellsa's moving body put the electrical whip in motion instantly, its long lashes shocking and charring whatever they came in contact with.

The electric dragoness was dancing between her foes, her dexterous twists and twirls allowed the whip to crack at different, ever changing angles that for the most time proved impossible to parry. Majority of the Vaccarus that attacked her weren't hurt in the process, the electrical whips bounced off the dispelling barriers that they had wrapped around themselves, while the strikes did not physically hurt the fighters, the blowing up in the air cracks of lightning effectively slowed them down.

One of the massive beasts roared, ignoring the whips of electricity and grabbed the arc into his gauntleted hand, his armors rattling against the current but even despite the visual discomfort the gems on his armor shined brightly, sending back a pulse of energy along the magical whip.

Cellsa parted her mouth when the force struck her letting out a loud whine, her body making a short spasm, while the whip faded from existence.

The male fighter who dispelled the arc charged forward immediately, slashing his massive sword at the dragoness.

Unaware of the fact that she was prepared to get hit by a force the Vaccarus are known for using, with a blink of the eyes the moment of visible tiredness was gone, her look once again sharp, yellow lines of magic bursting into life all around her body. She lunged straight at the moving sword.

She twisted her body in the air, making her slide under the moving sword, she thrust her paw forward, the arches that built up shot forward, wrapping themselves tightly against the weapon. She roared and a shocking pulse struck the arm that wielded the sword, the strong spasm caused the arm to jerk violently back, a moment Cellsa was waiting for.

She let go off the blade the moment it was raised, the momentum hurling her right at the beast, she flapped with her wings once, giving her body another acrobatic spin while the tentacles of lightning wrapped themselves around the creature's muscular neck.

With a single swift spin Cellsa was already behind the warrior, digging her hind paws into the armor while her front paws pulled at the shocking cords tightened around the neck her entire body twisting back as she roared a rabid blare into the sky, feeling completely free since the reckless charge depleted the warrior of every ounce of defensive magic.

The chains of electricity burnt through the metal and skin in an instant, blinding sparks burst all around from the body, accompanied by the stench of burned skin Cellsa's muscles flexed and with one final jerk the electrical chain beheaded its victim.

Blood shot from the stump of the neck, the brutality showed in the move painted the next approaching warriors in the crimson battle marks of their fallen comrade.

The charge was immediately stopped by an unexpected wall of roots and rocks rising in front of the group, branches of which started to smack stab and choke the unfortunate warriors who were first in the line of offense.

Orbis charged past his sister, his eyes glowing with fierce, green energy, he slammed his horns into the wall which accepted him willingly, its solid structure becoming soft as butter. He pushed from the other side, latching his strong paws on the armor of the first female warrior while the rest of the wall exploded, thrusting the rest of the warriors back, some were unfortunate enough to get pierced by an earthy projectile.

He pulled her roughly back, forcing the female to crash her head into the protruding wall, the collision was so strong that she immediately became numb in his grasp, losing consciousness instantly.

Orbis tapped the ground with his paw, sending a pulse of green energy across it, the earth cracked, thrusting several roots into open world which immediately bent and wrapped themselves around the female warrior who he laid down gently onto the ground. The branches thickened their grip, trapping the female into a woody cocoon, enough to prevent her limbs from moving, but not tight enough to hold her chest from breathing.

His peculiar eye flashed violently, the unconscious warrior was propped slightly above the ground and immediately shoved back into a corner filled with crates as if she would be carried by hordes of tiny ants. The branches thickened there, forming a protective barrier around the female, their size and the unraveled, relatively safe path keeping her away from the battlefield.

Cellsa snorted in irritation, her eyes jumping between the fighters who were preparing to attack her.

"One day dude, all those sods you save will come back and mount your head on a pike"

The green dragon ignored his sister's advice, like he did many times before, all his life he did everything for her and exactly like she wanted, attack on this camp was no different. For such a sacrifice he felt inclined to do something the way he wanted, as meaningless as it may have be.

He was inclined to show mercy.

This world was nothing more than an unending bloodbath, creatures were killing themselves left and right, he wasn't foolish to believe that there was another way, however he saw no reason to become savage and brutal, war was already tragic on its own, there was no sense adding more depression to it.

He understood that the creatures they fought were their enemies, but those were still sentient souls, following the call of their leader like they do. They might be supporting Athron's side, but to him there was no guarantee that Icestrider was right, Vaccarus, wind dragons, they followed their own leaders, were loyal to them and they believed that their generals were right.

History will eventually judge that.

Nevertheless it did not mean that their enemies are parasites in need of stomping, they were warriors just like them and they deserved respect, because in the end war is unfair and it is always fighters like them, unimportant in the grand scale of events, who spill the blood while their masters sit high above, pointing claws were they should strike next.

There was no honor in a death during a battle for privileges and domination and if he has a chance to spare some souls this gruesome fate he will not hesitate.

They weren't the most favorite soldiers of their army anyway, if someone finds out, another scar on their reputation won't change a thing. Their parents will scream of course, but they scream all the time anyway so at this point their yells are nothing more but rumbling burps of an alcoholic to him.

The advantage of surprise they had was over, the scattered Vaccarus reorganized their formations, splitting into several regiments, among each was a commander who was yelling at the top of his or hers lungs in an unfamiliar tongue for the time traveling group, the magical aura around the creatures changed together with their tactic, becoming more formidable, the dragons could feel it sprouting offensive roots.

"Just go and we won't chase you!" Spyro shouted at the groups of horned beasts, his tail swinging intimidatingly as he observed the groups that surrounded him

Several of the creatures seemed to be surprised by his statement, or perhaps his purple looks that they finally could process, nobody however showed any signs that he was about to follow his words.

Instead he felt a rush of magical energy heading his way.

He slowed down time for a second, giving himself a window big enough to turn and shield himself behind his wing. The projectile that headed his way reminded him of the tether that formed between the snake medallions the grublins bound then with all that time ago. The projectile's shape and color, both becoming more prominent as they got closer stirred back memories, being chained together with Cynder, occasionally getting smacked into her soft body after an uncertain tug wasn't something to frown about, it was actually one of the best parts of their tethered plight at that time.

Among the pleasant ones were however also memories of the bad and ugly and he won't forget the choking pressure he felt on his neck whenever one of them strayed too far. At that point the magical chain of the necklace was extremely thick and bright, foreshadowing bad news.

Just like the projectile.

The magical bolt struck his wing, the impact pushed his wing back, forcing the membrane to smack against his nose, drawing blood from the nostrils. The feeling of having his head pushed underwater, lungs burning from the lack of air left his numb, it was almost like the snake medallion was tired of slow strangulation instead deciding to sink its solid fangs into his neck and choke him to death by breaking the blood flow.

The world became silent, terrifyingly silent.

It was not about his surroundings, or the material plane in general, this was still loud, especially so now that they openly attacked a camp. As a purple dragon he could hear the melody of the world's soul, different elements playing specific tunes with which he could connect with, always there, always present.

But now there was nothing.

The magic of the Vaccarus drained his elemental powers.

He has different scales than any other dragon the creatures might have seen, but since he reacted to their shackling magic basically the same way all the hesitation they ever had was gone. The group threw itself at him.

"Hey you hoofed bitches!" Sparx yelled from above, pointing a crossbow at one of the charging group, instead of typical bolts the loaded projectiles looked like small rocks, cracking like cinders

"Where do you think you're going?!" the crossbow snapped, the bolts hitting the ground and several armors, immediately bursting with small, deafening explosions

Fireworks were kicked in the air when Sparx began bombarding the attacking beasts, the shock waves hindered the advancement of the warriors, forcing them to stop and seek cover or change their pace to extremely slow as they flung their arms around, finding protection from the flying shards.

Spyro took advantage of the distraction, pulling his wing in front of his draconic face he sprinted towards one of the groups, his leg muscles struggling, the lack of elemental energy made him feel sick and tired, but despite the discomfort he kept on pushing, muscles wanting to rest but at the same time used to work under extreme conditions.

The Vaccarus clearly did not expect him to charge at them in the middle of the bombardment, especially when just a moment ago he was zapped by their draining magic.

Spyro leapt at the nearby creature, she clearly did not expect his attack, having her neck easily exposed, he slashed at it, drawing blood before biting onto the thick arm, his fangs barely sinking into the armor. It was enough to force the body he was holding into an awkward spin and hurl it into the rest of her companions.

The hoofed creatures attacked, Spyro deflected with his wing a massive axe, silently sending thankful prayers to Nature that she armed dragons with such daunting shields. The parry sent the blade against a sword heading his way, both weapons were jerked back with a clank.

He swung his tail, it crashed against a leg, bending the metal right at the knee, making the warrior drop on one leg. He punched the horned head, his paw glowing green on impact, elemental energy reactivated at impact, the additional force was too much for the helmet to dampen, the warrior was knocked out unconscious like a log.

Spyro roared, a cone of colorful energy surrounded him as if he would be the heart of a cyclone, never before he felt so reinvigorated.

The Vaccarus started shouting something, their words deafened by the explosions all around that Sparx was creating.

Spyro bent on his legs, preparing to counter another attack but to his surprise the warriors did not make a strike instead they latched their strong hands over the unconscious arm of their companion and dragged him away. Blazing, colorful eyes were staring at him from all directions, full of disgust and blame.

He recognized the look.

It was the same look people were giving Malefor.

Purple eyes widened in fear.

The Vaccarus must have seen something similarly evil in him because all of them started to retreat.

"Haha! Victory! Run you cowards! We are gods!" Sparx blared out triumphantly

Cynder was in the middle of a duel with some strong chick when her opponent was unexpectedly pulled back, making her lose her balance as she prepared to strike the muscular creature. She looked ahead, surprised to see the Vaccarus brandishing their weapons at her while they were pulling back, their eyes speaking volumes, they were expecting the worst from her, they expected her to charge after them like a rabid monster hungry for flesh.

For a second there she wondered if they really had traveled in time, back home people had same expectations for her.

"They are pulling back" she mused to herself "They are pulling back!" she roared at the top of her lungs, not really understanding why the fight ended so abruptly, in fact she was barely scratched, just when their opponents were finally taking control of the situation they started to bail

Why?

They weren't expecting to fight do many dragons perhaps? With two of them like nothing they had ever seen?

"After them!" Cellsa shouted jovially, her body covered in even more blood then before, she immediately sent a bolt of electricity after a group of the armored warriors in the distance

"No!" Spyro shouted, flapping with his wings vigorously, mimicking Iris' move and sending a strong blizzard between the group and the electrical bolt, the power of his breath silenced the attack that was chasing the falling back Vaccarus

Cellsa snarled at the purple drake angrily.

He did not flinch however, meeting her glare confidently.

"We won, it's over. We don't chase fleeing enemies"

The electric dragoness laughed bitterly.

"Another priest! First my bro and now you" she knocked at her forehead, the electrical arc between her horns sparkling chaotically "Don't you understand that they will be back? They will set up an ambush where they will kill a few dragons, and who knows? Maybe among them will be one of your friends? This is war! We are here to weaken our enemies and not let them recover, now they know more about us and you! One silly decision of mercy can change everything!"

"It changes nothing in your case, we come from the future and that means your world has ended. Nothing changes for you, because your destination is known, you all die in the end. In our case? Blind pursuit for blood? It changes everything"

Spyro voiced his opinion sternly, his expression serious and muscles flexed intimidatingly, giving clear signs that he closed any room for negotiation here. Before his eyes he still could see the glares the Vaccarus were giving him as if he would be nightmare incarnate.

And he'll be damned if he follows Malefor's steps. He is not evil.

You hear that black spot on my paw?

I'm not evil.

Fuck you Dark Spyro.

The electric dragoness snarled, cage of electricity cracked all around her body.

"If we can't get past you we will go through you"

"You will fail. There is two of you and four of us, we met earth and electric dragons in our lives already, how many black and purple dragons you met that you're so confident you have a chance in a fight?"

"Featherbrain you drag along doesn't look like a friend to me"

"Question remains unchanged. How many purple and black dragons have you met?"

Cellsa's mouth parted open but this time no words poured out, not even death of soldiers announced defeat more clearly than the loss for words in a mouth that barely knew how to keep its lips pressed together.

The silence lasted for a very long uncomfortable minute until finally the orange dragoness pulled herself up with a grunt, throwing her paw dismissively.

"Whatever" she moved away, looking around the camp with a typical, prancing step as if the challenge just a second ago didn't happen "Where is it now?"

When Cellsa began rummaging through the camp Cynder dropped on her haunches, tail curling in front of her paws as she gazed on her mate with bulged out eyes, she had to admit that she felt a bit intimidated by Spyro, she heard him confident before, but he never acted so harsh and stern.

Never so blunt.

She could sense her last strands of independence shrinking into nothingness in this very moment, if Spyro would speak up now, told her to roll back and forth she would do it without question.

Such convincing was Spyro's dominant energy right now.

"Duuuude" Sparx huffed breathlessly, lowering himself down next to his brother's head, watching the speechless, electric dragoness walking away in defeat

He gave the purple shoulder an admiring tap of a elbow.

"Guess it's about time you packed something more than a pecker between those legs. That was sweeeeet. You stomped that chick into the ground" yellow hand gave a supporting slap on the purple back "Good for ya bro! You finally started listening to me and look!" Sparx grinned "What did I tell you? You can never go wrong with me buddy"

Orbis came into sight, glancing towards the two brothers, his hair matted from the recent fighting, glued to the scales like wet cloth. There was a visible scratch running across one of his crests. The green dragon was a total contradiction of his sister, besides the unusual tranquility that radiated from him there was something more there.

Support.

The green dragon nodded, both brothers returned the same gesture, neither Sparx nor Spyro knew what the game was the siblings were playing, but it definitely had nothing to do with following orders of Iris' mother. Whatever the case may be, even if they had an argument before this whole fight it seemed like the recent decision of not pursuing the fleeing Vaccarus earned them some points in the green dragon's eyes.

The moment of mutual understanding was suddenly broken by a horrid screech coming from around the pile of nearby crates.

Everyone rushed there, except Cellsa who was still busy with searching the camp.

A bloodied piece of armor flew from behind the corner, the screams were bo longer there, replaced by a disgusting, gurgling noise, followed by wet sounds of something being torn apart. They cut the corner only to see Iris standing over a female Vaccarus, her blue paws were fervently slashing at the unarmored chest, tearing skin and muscle alike with each cut, splattering blood and intestines everywhere.

The body of the abused girl was thrown into spasms, trembling from hoof to horn. Blood was streaming from her gurgling mouth, red bubbles popping systematically, eyes wide and gaze distant, practically milk, locked in an endless plea for mercy.

"Iris!" Spyro roared at the rabid dragoness

She didn't hear him, her blue head dived into the crevice in the chest, blood poured .upwards when her teeth snapped, with a wet smack she tugged her neck back, pulling a piece of a meaty liver behind. She shoved it straight into the gurgling mouth and then lifted both her forepaws above her head only to smash them into the sticking out liver, shoving it forcefully down the throat.

The body began to tremble more strongly.

"I can't watch this" Cynder whimpered, squinting her eyes tightly as she turned her head away, desperately trying to block the noise and memory of the abuse from embedding itself into her mind

"Iris!" Spyro jerked forward, with the intention to stop the blue girl from molesting the corpse, he felt his brother's hands grabbing one of his fins and pulling him back

"Leave her bro, let her vent up or she'll scratch your eyes out"

Iris started screaming with each punch, she managed to shove the liver after four blows, right now she wasn't doing anything besides turning the warrior's face into a bloody pulp. With a heart stopping wail her blood covered claws latched against the open mouth. Her entire body flexed, flushing out her perfect feminine curves in a macabre show of gore and blood as her claws cut into the flesh and tore the mouth wide open with a disgusting, wet noise of torn paper.

"This won't help nobody" Spyro pressed forward, getting close to the dragoness in several steps

"Iris! Stop it!" he yelled at the girl

This time she had heard him, the blue dragoness roared at the top of her lungs, the cry a mix of fury and agony, so high that several glasses in the nearby tents cracked. Her wings opened up fiercely, feathers standing on end like talons, elemental energy kicking dust in the air.

She spun towards the purple drake at the peak of her blare, she batted her wings and stomped her paws, a fierce wave of a blizzard was sent at Spyro who got kicked back by the sheer amount of force in that attack which closely bordered on Fury magic. The freezing effect of the snowstorm burned his scales as he rolled on the ground.

Iris immediately returned her attention to the corpse, her tensed body glistening in the aura of the freezing mist that surrounded her. With a shriek she thrust her claws into the glossy eyes, popping them immediately, their thick substance spurting into her snout, followed by a trail of blood.

After that she hacked at the neck, slashing only twice with her charged by magic blue claws before she latched her paws against the hair and with one sharp jerk tore the head from the rest of the body. She spun it face down and then smashed it against the ground, again and again, as if she would be beating a nail with a hammer.

Bones cracked and blood spurted everywhere after each strike, the head becoming lighter with each collision.

"That's enough!" this time it was Spyro who roared loudly

With a rabid roar Iris flung the abused remains of the head at the purple drake, he deflected the gory projectile with a surprised gasp.

"It's over Iris!" he yelled at the girl once more

Iris made nothing of his orders, with bloodshot eyes she threw herself at the Dragon right after the head, the fury boiling her blood made her impossibly strong, she toppled him over with ease, pressing his back into the ground as she thrust her claws into his chest, roaring straight into his face, spitting blood, saliva and pieces of flesh all over him.

The pain of her chilling claws sinking into his flesh made Spyro arch his back with a groan, his own body reacting defensively to the pain, he curled his paw into a fist, his flexed muscles delivering a solid hook into the girl's cheek who in her state cared nothing for defense.

Iris' claws popped from his chest in a spray of blood, he grasped her by the shoulders when she lost balance and with a sharp jerk forced their bodies to roll, this time he was on top, while he pinned the dragoness under his weight.

"It's over Iris!" he slammed her against the ground again to force his point across

Iris however didn't seem to hear him, she thrashed and cried loudly, trying to throw him off, magic flashed inside her mouth, preparing to breathe a stream of ice at him.

Spyro punched her again, the girl spat the streams of magic out with a spray of blood. He smashed her once more, pinning her down tighter.

"They are dead Iris!"

He could notice a blink of sanity appearing in her white eyes, the words he said had to have some effect on her, her body was still trying to kick him off but there was no longer the same determination in them like before. The unnatural strength of blind fury was fading.

"They are dead Iris" he repeated the same words again, calmer this time

They hit their mark, Iris blinked, her fighting body becoming numb, she turned her head to look at him, her eyes were confused and full of pain, tears of depression glistening in the corners. Her body gave in to the extreme exhaustion she put it through, she immediately started to pant, chest heaving, desperate for breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned, relaxing his grip on her to give her some sense of support

Her white eyes remained on him for a moment, still lost and hurt until her head eventually moved down to look at their bodies as if trying to get a hold of the situation. Iris could see herself on the ground, panting heavily while a strong purple body stood over her, his legs between her opened hind ones, breathing heavily what could only be a horny frenzy. Males all are the same, they can't control their urges no matter the situation.

When she looked back again Spyro gulped, nothing remained od the hurt and bewildered girl from before, her eyes were once again piercing and full of disgusted hate.

"Get off me wanker!" Iris pulled her back paws up, giving the gold chest a solid kick

Spyro was thrown off with a choking grunt, Iris immediately pulled herself up, looking around the camp, spotting bodies of several Vaccarus in the nearby vicinity. All dead. Good.

But the camp was far bigger than that.

"Where is the rest?" she hissed coldly

"They ran away" the purple drake replied truthfully

Blue head snapped back at him with a snarl, a combination of saliva and blood stretched out a line of drool from the corner of Iris' mouth.

"You let them go?"

"We didn't come here for them Iris, this fight was not getting us any closer to finding her, in fact we might have even get killed or crippled here like it tends to happens in fights and then the plans of visiting your mother would lie in ruins. These creatures were not responsible for your plight Iris, we moved in the past so as far as nature is concerned those that wronged you are still dead"

"Don't assume you know what I want Goldie"

"Fine" he raised his paws defensively "If we meet them again you can go and fight and we will concentrate on finishing what we came here for. If you live catch us in your mother's throne room"

Iris stared at him with her piercing gaze for a prolonged while until she finally approached, grabbing him by the nose to pull him closer.

"I will tell you the same thing when one day someone you love will get gutted, like your lady or brother for example, we will see how easily you will discard a thirst for vengeance then" she whispered icily, her breath reeked of death and torture

Spyro gulped, his confidence faltering.

"And then when the void inside will be so huge that it threatens to swallow you we will finally find someone who looks exactly like the killers. I will tell you then that we are also not here for them, how would you like that Goldie?" she pushed him back with a snort, turning around fiercely and giving him a slap to the cheek with her tail before strolling in the distance

There was a faint groan, one of the fallen warriors moved his limbs as he awoken from the shock.

Iris immediately sent an ice projectile into the creatures face, the bolt piercing his mouth and silencing him until it eventually sprouted spikes like a hedgehog, piercing the skin, sending blood and brain matter in every direction.

Iris spat on the corpse.

He stared at her with guilty eyes, she sowed such a depressing seed of perspective in his heart that he felt stupid now for calling her out. It wasn't okay to treat your enemies like that, but then again only Iris knows how much pain she went through after her mother was killed, who he was to tell her what was wrong when she went through so much agony?

"You did the right thing Spyro" Cynder gave her mate a supporting pat, barely able to hold herself back from snapping at Iris for striking her friend

"Yeah" he huffed, sadly, rubbing the burning mark on his cheek "Let's hope so"

"There it is!" a triumphant blare echoed throughout the camp

Cellsa sprang into view, leaping from inside a tent and landing straight on her belly while keeping her front paws aloft, holding a light brown satchel. She immediately scrambled back up, throwing one of the straps over her head while wrapping the other around her back and underbelly to snap the satchel in place, making it hang tightly from her flank. Her paw immediately took a dive inside, she laughed merrily when some clanking could be heard, she withdrew a bottle made from a transparent material similar to glass. Some liquid was swirling inside.

She emptied the glass with one, solid gulp.

"What is that?" Sparx asked, pointing at the now empty bottle

"My booster!" Cellsa grinned, presenting blackened from the liquid teeth before giving herself a tasty lick to clean out everything

"Grimcap" Orbis commented, seeing the visible confusion painting the dragonfly's face, after their assistance he felt obliged to clarify all doubts the group might have "A peculiar breed of a plant that sprouts berries locked in a shell of a black nut, when grinded it bleeds a thick juice with a bitter, strong taste, many dislike it but it is known for it stimulating effects, giving you more energy and vigor"

"And your sis drinks it like water" Sparx noted gloomily

"Yes"

"Your hyperactive sis drinks a stimulating liquid like water" he shook his head, rubbing his forehead as if he would have a headache "You're not familiar with the concept of throwing a torch into a tar pit I see"

"Whoa!" Cellsa shivered, muscles cramping before she straightened up with a long stretch, tongue rolling out in bliss "That's the stuff" eyes snapped open, in a blink of an eye she bounced towards her sibling, jumping high like a restless frog

"Thanks bro!" she gave her brother a long, grateful lick on the cheek before dropping flat on her back with a giggle, her paws thrashing and kicking around as she laughed hysterically

The dragoness several seconds later rolled on her belly, breathing a stream of electricity at the ground, the explosion lifting her off the earth and back on all fours.

"Okay team! We can do our real work now!" she laughed, spinning in place in pursuit of her own tail

"Wait a second" Cynder frowned "Did you just really put us all in danger so you can get your drugs?"

"Yep!"

Black tail swished angrily.

"You used us so you could take your drugs back"

"Hey now! It's not some drugs!" Cellsa patted the satchel proudly "This stuff is my air, you're good guys so if a fish would ask you to drop it into water would you say no?"

Cynder opened her mouth to voice her protest.

"Hell nah!" yet she was cut off by the orange girl answering her own question "Me and my bro here? We have an eye for good guys you know? Not many of them are left in this world and you guys have a specific aura around yourself that just screams" she pressed her paws to her snout "WE LIKE HELPING PEOPLE AND DO IT FOR FREE" her voice boomed through the enhanced tube she made with her paws, the sound of it making her laugh "Okay you travel with a Feathers-for-brain but no one is perfect so no worries there! One stinky cloaca doesn't change that you're awesome! You made a dragoness happy today and this is what matters for you guys the most right?" she grinned, certain of her own suspicions "Am I right?"

"Of course I am!" she blared out, an arc of electricity cracking around her "You did good, I was so sad for the last several days, I just needed a sip you know? Let me tell you that you don't want to see me not in shape, I can get rather dull without my daily fix of my sweet, sweet nectar" she licked her lips dreamily "That reminds me of the day-"

"Just shut up you stupid whore!" Iris roared painfully, claws clutching the head that pulsed with bolts of pain after listening to this useless flood of words "Var skamwe teli!" she hissed painfully

"Whatever she said!". Sparx pointed at the ice dragoness, never a big fan of hearing an electrical dragon talk

"So you put our lives in danger, wasted our time going obviously against any orders you had and simply ignored the fact that you wanted to test us" Spyro pointed out the facts

"Test? What test?" Cellsa titled her head, scratching her hair

"You wanted me to prove for example just how legendary I am"

"Really?" she laughed, waving dismissively "I say a lot of things my man, many I don't remember so we're cool"

"I can't believe this shit" Cynder grumbled

"All right!" the dragoness rolled her eyes, clearing her throat and straightening up "You passed!" she announced solemnly "I dunno what you did but you passed! Happy now? Yes? Good" she bounced around, laughing "Now let's do something fun!"

"I apologize for not being clear with you" Orbis spoke up finally, sensing the thickening atmosphere "We needed your assistance in this fragile matter, this camp was too big for us to handle alone, thank you for your assistance. And before you ask, no, we didn't waste your time, your feathery friend seemed to enjoy punishing our enemies, while you Spyro proved to me that there is really something special about purple dragons we heard stories about"

The serious green eyes narrowed itself on the young purple drake.

"You made the Vaccarus flee, something that they are not known for. You also allowed them to do so, mercy is an uncommon trait in this war torn land. Believe what you will, but this proves your worth in my eyes and while I have to admit that we took advantage of your assistance we also did it to evaluate you. You must understand that trust is scarce in this world, it is always about transactions and you helped me to assist my sister and proved to me that you're not a fraud. If you allow it, we will lead you straight to Athron now, no more detours, but I must warn you it won't be easy to see our Commander, we cannot simply stroll in, not when you are wearing such specific colors and traveling with someone with feathers"

"My mother will see me! I am her daughter!" Iris protested

"That you might be my lady, but as far as Athron is concerned today, wind dragons are our enemies and she will pluck your wings clean first before allowing you to speak. And even if you are sharing rather similar physical traits with our Commander, we cannot see your face under the mask you're wearing and since you're also clearly a spawn of a wind dragon I doubt the reveal would help you in any way. It's only a fair warning, something you deserve after helping us. You must be ready my lady that your mother might not be the one you remember"

"She will recognize me!" the blue dragoness yelled, trying to sound confident, but the uncertain waver in her voice didn't escape anyone's attention

Orbis nodded.

"If you say so"

Iris pouted her lips and turned away, eyes darting from side to side in growing panic when she realized just now that the green fucker might be right. They moved back in time where mom was too busy fighting stuff, most likely plans for having any children were still far, far away.

Is it possible that she won't recognize her own daughter?

No, fuck it.

She will, she has to.

Maybe not at first, maybe a little later, nevertheless she cannot stop now, she must see her again.

She must.

Didn't she suffer enough for her mistakes?

No matter how it might turn out, she deserved a chance to set things right.

And she won't mess it up this time.