FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 33

Spyro sat in front of the bars, faint light illuminating his snout, marking subtle wrinkles on the scales, evidence of his working nose and brain, both using their senses to process the current situation they found themselves in. The light and the surrounding gloom adding a sense of mystery to the illuminated snout, pupils moving constantly, calculating, jerking from left to right, like the hand of a covert agent writing a secret correspondence under the light of a candle.

How much time has passed?

It's funny how time and the perception of the world changes when one is locked inside a dungeon, without any trace of visible, natural light. Usually people complain that time flies, that days are short and there is never enough space to do everything.

Here though?

Here time was trapped exactly like they were. One could only wonder if it even cared to process seconds at all in this place, for something as omnipotent as Time being stuck in a dark, tight dungeon with no perspective of freedom felt most likely like a vacation.

It was quite the opposite for the rest of them.

They were healing, yes, but following Iris' idea was getting on their nerves, while he didn't know for certain how much time has passed it really felt like forever. The longer they remained idle the more he began to think that they are wasting their chance to spring from this place. If Cynder would slip through the bars when she mentioned it they might have been already at the end of this nightmare.

Heart is a capricious thing.

Never satisfied with an outcome, always causing confusion, basing its opinions on maybes and ifs. Especially when a decision was already taken where you should expect that at least the thing keeping you alive will support you.

Ancestors, sometimes he wished he hatched dumb, how life would be easier if he didn't have to worry about everything and everyone. This pressure of leadership, the unending stress pumped by the surrounding dangers, some cosmic game he is unwillingly taking a part of, all of this already made him feel like he was older by several hundred years.

To make things worse it didn't seem that he was getting accustomed with this constant responsibility, each new adventure bringing new variables into an already chaotic mess, never making him comfortable, forcing him to judge options and possibilities basically every hour of his life.

If this keeps going he feared that he will crumble to dust before he grows into an adult dragon.

Would be nice to at least know how it feels to talk with someone when looking down at him, with this speeding aging there was a chance he might snap his neck after one jerk of a head too much one day.

Please Ancestors? Just one time?

"Stop sulking, it's annoying" Iris sat down next to him, looking across the bars, out of boredom than anything else, there was no sign of interest in her glance

Spyro chuckled, finding the special, supporting words extremely funny, made no sense perhaps, but it still lifted some burden from his heart.

"Thanks for cheering me up. With your style you would be a treasure on funerals"

"Nonsense is infuriating"

The purple mouth remained stretched into a smile despite his companion's cold snap that was as callous as straight facts. He wanted to comment her words with another quip but decided to stick with a smile only. The new Iris came here and supported him in her own way, both shades of her personality had one thing in common though.

They didn't know how to take a joke.

So regal.

That dignified aura had a familiar taste, not because he ever had anything to do with it in his life, it was more like a wishful thinking, hope, a sense of foreshadowing that one day he will be in her place. Iris rarely behaved like one could expect from a highborn, Cyril acted more baronial than Iris ever did, a supposed daughter of a respected queen, yet he couldn't deny that the royal sauce was natural to her.

While he will have to grow into the levels of leadership, Iris was already there, born into that society a native and you could feel it when she actually decided to act according to her bloodline.

And there was something immensely enthralling about it.

His eyes were automatically drawn to her, being so close she practically filled his entire vision, his throat squeezing on its own, choked by the sudden slap of intimidation. The glow of her chilly, diamond stare was breathtaking, the confidence that pulsed from them made him feel irrelevant and small, if she would look at him now there was a risk that he would crumble into nothingness under the weight of her sovereignty.

Not to mention the more instinctive, feral notions she woke up. She looked simply godlike in this light. The faint glow only emphasized the aura of dominance she spread already, making him feel as if that veil of rule would have its hands on his neck, squeezing it tightly. Her straight posture, puffed out chest, heaving with a calm rhythm, the shadowy light perfectly marking the slender curves of her figure, making it almost impossible to pry your eyes off of her, stirring the most lustful instincts of every male's imagination.

Also the wound on the neck, while ugly like any cut, in her case it only added to the allure, almost like a tattoo, a branding that made her stand out from the rest of the crowd, like a banner of a marching army, colors of which subjugate the soldiers to the specific side of a conflict.

And the mark on the neck marked Iris as someone special, a ball of energy both desired and feared.

And all of that without even mentioning her angelic wings, he wasn't surprised that people worshiped her as Ignus said, she already radiated all the traits that draw attention even when mentally cracked, bloodied and dirty, locked in a dungeon.

Imagining her in her prime, fit and clean, spreading those feathery, groomed wings, in that image she was capable of swaying entire civilizations, by existence alone. A leader, a symbol, an object of worship, all in one.

A legend even that no amount of sea could keep her protected and isolated.

A face that could launch a thousand ships.

Ancestors, he wasn't sure if he wanted such a responsibility.

But just like her he doubted that he had any say in this matter.

"They look good together, eh?" Sparx grinned, elbowing Cynder, with a nod of his head directing her attention to the couple near the bars

She tried her hardest to ignore the obvious taunt, occupying her mind with licking her paws, cleaning her legs off sand, a never ending work, but anything was better than giving Sparx' the satisfaction. He was doing it for so long that she could tell when he was in the mood to make her life miserable, not that it was hard to say in the first place, he wasn't really obscuring his motives.

What she hated about it all though was the fact that it was working, she simply couldn't stop her eyes from darting towards her mate, each glance making her tongue press against the scales harder. She was jealous, sickeningly possessive, there was nothing she could do about it and just seeing Iris' big ass sitting next to Spyro stirred all the horrible thoughts of her stealing him away from her.

It was nonsense, she knew that, but it didn't help, there was a pretty female next to her mate, the motivations of said pretty female didn't matter, she was next to her mate and it was all that was needed to make her thoughts run amok.

"I can't see, sorry" she nibbled at her black scales, her fangs pushing through an uncontrollable snarl "It's too dark, I don't want to strain my eyes, besides I'm not their mom, they can do whatever they want, I don't care"

Sparx' heart flipped in joy.

Oh dear Sis, if you only knew that I know.

He shouldn't be doing it, this wasn't really the place nor the time to cause more distress, but such an opportunity was too difficult to ignore. But then again, they are stuck and waiting anyway, being constantly on edge, thinking about their situation, what can go wrong or who can get down here with the intention to hurt them.

Distraction is all they need.

A small thing, irrelevant some may say but in this situation it was better than the alternative in every regard.

"Don't be so harsh there Cyn, Spyro is your best buddy, right? I for example like to see him really happy for a change, would be great if he drooled over some less toxic chick but what can I do?" he shrugged nonchalantly "He always had a fetish for bad girls"

"That's great, but maybe get your head back in the game will you? Remember where we are?"

"Oh come on, I bet you are fed up with this waiting the same way I am" he wrapped his arm around her horn, dragging her head to hers to squish his cheek, twisting the expression into a dreamy one "Something beautiful is happening here, in this dark and filthy place love is blooming! Even a cynic like me can see its effect and it's awesome"

Cynder fought really hard to quench the snarl of jealously building up in her gut.

"We're in a dungeon, we don't get to choose what we like or not, so let me focus on what's important alright?"

"You want to focus because you don't care?"

"Exactly, because I don't care"

He patted her head supportively.

"You're a true pro Cyn, I gotta give you that. I personally can't concentrate, I mean, we're talking about Iris here you know? She's nuts, but she's also hot as hell, especially now with all this dominant attitude. Not my style really, but even I get all tingly, imagine what Spyro is going through, bad, sexy and bossy, ticks all the boxes for him. And I doubt he's the only one, I bet that chick stole more supposedly faithful mates and husbands than there are ever stars on the sky"

Her neck stiffened, only due to the shadows casting their veil on her black scales nobody could see the thick veins that pulsed along it, muscles bulging and pumping like hearts, with all their might holding the head from turning and betraying her emotions.

She couldn't control her eyes though, eyes that kept snapping rhythmically towards the pair near the bars, flaring up with more and more fury towards the blue dragoness.

She's making her feel insecure.

Sparx grinned, if he had a tail it would be making triumphant circles right now.

"I mean, I know, faithfulness and loyalty, those are the rules, but damn, you might only get one chance to see girls like Iris. We're animals right? We gotta follow our instincts, it's only natural and keeps us sane. I see nothing wrong with giving a blessing to make a little fling with a girl like that. You gotta make your partner happy, right Cyn?"

She grinded her teeth together.

"Yes, you do"

"Atta girl!" he smacked her thigh cheerfully, her muscles not moving even a tiny bit

He could swear that her scales bristled like a coat of an aggressive feline.

"You know, I'll be honest with you here. Let's say that you're my bro's mate, naturally only hypothetically, it's not like you're mates right?" he glanced at her, noticing how her paws grip the sand nervously

"No" the feminine rumble was harsh, so deep and thick that it resembled a sound of a pile of rocks being grinded into dust

"Exactly! So let's say, as my bro's hypothetical mate, you wouldn't have nothing against him from having some fun with Iris right? I mean look at her and then look at yourself. Don't get me wrong, you're easy on the eyes, but compared to her?" he threw his thumb back, letting out a meaningful, prolonged whistle full of hopeless defeat "Not your league my girl, not your league at all"

Tips of her claws sank into the shadows, parts of the shade started to pulse around Iris, pumping, as if they would be constantly jerking hounds wanting to turn her into a mush but locked in place by invisible chains.

Cynder let out a wavering sigh, her heart burning with fury.

She can't give Sparx the satisfaction, acting recklessly now would only betray everything they tried to keep secret.

"You won't provoke me Sparx, it's not my league as you said"

He cleared his throat, muffling back a chuckle. He must give her some appreciation, she was a tough nut to crack. However he knew her well enough to know that she was boiling from the inside, that's what you get little sister from keeping the truth from me.

"As a hypothetical mate I must admit that you quite impressed me. If I would be my bro's partner" he shook his head in desperation "I think I would implode from jealously, I mean Spyro would act that he's faithful and all, but man those damn instincts, I would go crazy if I saw a chick like Iris around him, I would probably eat my own wings because of the nerves! You're a machine Cyn, I applaud you"

She started to tremble, Spyro would never betray her his heart wouldn't allow it. All this time it was enough to convince herself that everything is fine but now when Sparx mentioned feral instincts and natural attraction, the argument about the heart wasn't as strong anymore. Iris was pretty, she was a threat to their stability and by the Ancestors, no matter how immature it might seem, she really wanted right now to change that pretty face into a hag's mug, just to feel safe.

Damn you Sparx.

"Nice talk but I need to think" she snapped callously, pushing her body into a swift turn, throwing a hateful glance towards the pair near the bars, the shadowy hounds sprang from their chains, parting their mouths to bite Iris' head off.

She closed her eyes, letting out a prolonged sigh.

The hounds dispersed into a mist as they passed through Iris, the nearly transparent blackness touching the bars.

Both Iris and Spyro jerked their heads back in shock when the greenish magic suddenly flashed, making the bars rattle a little.

Sparx clapped his hands together, taking a deep, triumphant breath.

It was nice to know that he still had it, it especially tasted good with a drop of payback in there.

"Someone's coming" Spyro whispered, craning his neck as close as he could to the bars, avoiding its depleting touch

"No one is coming" Iris stated coldly

"But the bars jingled, you saw it too" curious, purple eyes kept scanning the corridors behind

"I've said, no one is coming"

"How can you be so sure?"

Blue paw relaxed, toes stretching, releasing a pile of squeezed snow which fell down uncharacteristically, like a stone sinking into the depths of an ocean. Falling in a perfect stream, building a small cone before eventually giving to gravity and ruining the perfect shape.

Result of a funnel that could only be created by a paw that held more than one type of earth for dear life.

"They all feel the same"

Spyro waited for some additional information, but quickly decided that it was a waste of time, the indifference radiated with past pain, and it was clear by now to all of them how well Iris reacted when being recalled of her ugly past. He left the answer to imagination, seeing Iris approaching him out of her own free will was a scarce sight, one that he did not wish to destroy.

He backed away, his eyes were instinctively drawn to her, despite her showing some social appreciation by sitting next to him, it still felt like they were worlds apart even though all he needed to do to touch her scales was to slightly open his wing. She kept looking ahead, her eyes paralyzed like cornered prey, her breath slow and shallow, if not for the pulsing flesh on her healing wound he could easily mistake her for a reanimated corpse.

"How are you feeling?" he probed the ice, letting his heart do the talking

For the first time since she sat next to him he spotted her pupils actually moving, the diamond orbs sprang to the corners of her eyeballs, giving him a swift once over before returning to stare into the unknown distance ahead.

A difficult swallow bulged her throat.

"Better"

His heart made a flip.

He wasn't sure if he only was making this up or trying to find something extraordinary in a place where nothing special existed, but despite the cold tone there was ironically a touch of heartwarming warmth in Iris' single word.

Her accented tone was more melodic than usual, so much reminding him off a bird's song.

She shivered, her wings fluttering under the unexpected assault of chill.

Nope, he wasn't making this up.

This single word meant a big deal to her as well.

Spyro smiled happily, no matter how many times he called himself an idiot for even showing Iris the basic touch of companionship, he couldn't help himself but feel proud. Not for himself, but for her. She so much reminded him of Cynder when she was shaking off the troubles of her past and began trusting him eventually.

"You're welcome" he whispered, a breath so quiet yet so powerful that it made his knees buckle

Damn it felt so good to help someone.

Maybe this whole drama will be worth something in the end.

It wasn't of course the typical display of gratitude one could expect, but when it came to Iris, sitting right next to him showed more than any popular accepted gestures in today's social culture.

The chances of her hearing him were close to none and yet her diamond eyes shifted nevertheless and when he took a look at them he was smitten by their piercing shine. What once felt like a cold tip of a spear which kept running you through again and again now was a warm ray of a sun, still touching your soul, but no longer wanting to rip it apart.

If Iris took after her mother then he no longer had to wonder why she ruled for as long as she did. Iris had the charm and charisma to make legs bend without having to swing a mallet at them to break the bones first.

Spyro could only imagine what terrible things must have happened to Iris for her to keep that girl locked behind the prism of hate, like an old, favorite toy you grew out of yet still value without anyone letting to know about it.

Yourself included sometimes.

Second later her eyes flashed with blue light, burying the warmth under the layer of typical frost.

A loud crunch of sand echoed from underneath her paws as they filled their grip with it once again.

"Someone's coming"

Spyro's brow raised in surprise, the chilly flicker was proof enough that she wasn't lying, he instinctively focused but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

"I don't hear anything"

Iris frowned, in the beginning he thought that it was a crunch of irritation, but when she opened one of her wings to press it against the wall, a touch that only deepened her wrinkles, he realized that she was concentrating and not building up her anger for the doubt in his voice.

"Only one"

He wanted to speak up, but his tongue bounced off from the back of his teeth.

A faint click of a claw echoed across the empty dungeon.

There is really someone coming.

"How did you know?" he asked, honestly surprised

Her nostrils flared up in disgust.

"Years of covering do that to you" the mask she was wearing even tightened under the weight of her snarl "Like a fucking wounded animal"

The information didn't shock him as much as her willingness to share it in the first place, usually she acknowledged questions with a wicked curse or an insult and yet now she acted totally normal. It was not enough to picture the entirety of the story and why exactly she had to hide, but considering the her inherited charm, her fall from grace, whatever the cause might be for the downfall of her mother's rule, was definitely a painful one.

It only fueled his previous suspicions about the ferocity of the common populace when they finally get their claws on something inaccessible before, more so if the downfall of rule is caused by external enemies or lack of general support. She was definitely a prize, much more so if the society retained the clear separation between the royalty and standard community throughout the years.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know more.

Since he got to know her a bit better he was certain that her story would be big enough to fill many horror books.

And maybe seeing Iris still standing at the end of it, even when mentally broken, wasn't the worst thing that could happen to her.

A sleek silhouette distorted the shadows at the corner of his vision.

In a blink of an eye the dark figure bent and rushed forward, a pair of red paws grabbed the bars where moments later a forehead of a red snout struck, its eyes glaring intensely inside the cage like a pair of burning charcoals.

It was the strange dragon from upstairs.

"It's Bones!" Cellsa squealed in fear, greenish sand kicking in the air as her panicking paws scooped it from the bottom of the charged floor

The draining aura of the bars seemed to have no effect on the strange dragon, or the dragon was simply too insane to notice it, the draining tentacles however reached out to him like to all of them, gripping and tightening their clench around his scales.

Having difficulties to hold on to them though as if there would be really no bone to get a grip of.

His eyes were bulging, pupils jerking intensely, electrocuted by fervent excitement, unable to rest on a single prisoner, flipping through them like through a book's pages.

"Alive? Complete?" long, red tongue rolled out of the mouth, it was parted at the end, like that of a snake

The bulging orbs eventually found their marks, focusing on the two dragons sitting closest to them, the drake's attention jumped between Spyro and Iris regularly. One would expect to see surprise in them, the hectic moves of the pupils could easily qualify as shock.

Yet not in the dragon's case.

His eyes seemed to be filled with expectations. Like a scientist observing the effects of his experiment on the unfortunate test subjects he used it on.

"No hostility?" he cocked his head so fiercely that it seemed like he snapped his neck due to the fact that the head looked as it was about to make a compete turn like a petal of a windmill.

"Or charmed?" his paw pushed through the bars, reaching towards Iris

The dragoness snarled, with the speed of Cellsa's wagging tongue she slapped the leg away, making sure that her claws leave scratches on it so the paw never dares to touch what doesn't belong to it again.

"Cretin!" electric dragoness cried out in the back of the cell

Bones immediately sniffed at his wounded leg, the powerful whizz of his nostrils scooping some droplets of blood.

Spyro winced at the sight, nose itching at the imagined perspective of the discomforting feeling.

"You taste familiar, peculiar, my customers never return to me" the dragon coiled around his own tail, flipping on his back and looking up at the girl from the floor

"What is hidden behind the mask Windy Wind?" his tongue made a flick across the red mouth, it seemed to be as long as his stretched out body "Exquisite flavor Songbird, I wish to partake further"

Iris tilted her head up, letting her breath waver as one of her legs seductively caressed the length of her neck, single claw tauntingly poking at the corner of the mask.

Bones stared lustfully.

"I can't run" she purred

Spyro who was in no way interested in anything besides the safety of his group simply couldn't ignore the wonderful, moaning sound Iris had made, her accented, melodic voice forcing his already flexed muscles to push beyond their natural strain, sending a burning pulse throughout his whole frame.

The red dragon's tail bounced excitedly and then he burst out with laughter.

"I see murder in your eyes, effort is laughable. I wish for an opportunity to show you my tricks, interesting specimen you are" he looked the dragoness over, the glimmer of cheer flashing lively in his eyes "Lots of juicy material to work with, many wonderful experiments, I liked the way you felt in my palm"

"You will touch me again you creep and I will make you eat your own ass" all the seductive manner was evaporated, Iris snarled at the dragon with the typical acidic tone the group known her for

"Much vigor" the dragon sounded almost disappointed, his paw rubbed one of the green bars

The draining light flashed brightly, forcing the dragon away with after a while.

"Competent" he cocked his head, this time his body followed in its wake, coiling in the same direction the head fell, his lengthy body building up a small circular rise like that of a snake when parts of his body grouped itself on top of each other

"Why no aggression? Enemies, aren't you?" his eyes jumped between the prisoners, lingering on Cellsa for a long while

"Rebellious daughter spoiling the fun I wonder?"

"I have nothing to do with anything. I just woke up!" the electric dragoness blurted out in panicked defense

"Did not say it is foul, fun should not stand in the way of enhancement" he craned his neck upwards, scanning the cage, his eyes seemed to pierce the darkness with ease "Much potential present here, very much"

His eyes eventually fell on Sparx whose light seemed to dim under the assault of the hungry stare.

"Unknown ingredients. World full of destruction, familiar barren womb hiding such treasures?" attention shifted to Cynder whose scales perfectly blended with the shadows surroundings the cage and yet though, the dragon's stare seemed to notice her with ideal accuracy

"World full of magic, light and explosions, no place for darkness to spread its touch on the barren womb of this soil" he licked his lips, long tongue rolling out of his mouth, nearly touching the eyeballs when it flipped

"I see you Shade. Wishing to know what hides under the shadows. Charmed by mysteries, impossible for me to miss. My eyes would see you, would remember, kept and poked, gazed into the veil of dark" the tongue flicked again, running across the mouth with so much pressure that it almost torn of the scales "I would never let you go"

Cynder remained still, showing no weakness, even though the creep's lustful attention was giving her the shivers, the dragon was impossibly disturbing"

"Do not kill, do not fight" eyes landed on Spyro "Different than all, do not belong. Who are you?"

"We will speak only with the Wardens" the purple drake responded confidently, Spyro still remembering the way the dragon groped his mate, the memory a burning scar on his mind, there was no way he would give someone like that even a slice of cooperation.

Their captor uncoiled his body, stretching upwards, his long body making him impossibly tall with the head scratching the ceiling. The red dragon didn't have an intimidating posture, but the pose he took on now really shook the first impression of him being basically crippled compared to the rest of the dragons in Skyward.

But in this place, amidst these binding lights, he was radiating a very intimidating presence. Presence that clearly was dissatisfied with the given answer.

"Uses leverage, listens. Without my consent. Not fond of the attitude" he reached to his neck, claw lifting a scale, removing something shining, the darkness of the place effectively blocking whatever light the object wanted to project

The red paw immediately pressed itself to the bars, bars that flashed with a bright, green light.

Every single one of the dragons groaned and wavered on their legs when the magical floor below their legs exploded with charged potential as if there was a short circuit somewhere. The draining leeches of the cell dropped their manners of subtlety, throwing their masks away to reveal hungry maws full of hungry teeth that instantly burrowed their fangs into their victims.

What once was a gentle tug turned into a powerful, choking jerk of having a wire tightening around your neck.

The draining light might as well have cut their veins open because they felt energy slipping from them with the intensity of a rushing waterfall.

Sparx looked around in worry around his grunting and shaking companions, tossed by indecision, seeing his family in pain was not the best sight in the world and even though he could mentally shield himself from the emotions boiling his nerves, obligation of blood demanded still that he acts.

But acting only meant more trouble, he didn't have the power to stop a dragon, let alone an insane one, showing him that he might actually pass through the bars could only give the creep more arguments to weep.

Then it occurred to him that being in the air, unaffected in any way, could give the dragon an equally worthy argument. The dragon was definitely coming to the same conclusion he could feel the drake's rabid eyes narrowing their attention on him.

Quickly Sparx, you need to come up with an idea.

Spyro grunted, one of the draining, shining leeches seemed to strike him harder than the rest.

This is it.

He extended his arm towards his brother, wings slowed their pace as if they had strings pulling them in the opposite direction they wanted to flap. The light surrounded him dimmed and it was either the lucky cast of shadow or a combination between the illumination coming from the floor and the surrounding darkness, whatever it was it made Sparx' body blue, making him look more sickly than before.

Spyro groaned again.

His extended arm vibrated, the stretched out fingers were pushed into a weak spasm, his wings slowed their speed even further, light lost its strength in their wake, together with the shadows of the cell his body seemed to change color again, turning green, looking more ill than moments before.

"Shared life force?" the red dragon pushed his paw away from the bars, the starved binding energy returned to its subtle nibbling, each of the dragons let out a prolonged breath of relief

Sparx couldn't believe it worked, the guy seemed to have bought his little parlor trick.

"So many possibilities" the drake's eyes looked over the taxed prisoners, evaluating them with a glint in the eye of a greedy trader who noticed a majestic occasion "Cursed rules. But you won't run away, no, no. You will be too weak to be of worth to anyone. My chance of having fun. My prize"

Red tongue made a next round over the red mouth.

"How strong is your will I wonder? We will see when I return, there will be no more rules then"

The dragon purred excitedly, placing back the glimmering object behind the scale, his entire body shivering under the touch.

"Do not go anywhere jewels. Evolution, progress, the pair needs guidance. In you are all the necessary ingredients" the dragon sharpened his claws across the glowing bars, the light splattering like blood "Which I desire to extract"

Spyro scrambled from the ground, he couldn't feel his legs, in fact he wasn't sure if he had a body at all, after the rabid draining he only knew that he had to pull himself up, yet instead of limbs it felt as if he would be tearing out his own spirit.

But it was really his body that was moving, due to the overwhelming numbness he couldn't know that his tail squeezed in between the bars, the end of it freely flapping behind the cage while the binding energy of the bars kept leeching at his elemental magic.

The red dragon lunged at the tail with a ravenous glint, his body spiraling in the air like a fired arrow molested by strong gusts of wind. The sharpened claws sunk into the numb, purple tail, peeling of a piece of a bloodied scale.

Spyro felt the pain though, the sharp sting made him yelp, numb or not, instinctively he hid his tail behind the bars, muscle's memory self-preservation instinct was stronger than any external force trying to silence it

Bones flicked the scale into his mouth, crushing it under the weight of his sharp fangs with a single bite. His draconic face melted into an expression of utter bliss. A little trail of blood marked the corner of his lips.

Sparx winced in disgust.

"Much value. We will meet again Gems" with those words the dragon slinked into the shadows, disappearing from the area of the cell as inconspicuously as he appeared as if he would cross into a pool of shadows of his own making

So naturally and effortlessly that even blind he would easily find his way around this place.

"Is he gone?" Sparx whispered, peeking down the dark corridor behind the bars, his body barely glimmering

"Gone" Iris confirmed, her voice rough and vile, carrying the sound of an aggressively torn paper

"What a damn freak!" Sparx shouted loudly, the scream a combination of erupting relief and hatred "You saw the way he was looking at us? Like we were his snacks. Damn bro! He even took a bite out of you!"

Nobody answered him, the only sound that interrupted the moaning breaths of the dragons was Cynder's ugly retch. Her throat was ravaged to a point that the spasm her body went through basically flipped her tail all the way into her face.

Sparx winced, rubbing his shoulders, feeling usually cold all of a sudden when his gaze fell on the ground and the scrambling, groaning dragons.

"Damn guys, you alright? You look like crap. Is it really that bad?"

"Imagine" Cellsa rasped "Imagine that you punched yourself in the stomach so hard that your fist went through" she coughed, her throat was so dry that the squeeze cracked a tissue inside, making her spit blood "And then...then you started whirling it around, spinning your guts around in circles"

He observed his fallen companions with a mixture of pity and self-loathing, they were sick while he happily floats above the ground, unharmed while the said ground keeps feeding off of them even in their current, depressing situation.

They were a team and a team has to keep together, especially if among them are those he would gladly die for.

Heh.

Maybe the Atlawa weren't wrong when they worshipped him.

Maybe he was a hero after all.

Would be great to come to such a conclusion lying in a comfy bed instead of a dark cell, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

"We're getting out of here. I'm going to find a way how to open this place and you" he looked around the group of friends once more, neither of them seemed to keen on getting up. He rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably "..ummm... just stay put, alright sports?"

"No".Spyro protested, managing to lift himself up, his head however remained hanging down "It's too dangerous"

"We gotta do something man! I can't stay here watching you guys spitting your guts out!"

"We're getting better" Spyro crushed the sand between his claws, the touch of his natural blades against the palms of his paws nearly made him topple down and if not for Sparx quickly rushing in to hold him, the purple drake might have actually returned back onto the draining floor

"Stay dammit" he slurred, recovering his balance with a swift jerk, like a drunk trying to prove he's sober by staying upright despite chugging down so many liters that it would make fish jealous

"We're making a run for it bro. That's final" Sparx gently put a comforting hand on the purple shoulder "I'll be right back"

"Stay" Iris' command bellowed moments later after the dragonfly's decision

Sparx rolled his eyes.

"Listen here girly, you might believe you are some mighty princess but there is no way I'm listening to you when I didn't even listen to my own brother"

"Someone's coming"

Sparx' eyes widened in fear.

"That freak is already back?!"

"Not an individual. More. Three"

"Assassins" Sparx gulped, intoning loudly what everyone in the cell thought right now

Spyro and Iris instinctively moved away from the bars to the best of their ability.

Not so long after two dragons appeared before them.

"Looks like Bones had his fun" a smirk appeared on the green snout of the first cutthroat

"And it looks like the rumors were true. Just look at the clowns, what kind of scales are that?" another snout appeared next to the first one, glowing orange in the dim light

Two hulking towers of scales stopped in front of the cell, their eyes were so fixated at the group of dragons that they didn't even notice a dragonfly hanging in the air. Sparx though seen them just fine and he didn't like what he saw.

The world is plenty of bad dudes willing to do some dirty work, but special individuals like that usually have a distinctive trait about them, a trait that already betrays them as lowlifes thriving on the suffering of others.

These two had no such characteristic, no broken teeth, ugly smell, anything really. They were perfect in every regard and compared to the hive minded dragons, or the guards that brought them here, they were like sculpted statues while all the rest were only a poor attempt of a copycat.

Highborn.

They were killers with royal faces, the eight of them made him question his previous determination to get out of here, the cell didn't seem that bad now when compared to the idea of freedom and chance of mingling with those types. A place where you need to have eyes all around your head to see the dagger flying your way, because there was no chance to tell who of the pretty folks will stab you.

They knew how to wear their masks.

Speaking of masks, where is the third one Iris spoke about?

"Isn't that the spawn of one of the Wardens?" the green eyes of the emerald snout blinked in surprise

"Everyone breathing is everyone breathing. They are barely standing anyway, we won't hear them scream, no sound, no accusation, easy job. Let's get to it, it stinks in here"

"Hey blockheads!" Sparx reached behind the bars, giving the dragons a slap across their noses "First you gotta go through me"

Both assassins jerked their heads back, surprised not by the hit, but by the glowing creature that appeared before them.

"The hell is that?!" the electric dragon exclaimed in shock

"Boot in your ass if you won't scram" Sparx narrowed his eyes, glowing brightly, his hands gripped the glowing with green energy bars "You're not touching them"

The eyes of the massive dragons flashed with doubt as they sprang between the yellow hands around the bars and themselves, clearly trying to judge the potential of their unexpected opponent.

Unfortunately for Sparx, while it was smart to use the power the inhabitants of this world fear against them he simply lacked the physical attributes to support his intimidating claim.

The earth dragon parted his mouth, sending an earthly projectile at the glowing creature.

Sparx gasped, his swift wings pulling him away from the danger zone in the last second.

"We're going to pluck your wings fly!" the earth dragon burst out in laughter

"You're going to do shit! First you need to go through these bars!"

Both killers grinned, the electric dragon flicked his tail forward, smashing it against the bars, a crystal similar to the Bones had glowed at the side of the orange tail.

The binding magic didn't explode this time, quite the opposite, its light began to waver and flicker, tossed about like a flame of a candle threatened by strong gusts of wind.

The eyes of the dragonfly widened.

They were sucking the power out of this thing.

Sparx glanced behind his shoulder, due to fear his eyes perfectly penetrated the darkness behind where they spotted his draconic companions. All of them stood now, flexing, but their shaking legs and barely opened eyes weren't a motivating sight.

"Uncle" Iris gasped unexpectedly, her breath peaceful and calm as if it would be her dying one

Before Sparx could make sense out of the exhale a sharp cling could be heard from the bars, something smashed into them. He didn't see what because the moment he turned the weakening bars exploded with a blinding light. While this time the implosion of magic wasn't transported through the floor the force of the shockwave was so strong that it blew him back into the cell.

The two assassins received the blunt of the force right into their murderous faces. Despite their idealized frames they had no chance against the empowered draining force of the Binding essence, even the colors seemed to fade from their scales when the leeching magic took a bite out of their elemental energy, casting the two into the corner like dirty rags.

The third dragon had arrived, immediately throwing himself at the two fallen dragons, wet, disgusting noises followed soon after when he torn the throats of the defenseless would be killers with ease.

Iris stared ahead with terrified eyes of a lamb crossing wolf territory, she started to retreat silently, her paws making no sound as she slid deeper into the shadows.

The final breath she let out before putting the cloak of darkness around herself answered the question that rattled in everyone's head about the identity of the dragon.

"Ignus"