FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 28

The trip to reach Iris' mother went uneventful after the last campfire, it was hard to say for the group of time traveling dragons if they were lucky that nothing jumped on them on this torn by war lands or if their guides chose paths they knew that were safe. Whatever the case may be all of them enjoyed the moment of serenity, it helped Iris recover, Spyro and his friends could remain focused on the surroundings while the two siblings concentrated on finding the right path.

After the last Moonborne experience neither wanted to push their luck further, even Cellsa who was typically frolicking out of control seemed to be more toned down in her chaos inducing fever. It seems like nearly getting killed puts one's perspective on life on different level of focus.

Eventually the group began a climb, the time traveling portion of the party only now realized that for the last several days they were traveling across the depressions of this world, only now raising to the correct ground level. The uneven terrain, such difference in the ground levels to be precise, wasn't natural, if there was any sign that this world was ravaged by constant fighting, than this was it.

Earth was assaulted by the Elements for so long that it received wounds from which it could never recover from again. Spyro gulped, the realization throwing him back into the mines where they fought the bugs, he remembered the piles of corpses he left behind, remembered his own perspective about the popularity of purple dragons.

And he was right.

This world was bleeding from the constant battle between the dragons, single element type of dragons, if there would be purple drakes pitied against each other in a battleground as big as this there would be nothing left of this world. In this moment of weird thoughts he heard Malefor's words in his head and how he spoke about fulfilling the prophecy by breaking the world apart, back then he thought he was nuts, but now? When seeing this destruction?

Maybe he was right?

How crazy it would be to discover that the Belt of Fire crossing the world is actually cleansing instead of destroying it, after all the world always remained intact at the beginning of new era, it was only the life that changed.

Mainly the numbers of dragons present in the world.

It was an insane perspective and probably unreal, but seeing the permanent destruction that constant dragon fighting might cause still put some benefit of the doubt into this idea.

His train of thought was interrupted by Sparx' sudden gasp.

"What the hell is THAT?"

The three accompanying him dragons soon joined him, all eyes widening and mouths parting, all of them squinted when they were suddenly assaulted by a thick veil of shadow that was unusual to meet in an open terrain.

In the distance stretched out what seemed to be a thick pillar of stone, it was so high that it seemed to touch the sun itself, the monolith, or whatever it was higher than any volcano they had ever seen. The structure was so tall that it blocked the sunlight.

"Skyward. Our destination" Orbis announced, his usually emotionless voice gloomier than usual

"That's bullshit!" Iris snarled, her eyes gazing upon the structure through her mask, even though her voice screamed of protest her diamond orbs betrayed her true feelings "This is not a city"

"Extra perception points for you miss Cloaca! You're climbing up in the world!" Cellsa clapped her paws in cheerful manner full of mockery "This is not a city, this is its wall! Damn you're so smart"

Iris ignored the obvious taunt, her heart raced too fast to care about pride right now.

"Rime had no walls like that, my mother's city was normal, open, healthy" her sight gave the huge monolith in the distance a piercing once over from top to bottom "Not this...this...cage of paranoia" the words whizzed from her mouth like the last, dying breath of a mortally wounded soldier who will never see his family again

Color faded from the girl's face and the group could see the trapped girl beating against the diamond cell in Iris' eyes that Spyro was already familiar with. For some reason the dragoness looked extremely confused and terrified.

"This is not a city" she whispered breathlessly "This is a coffin"

It was time for Cellsa to lose the lively colors from her draconic face, the triumphant smirk shrunk to a lifeless line immediately after hearing those words. She instantly turned around and gazed upon Skyward and its tall walls.

Coffin.

That would explain why she could never breathe inside that damn city. It would explain why the people there were like corpses, unimaginative and retarded in their way of thinking. Simplistic and blindly set on their unfair ways.

A coffin.

Perhaps not a literal one since folks are living there.

But a symbolic one.

Yes, that would fit it nicely.

People there had a knack of finding their way to their graves.

That and the retarded way of thinking where the males are forced into military service, the co called respected profession, with majority of them in the end sticking their noses so high up their asses that they could parade as snakes, telling you what you can and can not do.

Athron being the only female out there with some dose of respect and even she has to struggle against plots and desires to throw her down from the pedestal if the rumors are true.

The rest nothing more than walking, breeding stock.

And Orbis and her were part of it.

Shit.

Iris gripped her medallion, her claws locking around it so tightly that the tips irritated the soft scale on her palms.

"More bars, less control" her rump dropped on the ground, the free paw began scratching against the head fervently, with the passion of a mouse digging a hole

Cynder cocked her head in bewilderment, surprised by the girl's strange reaction.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, her shocked gaze jumping between the ice girl and her friends

Everyone however could only stare silently at the ice dragoness.

Iris' darting in fear pupils suddenly stopped as if sensing that they were being watched. The paws that were doing their own thing froze as well. Her eyelids bashed several times until she eventually snapped her head up. The orbs the group looked into once more were back to the cold, hateful self.

The beating, trapped girl behind the veil was gone.

"The fuck you all are staring at?!" she snarled aggressively, throwing her paw forward to gesture at the monolith in the distance "The brick you should be thinking about is there!"

"We're just worried Iris. You've been acting strange since we entered this world" Spyro commented honestly, at least in his case. The time when she lost her way at the very start and the way she was confused by it, her depressive stance during the Moonborne fight that almost got her killed despite the fact that the canines wanted to capture them, the unnecessary brutality in the Vaccarus camp and now this. He was aware that her past left a mark on her soul, yet their return here was supposed to at least patch some of those holes

What he can see however is that Iris' mental state is getting only worse and he couldn't stop thinking that this is his fault, after all he almost killed her when he used the power of her gem to move them back in time.

Sparx leveled himself with Cynder's head.

"I can't be the only one that didn't see any difference right?" he whispered to her, covering his face behind his hand

She shrugged in response, her first intention was to confirm Sparx' words, she also didn't pay much attention to Iris' well-being, she didn't really care much for it outside of standard teamwork to be honest, but Spyro seemed to notice something that eluded them both and the trust she had for him was enough of a proof to her that there might be really something going on.

"I don't remember asking for your pity you little shit. You are here to serve and be a useful toy, your worries and opinions are as useless as brain cells in that addicted whore's head. So shut your trap you cockless fuck"

"Shut up Iris!" Cynder roared, anger stabbing the heart, trails of green and black smoke puffed from the corners of her eyes and nostrils "I'm getting tired of tolerating you and your vile tongue, we stand by you only because we know what teamwork is but I'm at the brink of my patience. The only reason why I'm screaming and not choking you right now is because I have enough respect for Spyro to actually give a damn about what he thinks. The same respect you should show him you stupid bitch cause we are here only because of Spyro's promise to you, but keep digging that pit of bile deeper and we will leave you here to rot, good luck getting into that coffin without anyone's help with those wings of yours. One more word and the only way you will see your mother is when we decapitate you and give your head to her on a platter, my blade tip is already itching to do the work so mind what you say next time because I'm tired of hearing you attacking the one guy in the entire world who is willingly trying to help you"

She snorted like a bull, the steam of magic that wafted from her nose choked the life out of the strands of grass under her paws.

"I'm Spyro's ma...friend and there is no way I'm going to allow him to feel bad about himself just because you don't know what gratitude means. So you either start acting like a meek, pretty, clueless princess or we will leave you here. It must feel great to be so close and unable to grasp what you desired for so long just because you couldn't keep your damn tongue in check"

Spyro wanted to interrupt the verbal assault, he opened his mouth, despite everything he wasn't offended by Iris' behavior, he already knew what she was made of, yet when he glanced at Cynder he noticed his brother's opened hand in the popular gesture of stopping in place.

The firm glare he was giving him told him all that he needed to know. Sparx was silently showing him that now it was Cynder's time, that Iris must hear what she has to say and that he himself has to stay out of it because his innate compassion and knightly syndrome that empathizes his soft spot for bad girls only makes matters worse.

And to think of it, mental state aside, Iris did try to use him for her benefit already, as horrendous as it might sound. Most likely she was doing the same thing right here and perhaps his friends were right to make her see that she wasn't the one holding the reins here.

Perhaps a more direct approach would improve their relationship as a team.

"You can't do nothing alone, even I stood by you when you recovered so you either start acting like a proper team member or go your own way. We'll see how well you'll fare then" Cynder added the final sentence to the brutal, yet honest and most likely needed ingredient to the mixture that would clean the sight of reality for the ice dragoness

Iris did not even grace Cynder with a glance, her eyes were locked on Spyro, body stiff, the slowly moving tail was the only thing that moved, however even its jerks were far from normal. Instead of flapping easily like a flag the tugs were sharp and quick as if it was slicing its way through layers of invisible ice.

Spyro felt touches of chill crawling up and down his chest, looking for a way to stab his heart. The girl's white eyes were full of murder.

How they dare, motherfuckers, they keep forgetting with who they are talking to.

She would teach them all a lesson in manners, yet she knew when the odds were against her, attacking one of them would bring the wrath of them all, she couldn't afford that right now, not when she was so close, not when getting another chance after the surprising survival of their entire group when meeting the Pups. It would all go to waste.

Not now, she can't allow it to happen right now.

Besides she needs Goldie, he's the only one who can bring them back if things won't be as she expected them to be, this damn cage was giving her the creeps, she had enough of locked cells in her life, they never lead to anything good. If she will need to pull mom out of there she had to have options how to do so and Spyro is the only one that opens such possibilities

He's perfect in every regard. A dream come true and a godsend in one. The prayers weren't for nothing, even when it took many years for them to be heard.

She has to keep him close and has all the means to do so.

Gratitude my ass you dumb whore It's for losers. Goldie is a toy and as a good slave he needs motivation and as a disgusting male he drools only over one price.

All in due time, they still haven't done what she needed them for.

Needed?

Iris' tail froze, Tat's words about dependency resounding within her head. Her first notion was a scream about not needing help, that everything was under control and she can handle it all, yet the mental shout was weak, merely a breeze under the thudding echo of the words.

The only guy with the power who is willing to help you.

You are dependent on him Iris.

No, I won't be a slave of a male!

Another scream of protest worth as much as a sneeze.

But you are.

Then why it doesn't feel bad?

Because you never dropped the shackles.

Very good princess.

Iris stepped towards Spyro, her eyes all the time locked on his, she moved so close that it forced him to move his head back or there was a risk that she would lock her lips with his. He felt as that piercing, hateful white gaze was sucking the soul out of him like some ghoul does bone marrow.

Cynder bent on her legs, muscles flexing, readying themselves for a lunge, shit she would have done so already if not for the fear of betraying her relationship with Spyro to everyone. She had to wait for an excuse, even though all the proof she needed to kick that ice ass was right there. The image stung her heart and pride, she couldn't believe that she has to allow this big, curved ass to slobber all over Spyro.

She could feel that Iris knew about their relationship and this is her way of provoking her, her way of taunting her without claws.

And she hated the fact that it was working.

"Love is a curse Spyro" Iris whispered, her cold breath sinking sharp needles into the purple scales "That I make sure she's still breathing is gratitude enough. You don't want to wear the crown of thorns I do. It hurts your mind"

He swallowed, as weird as it might sound he didn't really like when she said his name, he never knew how he should act when that happened. All he could do was to stare back at her, pretending to understand what she meant by that.

She stared back at him for several more seconds, he had no idea what she wanted, if she was expecting an answer or is simply taking pleasure from his discomfort.

He heard Cynder snarling quietly.

His purple orbs darted in that direction, spotting his mate in pain, Cynder obviously struggled, having great difficulties swallowing the ice girl breaking the personal space she was sworn to protect.

It was torture for her.

With the spark of realization glimmering in his eyes he returned back to look at Iris who still kept her snout close, yet this time her diamond orbs were glowing with devilish amusement. His personal discomfort was merely a bonus, she wanted him to know that she can still hurt someone without drawing blood.

This was her revenge.

It was all about slapping Cynder back.

While also making sure that he remembers she too has leverage against them, which will remain powerful as long as they won't reveal their relationship to the world.

"Good that we understand each other" with that final whisper Iris pulled back, he noticed the corner of her lips struggling to form a smile yet they looked like as if they no longer remembered how to do so

Cynder visibly relaxed.

She wasn't the only one who exhaled a breath of relief, Spyro followed her soon after, glad to be rid off those piercing eyes that through the mask seemed to cut deeper than usually. Also happy that Iris had enough sense to quit and prevented the tension from escalating further.

Being a leader is not an easy job.

"Ha! You got grounded there baby girl!" Cellsa laughed merrily, the electrical orbs and currents around her body flashed brightly in joyful amusement "How it feels princess to be on the same level with creatures your feather brain eats huh?"

Iris' head snapped in the direction of the electrical dragoness, fangs popping up from underneath the snarling lips.

"Silence Junkie. You don't have the privilege of my mercy"

"Ooooooh. I'm so scared!" Cellsa pretended to shake for a while until her stance became more aggressive, body bent in a pose, ready to lunge forward if need be

"Give me your best shot" she exhaled arrogantly, a threatening smirk stretching out her lips "Worm"

Spikes of ice burst from around Iris' paws, turning them into spiked maces. She sprang forward, kicking dust of ice into the air as she charged.

"Stop!" Orbis jumped in the way of the running girl, flexing his muscular legs to get a proper grip of the ground below

It all happened too quick and was too unexpected for Iris to manage to stop, she crashed directly into the dragon and collapsed as if smashing into a brick wall. The earth dragon however only grunted, the impact merely making him waver, his paws remained fixed on the ground, body stiff as a statue, the collision from just a minute ago felt merely as a bump of a small rock.

Sparx hissed.

"That had to hurt"

The spikes of ice that surrounded the girl's paws broke apart when Iris lost her concentration, basically all of them however found their way to sink into the green scales and yet, even that visible pain did not make the earth dragon falter in any way.

"This is unnecessary" Orbis immediately reached for Iris and helped her up, she did not protest, still stunned from the impact "My apologizes"

"You're such a spoilsport dude!" Cellsa whined, an arc of electricity cracking between her horn tips in an annoyed swivel "Let me get a piece of her! I'm getting kinds hungry already!"

"Enough Dawn!" the earth dragon barked at his sister, his low voice carried such an intimidating, commanding tone that it made his frail looking sister shrink on the spot, tail curled around her paws in a protective embrace as if expecting the ground under her legs to part soon

Iris shook her head, getting rid of the dizziness that plagued her mind, only now noticing the pressure on her shoulder.

A disgusting male paw claiming her.

She roared, slapping the green leg away with such a force that it cracked a bit of bone somewhere in the earth dragon's skeleton.

"Get your dirty paws off of me filth" the girl's eyes glowed white, tendrils of freezing mist cracked at the edges "Now move worm if you don't want me to go through you"

Spyro jerked forward, wanting to intervene yet he was stopped by a black paw and yellow hand holding him by the shoulders. Both Sparx and Cynder shook her heads when his surprised eyes turned at them.

"You will only make it worse bro" Sparx commented

"As much as I would like to kick her ass, I don't want us getting into trouble when folks from Skyward will come to crash our party when they see all those fireworks. One more voice there could be enough to throw the crazy bitch off the edge, so don't tell her what to do for the moment Spyro, not when I put my two gems in it" Cynder added soon after

And even though his heart protested, the naïve, silly thing, that such aggression is unacceptable in a group he tries to lead he understood the point of view of his friends. He might have a hunch sometimes how to properly tug Iris to make her do what he wants, or at least prevent her from doing something completely stupid, but he would be very ignorant to believe that he knows her.

She was under a lot of stress and Cynder was right to warn him that if he would intervene now and bark an order Iris might lose the last remains of her already thin patience. At some point it would not matter to her at all if he can open the portals or not, she would snap and this might mean the end of their journey in this world because he doubted that the Moonborne lied about the dragons hunger for blood.

Too close to the city.

Besides Iris needs to feel that she is in power, she was born in the high society standards, she needs to remember what it meant to be respected and when taking Cyril as an example there is nothing more satisfying for someone like that than having someone brush your ego the right way.

"Please reconsider my lady. My sister is not worth your wrath, she is still an irresponsible child"

"Oh bleh!" Cellsa snorted, cutting into her brother's words "You won't get laid by bitching about me bro and being sorry! It's not very impressive! Chicks don't fall for that!"

Orbis blinked, you could see the struggle between anger and honest love in his flapping eyelids, the basic, unconscious movement betraying more than his heart would ever let on.

"I beg of you. This world had seen enough of fighting already, spare us the pain in this group at least, there is nothing to gain here" the earth drake continued his plea, avoiding the piercing gaze of the ice dragoness

Pathetic fool.

He was undeserving of her spit, but at least he has enough sense to see with who he was dealing here. She would ignore that, but the idiot's behavior struck her as rather odd, he didn't look like a pitiful male, he had the physical prowess to at least have the delusions of demanding obedience like most of his type do, in the futile attempt that it would impress her in any way.

But no.

The whining was worthy of a castrated pig.

Luckily for the feeble clown there was too much at stake here for her to throw it all away just ot teach that addicted whore a lesson. It can wait for later, time will come when she will be free enough to peel the scales of her disgusting mug.

You are lucky idiot that my Mother is close.

You are lucky idiot that I have a weak spot for pathetic fools.

Iris grabbed the dragon by the nose, pulling his snout closer, her claws leaving freezing cuts upon his snout. She looked him straight into the eyes, seeing nothing but submission in them, even the glowing one could not hide its true colors.

A soft spot.

You lucky fool.

One of her toes made a tender brush against the green scale.

"You would do well Buckler to not listen to your worthless excuse of a sibling" she pushed him away with a snort of abhorrence

Orbis wiggled his nose, getting rid of the uncomfortable feeling of ice eating through the cracks in your scales. His pupils shyly eyed the masked girl, suddenly feeling a great deal of awe and respect for her if there was ever a doubt that she could be the daughter of Athron, it faded away completely. While her strangely accented voice was pleasant to listen to, something that would be far greatly noticeable if she didn't use words like the first met bandit on the road, it was not it that caught his attention.

It was her eyes, especially the white marks surrounding them, there was only one dragoness he knew to have a birthmark so characteristic as that. She perhaps didn't have her mother's eyes color, but there was no denying that she had the shape and the soul hidden there beneath that layer of hate and anger, so much prominent due to the mask she wore.

He recognized it immediately, after all growing up in Skyward was an unending militaristic regime where on one side there were dragons plotting how to reclaim the commanding role from a female while on the other were those that supported the change in the social hierarchy. No matter on which side of the barricade you stood you kept hearing one name that connected both sides

Athron.

Their current leader.

Whether you accepted the change in leadership or not, serving as the Commander's loyal soldiers was the most prestigious mark to be achieved. Not to mention the fact that many fought only for the sole attention of the ice dragoness, being regarded as worthy by the most beautiful creature that ever graced the ranks of Skyward's inhabitants was a prize of its own.

Iris' diamond stare rekindled all that he had thrown away and deemed lost already, no matter how hard he believed for it to be otherwise. He chose his sister, there was no more turning back for them, the chance to end this oblivion bound blood feud between kin was gone with that decision. He never believed to ever have the chance to change the course of their race.

Until now.

It was the offspring of Athron that spoke with him, that gave him advice, no matter how vile Iris might seem, she was the spark of hope for his race to make amends and recover. Far from unnecessary wars and close to peace.

Iris might now have the awe inspiring traits of her mother, but to him she was still the princess, a sign that things can still change and he cannot make such an opportunity to go to waste.

The chance to make the world a better place for his sister is worth everything.

Even if it might not be the one they live in currently.

"For fuck's sake dude stop staring at her already, if you kiss a wind dragon I swear I'm gonna puke" Cellsa retched in disgust

Orbis blinked, the imagined world of ideas and future perspectives faded away, revealing in front of him the masked snout of the ice dragoness into eyes of which he kept staring intently.

She did not look back even for a second. In her firm, stern glare he could see a mix of tiredness and evil triumph.

You're mine her eyes seemed to say.

He blushed, immediately jerking his head away, turning towards the walls of the city in the distance.

"We need a pl-" he stopped abruptly, the tone of his voice reaching his skull, sounding like a crushed voice of a male having his genitals squeezed. He immediately cleared his throat, only after the third spasm of his throat he noticed his voice reaching out for more manly notes "A plan on how to get you inside without alerting too many souls"

Iris exchanged cold glances with the electric dragoness, a battle Cellsa lost when she noticed the spark of arrogant triumph and mockery flashing across the diamond orbs.

You are nothing compared to me. The white eyes seemed to taunt

And when Iris turned, kicking her hips in a manner that only emphasized the alluring, curved shape of her thighs which managed to steal a quick glance from Orbis when he felt her tail brushing against his own, she made the electric dragoness understand that she was the one calling the shots here.

The same manner of arrogant stare she threw the two dragons ahead, Spyro averted his gaze, pretending not to see anything while Cynder rolled her eyes in a unimpressed manner.

"Now slow down there big fella" Sparx dashed towards the earth dragon, ignoring the drooling drama, pulling him by the horn he directed his snout towards the stretching monolith of a wall "See that thing? It's huuuuuge, there is for sure a crack somewhere through which we can squeeze"

"There is no such weakness"

"Come on man! Every wall has a weakness, we too have a city with big walls and cannons back in our place and all it took is one golem that could dig underground to wreck it all apart"

"There is no such thing"

"You can tell us man, we aren't planning an invasion" Sparx covered his heart "Promise!"

Orbis threw the dragonfly a quick glance, seemingly emotionless stared back at the glowing creature, one could say that the look was no different from all the others the green dragon offered to the group. The ominous glint however in the mostly artificial eye was like a fuse of a bomb catching on fire.

"These walls are impenetrable"

Sparx didn't believe the dragon in the slightest, Spyro wanted to get out of the Swamps when he was young, he felt as if the place was too cramped even though the only wall he ever met on his path was an unfortunate branch getting stuck in the mud. Dragons can't sit in one place for long, it's in their nature to outgrow any habitat, especially when their sibling is an hyperactive, chirpy relative of a restless fly.

"So you want to tell me that you two grew up in a place that essentially is a buffed closet and never tried getting out?"

"Even when I tell you that there is an entrance it changes nothing. If we would somehow manage to reach Athron what then? We will yell that we have her daughter before she and her guards kill us for sneaking around? Are you aware of the conditions war places on the populace? We would be taken for assassins and die before we would utter a word"

Sparx nodded, he didn't understand why the dragon hides behind loyalty, but he couldn't ignore the argument that was just presented. Even if the lucky stars would be on their side and they would get where they want what were the chances that the big queen won't panic? If she is anything as her daughter than it was almost certain that they would have one big fuss on their heads.

Spyro's time powers are better used for something else.

"Fine" he mumbled in reluctant agreement "How do we get in then?"

"Through the main gate"

"That's your big plan?!" Sparx' body burst with intense light as he spread his arms in disbelief "Spice ourselves up and get into the beast's maw so it can chomp us?"

"We won't be safe, but we still will be breathing if we act natural and believable"

"Bro, tell him, because our thick guy here seems to forget about the flailing part when it comes to the juicy purple scale"

Orbis sighed.

"I heed the Moonborne's warning, your group is a proof that the impossible can happen, even if Athron and her close guard are responsible for the killings and know more than the populace do, they are still a minority, a minority that doesn't guard the main gates where the commoners live. An arrival of you Sparx and two dragons with black and purple scales, creatures never seen before will turn Skyward into a hornet's nest. You can't simply remove something people talk about the day after, all the illusion that was built through the ages would crumble down like a deck of cards. Your safety lies in popularity, might be that you will even be granted an audience with the Commander, and if Fate allows maybe she will listen to you"

"That's insane" Cynder huffed thoughtfully, claw scratching the choker as her body quivered slightly in stress. Trauma was eating away at her heart, to be once more the center of attention of city with some of the influential forces there hating your guts and wanting you dead just because you look different, without trying to understand your plight was way too familiar for her liking

They said that if you want to heal you gotta face your demons, they forgot about one thing though, you cannot fight your own reflection.

Spyro looked at the ground, processing the idea.

"Buckler is right" Iris said, twirling the medallion in her paw "If the Pups aren't full of shit you won't be harmed. Leading a population is like leading a herd of dumb animals. When you introduce a clever to the brainless herd, a thing they never seen, you let them sniff it out and get used to it before gutting them one by one, familiarity and routine kills attention, more so in a large group. If there is a bounty on your head then this moment of excitement will grant you enough of a window to do what needs to be done, fantastic leaders, which my mother undoubtedly is, know when is the right time to act to keep the retarded herd under control"

It sounded crazy to expose yourself like that, especially when knowing that there was an axe hanging above your head despite however the first notion of the thing being totally ridiculous, Spyro had to admit that the idea had some sense in it. While he might have doubted Orbis' sole proposal he no longer hesitated when Iris supported his decision, and our of all of them she was the most reliable one when it came to high born politics.

Speaking of Iris...

"Might work but I'm not the one who necessarily must get in" Spyro raised his head, looking at the ice dragoness "She's your mother Iris, how do we get YOU inside?"

The ice girl's snout wrinkled in disgust, her head making delicate shakes of disbelief, it seemed that she had an idea, but was definitely not a big fan of it.

"There is a way" Orbis muttered shyly, an uneasy gulp stretched out his throat "Alas it won't lead directly to our leader"

"Then why don't use it?" Cynder pried "You guys can take the princess to her mother, right? We can stay and wait here, this way nobody will put their heads on the line for no reason. Of course we won't stay in the open, we dig a hole somewhere and hide"

"Because the way I have in mind will lead to Iris' certain demise if no distraction will be provided. Me and my sister are...we don't have enough influence to order an audition with the royalty. Your presence there increases the chances of success, however slim they might be"

"You sure know how to motivate people" Cynder sighed, elemental magic bouncing in her veins, starting up a warming session for a fight that was inevitably to come "I can't wait to hear this idea"

"I am truly sorry, but this is unfortunately a war torn land, it most likely obeys the rules you are unfamiliar with, but I'm afraid there is no other way. If we want to see Athron our act must be believable. Unfortunately the reality of Skyward is harsh, no free wind dragons are allowed in the city, except only when they are not breathing"

The black dragoness cocked her head, claw scratching at the choker more furiously.

"Kinda doesn't add up. If we have to be believable I can't really imagine anyone falling for only you two taking prisoner a wind, black and purple dragon, topped with a dragonfly no less, not without a fight"

Orbis' head dropped as if in shame.

Sparx looked around nervously, fiddling with his hands.

Cellsa rolled around in the grass, uninterested.

Iris was motionless as if meditating, only the paw holding the medallion turned, groping the jewelry from all sides.

Spyro stared in the distance, sour glimmer in the eyes.

"Not without a fight" he repeated dreadfully

Cynder's claw froze, her green eyes flickering with palpable realization. There is no getting inside Skyward without a fight and the point of this whole thing was to be believable and Fate decided that they have a dragon among their ranks that looks like a wind dragon.

A mortal enemy.

Unfortunately for them they were also foreign creatures in these lands and if they want this charade to work at least one of them has to work with the wind dragoness.

Superstition is a bitch.

Cynder let out a long exhale, tilting her head from side to side to get that necessary crack in the bone.

"I'll join our princess here, I have experience in being a bad girl. Claws away from the eyes guys" she gave Spyro a reassuring smile

"You're not slipping away that easily purple boy!" Cellsa wiggled her rump, already bent on her forelegs, mouth spread in a wide grin "I want to see what you're made of"

"Wait a moment, who is fighting who then?!"

"We versus you two, we tell everyone later you were in the wind team, plus anyone gets a swing at Featherbrain here, she's annoying.

"But-"

"Fine" Iris stated coldly, ending whatever protest would be coming

Sparx covered his eyes.

"Just don't kill yourself guys"

"I'm sorry" Orbis muttered regretfully

"I'm not" Iris growled and immediately swished her tail, tip of which flared up blue immediately

An arc of frost was drawn in the air, forming a scythe that stretched out towards Cynder, spikes grew up from it immediately. With a roar Iris charged at the black dragoness, collapsing the line of ice as she did so.

The spikes were sent flying, followed by a chilly mist that left creeping frost marks on anything nearby.

The arc was wide, many of the spikes were sent flying, many of them weren't heading towards Cynder but at Spyro and Orbis as well. Even though the dragons already expected what it all meant, Iris was the only one who was prepared, her sudden magical attack caught each of them unaware, especially when it looked like she didn't hold back much.

If at all.

Spyro and Orbis used their wings to cover themselves against the incoming, freezing avalanche of missiles, yet despite their best efforts the projectiles were too fast for them to be able to block them all. Many found their marks, exploding on impact, leaving bloody tears of red and bright blue on the touched scales.

Cynder shared the same fate, many of the bolts hit her, making her wobble as she fought the magical assault back. With another ferocious roar Iris pulled her horns down, sinking them into the black draconic hide, the natural resistance of the scales that evolution morphed into an armor prepared to survive several such charges saved the black girl from having her organs crushed.

Blood splattered around as the white horns lifted the black dragoness into the air, fueled by Iris' speed and jump she threw her foe back, horns forcefully being popped out by the resistance of the scales.

Cynder blared out in pain, despite the initial shock she was too experienced to be crushed by two holes in her body. She immediately rolled onto her back, noticing Iris already lunging at her, claws bent, ready to dig in into her flesh together with the sharp fangs.

She reacted quickly, throwing a punch that struck the ice dragoness right in the nose, drawing blood from the nostrils, she kicked her hind legs up to stop the blue body from crushing on top of her, she curled her toes, claws making contact with the white underbelly.

The blow managed to somehow topple the strength of Iris' initial assault, yet she wasn't a fighter born yesterday as well, she still swung with her claws, when set caught the black dragoness across her draconic face, drawing lines along the cheeks while the other left shallow cuts on the shoulder due to meeting Cynder's counter attack that hit her neck.

"Breathe for me BITCH!" Iris roared, impaling herself Cynder's back claws, the pressure she felt on her belly from the sinking blades only intensified her fury

She spat biting mist of ice at Cynder, covering her nose in painful frost before making an ungraceful swing with one of her free forelegs and forcefully driving her claws into the black flank as if she wanted to rip the heart out through the ribs.

Cynder howled, elemental energy immediately filling up her veins, with another squeeze of the throat she blasted a powerful gust straight at her attacker. With Iris being locked almost in the air, with no reliable pawhold to keep her steady the tug of magical wind was enough to blast her back. The wave of wind from so close felt like a fist of a golem, cutting the lips and making the teeth rattle.

A low, organs squeezing rumble echoed through the sky.

Sparx shivered immediately when the noise reached him, it was not the sound that made him quiver, that was no stronger than a cry of a distant horn. It was the ominous feeling in general that made his blood cold, he could feel thousands eyes staring at him.

Hating him.

Announcing that he was spotted.

He looked back at the monolith of the wall in the distance, while earlier it was a solid block, no different than a typical slab of stone you find in a mine, only much higher, now it was like a portal to a cave filled with monsters.

Many small windows of red light as if opening eyes of many beasts started popping all around the surface of the wall, each flashing a bright stream right towards them all while the wall itself hummed with that ominous, low sound.

He realized instantly that with that sight all their future plans were flushed down the drain.

Skyward had seen them and Iris knew that it would happen when she provoked Cynder to use her Wind magic.

There was no turning back now.

He wanted to shout but his yell was interrupted by a touch of shocking lightning when an orange shape skidded past him.

Cellsa threw herself at Spyro, using her brother's back as a stool from which she leapt at the purple drake. Spyro did not react to the attack, even though his instinct was screaming at him to do otherwise, he mind however was lost in the ridiculousness and chaos of this whole situation. His limbs simply didn't want to move, unable to fight his own allies, he barely even recorded Iris throwing herself at his mate.

And just when his heart finally woke up from the trance after hearing Cynder scream a powerful force from the side toppled him over.

Cellsa gripped the purple shoulders firmly and flipped her prey onto his back, putting all paws on top of him, using her entire weight to pin Spyro down.

He groaned when he felt claws sinking into chest.

Looking up he spotted Cellsa's glowing with lust eyes, instead of a snarl a dreamy smile stretched her lips, no roars and growls were coming from her throat, but soft giggling.

He remained still, limbs held back by the shackles thrown by his heart that bound them in place, his good-willed nature preventing him from hurting his allies, no matter what the plan was.

Orange paws hungrily groped his chest, squeezing tightly.

Cellsa's eyes burned with passion.

"My, my, your not my brother, but you definitely pack a muscle" her paw massaged his flanks before returning back to the gold chest moments later

Spyro observed her closely, biting his lips anxiously, naively hoping that if he satisfies her curiosity perhaps they won't have to fight.

Cellsa purred, claws making hollow dents in the scales.

"Hard and warm, fills the palm nicely. Me like" she raked her claws swiftly down the golden chest, drawing two red lines that immediately started to fill up with blood

"Stop it!" Spyro hissed, arching his back

"Let's see how you taste Wonderboy" the lust in the eyes flickered away with a blink, replaced by a feral, hungry desire for satisfaction

Her head dived down in a blink of an eye, she pressed her tongue to the end of the cut she made, she dragged her tongue along the red line with one swift motion of her flexible neck, scooping up the blood like it was delicious juice. Her mouth parted with a purr at the top and fangs immediately sank into the gold chest.

Brutally and without any hesitation, taking the promise of a bite very literally.

Spyro yelped in pain when Cellsa tugged, he felt his muscles being torn apart when the ferocious maw tugged, trying to rip his scales apart as if they were irritating weed.

The tremendous bolt of ache was enough of a waking call to his heart that it unlocked every shackle it had thrown. He instantly slammed his paws against the girl's head, pressing them against it without pulling, knowing that it would make things only worse. Instead he kicked his fire element into action, learning the trick from Flare he heated up his claws.

The adrenaline that already pumped in his blood however increased the potential of his charging attack and spread it to the entire surface of his draconic paws.

Flames burst through his toes.

Cellsa's mouth parted in a wild scream when the flames touched her cheeks, she pulled back from the bite and the grip immediately, black splotches tinting her orange scales.

Spyro used the moment to bite into her this time, teeth grabbed her by the front paw, he used the power of his jaw to jerk his head to the side, throwing the girl off of him as he rolled, this time he was the one pinning her down.

His victory didn't last long because he immediately heard a low snarl, he turned his head just to see Orbis charging at him. The massive dragon was too close for any solid reaction, all he could do was to flex his muscles and brace for impact.

The earth dragon didn't slow down, yet before he reached his mark he twisted his body in such a way that he kept his horns away and shoved the purple drake with his shoulder.

No matter how hard Spyro tried to focus the dragon's mass was too much for him to handle, it felt like a brick wall would punch him. He was thrown down from the electric dragoness, but before he hit the ground a root shot from the earth and wrapped itself around his back paw.

It twisted fiercely and sent him flying towards the females.

Cynder was running after Iris, but as she did so the corner of her eye noticed something moving swiftly, her mind screamed immediately that she was on a collision course. She thrust her paws into the earth, slamming her butt into the earth, tail and scale rising dust in the air as she skidded to a rough stop.

Spyro flew past her.

Her attention instantly shifted from Iris and towards Orbis who dared to attack her mate.

She parted her mouth, spitting several Fear orbs which were immediately thrown at the drake as she rushed in his direction. Unfamiliar with this kind of magic the green dragon put his big wings in front of him to shield himself from the incoming projectiles. However when the orbs cracked, releasing their energy, no projectiles were sent flying his way, instead a magenta shockwave crossed his path.

Spasm caught his muscles, heart made a flip inside the chest, beating against the chains of its ribcage as if the hollow it was in would began filling up with lava.

Fear.

The world turned into an incomprehensible mess of colors until he eventually saw Dawn flapping her small wings as she tried to fly with tears in her eyes. All the other children were already in the air, yet she, no matter how hard she tried couldn't keep herself afloat. Their parents were berating her, all the other adults laughed or mocked while she kept looking at him, begging him to do something, the only soul among them that didn't torment her.

What he could do though?

He was just a kid.

Besides everyone will be mad.

Slap in the back, a hard yell and he too eventually began to laugh, the begging eyes turned to despair and then to hate. His heart cracked when he realized that there was nothing he could do to make up for such a betrayal. All this time he gave Dawn hope that he was there for her always and in the moment where it truly mattered he bailed like a coward.

She will never forgive him for this.

No!

That's not how it went!

They're together. They are here.

What is this?!

He three a solid punch at his own chest, kicking the breath out of the lungs, after the cough however his heart dropped back to its natural place, still vibrating, but this time the world around seemed more solid, more real, even the strange blob of shadow sliding across the earth seemed natural.

The only thing that was missing was Cynder.

When the initial shock of fear was gone his instinct kicked in, his eyes fixating on the moving splotch of shadow, mind quickly realizing that the shadow was far from being natural.

But it was already too late.

Cynder sprang from her shadow portal the very moment her magical frame found itself under the green dragon. With a solid, magical punch she lifted the dragon in the air while thrusting her dark infused claws into his flesh. Despite his intimidating mass she managed to get a good grip on him all thanks to the dark magic filling her paws. She used that otherworldly strength to leave some serious cuts before hurling the drake back at the earth below.

The strength of her magical throw was far more potent than the dragon's weight could cope with.

The moment Cynder turned her attention towards Orbis, Iris immediately changed targets, dashing towards the electric dragoness that still was lying on the ground, laughing her pain away.

Cellsa sensed the incoming danger, popping a cage of electricity around herself the moment her attacker got close. The ice dragoness wasn't an amateur to fall for such a simple trick, she too covered her frame with a layer of icy dust. A small implosion occurred when both magical shields crashed with each other, the colorful shock wave that followed soon after threw both girls back, the force with which they were hurled clearly indicating that neither of them put any reserve in their moves.

If the plan was only to pretend that they were fighting seriously, both girls, the ice dragoness especially, seemed to treat the skirmish as if it was a matter of life and death.

Sparx nibbled at his fingers nervously, fearing that this theory might be dreadfully accurate unfortunately. His eyes spotting many figures rising in front of the monolith, beating their wings.

Skyward had sent its dragons after them.

Iris threw herself back at Cellsa the moment she recovered her balance, cutting the distance between them with only a few quick steps. She lunged, slashing with her claws, the electric dragoness dodged the attack gracefully, her body seemed to swim as she turned around, gaining momentum while at the same time avoiding another set of incoming claws that wanted to get her.

Dodging one more attack she threw a strike of her own, while Iris lacked her opponent's flexibility she was still quick on her paws, each slash that Cellsa threw was perfectly dodged or deflected. Both girls exchanged blows like that, without really wounding each other, the flurry of slashes could be displayed in a theater if it weren't so deadly.

Eventually Iris flung her tail tip, the spike glowed brightly as it smashed against the ground , with a crackling sound the earth immediately turned to ice, quickly spreading like paint from a toppled bucket.

The sudden change of fighting ground surprised Cellsa, while she was no stranger to snow and ice, the shift of terrain caught her unaware, making her paws slip, her defense dropping in quality as she instinctively struggled to remain in balance.

Iris used that opportunity to immediately lash out at the dragoness, her claws drawing red lines across the snout and shoulders before she charged, hiking the girl up with her horns and slamming her icy ground.

The frost exploded into many shards, blue paw grabbed several of them, with a flash of blue light the pieces were molded into a solid, icy spike, longer than a dagger by a hair only. Iris thrust the blade into the orange flank, Cellsa screamed in pain, her magic cracking instantly, lines of electricity stretched out from the tail tip and all the others spots where magic flourished.

Iris screamed rabidly, stabbing the girl again.

With another blare of anguish the electric magic exploded, the bolts from between Cellsa's horns and wing thumbs zapped forward, crashing against Iris' head with a powerful force, leaving black dents in their wake as they ate through the scales, hammering against them again and again like fists of a prisoner demanding to be freed from his cell.

"Die you whore!" Iris blared out at the top of her lungs, breaking through her opponent's defenses to land another stab in, blood covered her eyes, from the constant shock to her head she started to see triple of everything

But she felt no pain.

With another scream the line of electricity growing from the tail lashed out towards the blue dragoness, wrapping itself around her neck like a lasso. It flared up with sparks, burning and shocking the feather winged girl, a choker of burnt scale grew exactly in the spot of the clench.

Cellsa started to tug Iris backwards, pulling at her burned neck, with the intention to either throw her off or decapitate her, yet despite the pain Iris kept on fighting like a feral beast, managing to find a spot to drive another stab.

The girls were tearing each other to pieces.

And then a fireball exploded near the two dragonesses, the force of the shockwave burned the females, while also ending their fight, unable to deal with the surprising external force both Iris' feral obstinacy and Cellsa's devastating counter ended, the fire also weakening the lashes of electricity when their mistress lost her focus.

Immediately after the explosion Spyro dashed towards the girls who were set on killing each other, his paws left a burning trail in their wake when he sped up his run by magic. He cut the distance swiftly, slamming into Iris, his momentum shoved the dragoness away, making her slide wildly across the ground.

The flailing lashes zapped him from all directions, despite their distorted shape they still packed quite a punch, boiling his scales. He ignored that and instantly dived his head down near the electric dragoness, right where she was stabbed several times, blood piled up underneath her in big splotches.

He breathed fire at the wounds, with a scream of pain Cellsa's electrical whips faded away, the shock of being cooked too strong for her to cope with.

She tried reaching but Spyro dropped his wings pinning the paws that wanted to get him for that two three seconds more that he needed.

With one final breath the bleeding wounds were cauterized.

"This has gone too far!" he roared at the top of his lungs, turning his head to make sure that each and every dragon hears him

Cellsa thrashed to break free, but the wounds she received spilled too much of her blood to have any strength to kick a male off of her.

He smacked his paws against her, pinning her down, albeit gently as to not crush anything.

"IT'S OVER!"

Spyro's commanding shouts distracted Cynder who failed to notice the sudden approach of two green wings that cut the distance to her in a matter of few beats. When she finally sensed that something was coming there was not enough time for anything but to throw a random slash.

And it hit its mark.

Blood splattered on her thighs.

In front of her hovered Orbis who now had three additional cuts on the side of his neck, deep enough to make blood flow from them profusely, dripping down onto his shoulders and crest. He showed no will to attack.

"Good but not enough" he examined himself, catching the cuts and stabs Cynder made on his frame, spotting the additional bruises and scratches when he collided with the ground. It looked fairly okay.

His eyes moved onto the slender dragoness, giving her an intensive look from top to bottom, while she didn't carry many wounds the ones she did looked serious, nobody would ever assume that those were the result of holding back.

Because they definitely weren't.

"IT'S OVER!"

Cynder watched Orbis closely, reading his mind.

"How do we do it?"

The green dragon clenched his fist, considering for a while the most typical of approach, yet he couldn't force himself to hit someone who showed no desire to fight back. With a sigh he unclenched his paw, looked at Cynder and smiled weakly.

His folded his wings and dropped like a stone.

"Fuck me" Cynder whimpered, closed her eyes and put her magenta wings close to her back

Gravity did the rest.

Spyro noted the decision of his mate, he found it unnecessary and idiotic but he also believed that it might be adrenaline speaking through him right now. His head started to pulse when he looked down on Cellsa who had her flank basically torn open, she was clenching the side tightly even though he stopped the bleeding, her paws making wet slaps against the ruined scales.

If he wouldn't intervene Iris would gut her.

A weak slap of ice hit his snout, the attack did not continue however, interrupted by choking coughing, tone of which made his bone freeze, the rough scrape sounded as if someone would be drinking acid despite the fact that it burns out his throat.

Iris limped and swayed in his direction, blood covered her entire snout, the eyes that pierced through the thick crimson river were wide and milky, pupils rotating in the eyeballs, pulled back only to their natural place by sheer, hateful will.

It was ugly but not as ugly as the scorch mark around her throat which only got irritated more and more by the medallion bouncing against it. As she limped she was patting the neck from all sides, trying to stop something that couldn't be held together by pressure.

With each shallow breath she took he could see her neck muscles blinking at him, black like an overcooked sausage, a few more seconds and she would loose her head.

Something she too unfortunately realized because after one more step she toppled down like a cut tree.

Spyro rushed to her side, making a slide across the earth when he laid down in front of her, hearing her hacking, short breaths made him want to vomit. Guilt choked him, as a leader of this group it was his job to keep them away from this stupid idea, he should be aware of the dangers it could bring.

He reached out to her neck, avoiding the sight of her scared eyes, unable to look there, he didn't want to see the trapped girl there blaming him.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" he tried to bring her ruined scales together, but his toes kept slipping on the charred, hacking muscles, each short breath spitting ash at him

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" his cries wavered, he no longer knew if he was blaming herself or this clueless girl, all he knew was that he wanted her to be alright, she can't die on his watch, not in such a stupid death

His paws kept slipping from her neck, tapping at everything randomly.

Not after Ignitus, he cannot allow it to happen again.

Just heal, please, only a little.

His claws clicked over the gem in her chest.

It glowed brightly.

A bright, purple flash burst from his toes, the mist sinking into the wound.

In his head he could hear a distant roar of disbelief.

An image of a chessboard flashed before his eyes.

The purple King moved our of order, knocking out several figures.

Nobody complained that it was unfair.

A strange, yet familiar stab hit his senses, for a moment he felt as if the breath he breathed would be shoved back into his throat.

Did Iris' feathers just flapped backwards?

The image of the Core flashed before his eyes, the chained creature there smiled at him.

Proud.

He observed the purple veil with wide eyes, it disappeared as quickly as it showed up, but the thing it revealed was new and old at the same time.

Blood filled up the burned ring.

Iris took a deep breath, eyes taking on color again.

Blood splashed against his draconic face,

He was sure that nothing better would happen to him today.

He instantly heated his shaking claws, cauterizing the wound despite Iris' cries of pain, she kept attacking him, but the strikes were nothing to him, everything was unimportant, he could only see the wound being mended together.

He scrambled back, eyes wide, his breath louder and quicker than that of Iris, he only expected the size of their eyes being the same, her diamond orbs were huge and he had a feeling that his own were no different.

"Bro! What did you do?" Sparx leveled himself with his brother's head, staring at Iris' neck as if it would be the most beautiful of necklaces

"I don't know" the dragon mumbled breathlessly

"Bro, did you just heal her?"

"I don't know"

"Since when you can do that?"

"I-I-I-I-I-I" Spyro hacked, catching another small breath "I don't know"

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know"

Sparx nodded, as if in understanding, yet truthfully he was as shocked as his brother was.

"In the Wyrm's name! What the hell is that?!" a loud cacophony of screams came from above, followed by a tumble of beating wings

The brothers didn't seem to notice it, they were entirely focused on what just happened, both of them knowing that nothing else mattered in the face of Spyro's trick.

Both of them knowing that this is a miracle of sorts, nothing seen before.

Healing.

In a world, no matter the timeline, where aggression and brutality were mostly the only ways of achieving your goals, no matter how noble they might seem. Any sort of recovery stood out from a pit like that and was worthy of being tied to long predicated legends, heroes and saviors.

Healing, by the Ancestors.

There was nothing more pristine and pure than that.

For the first time in their lives they truly believed the prophecy to be true.