FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 42

The handle of the door clicked and the frame went open when pushed by a gauntleted red paw, the door whining audibly with the tact of a hissing butler, signaling an incoming catastrophe. At the noise the whole group of freshly hired servants balked in militaristic unison, even Iris followed suit, correcting her posture.

Spyro gulped, feeling two feminine tails giving him a supporting slap in the thigh.

"Ignus! It's so good to see you!" a feminine shout came from the doorstep, it's cheerful tone, clearly molded with straightforward hostility bubbling like acid, only waiting to pry the skin off of your face

"Marble" the red dragon nodded, greeting a neatly dressed earth dragoness on his doorstep

The two acted as if they switched their natural temperaments associated with their element, when not seeing the two one could easily mistake one for the other.

The green dragoness looked past the fire dragon and down the hall where in line was gathered the freshly acquired batch of toys. The slender mask that she was wearing glittered under the light of the house, shifting colors between their dark tones like a chameleon. Despite the brilliant white smile her eyes were lifeless and cold, being a rather literal projection of her name.

"My, my, now I understand why you used that awful towel, you always had a feeling for...keeping things in an acceptable range. This is why Athron rules and not you, she always knew when to cross the line" her smile took on a sweet tone "No offense"

Ignus growled quietly, recoiling from her words as if the acid with what her words were coated would splash against his nose.

"Of course" he rasped, walking corpses are more genuine in their pretense to be alive than there was indifference in Ignus' seemingly uncaring grumble

Sparx scratched his chin, his perceptive eyes immediately noticed the behavior between the two dragons, behavior that was in contradiction to everything Cellsa made them believe. The position of females in this society was supposedly marginal and while he believed that her opinion about the girls being breeding stock only was an overreaction on her part, being dramatic was kinda her style, he really didn't think that she could be so wrong.

The earth dragoness didn't look like someone who was under the boot of another.

Quite the contrary, it seemed that she was the one having some kind position of authority over Ignus. It was undoubtedly a political game, it was clear that the red dragon wasn't really keen on throwing this party, he was forced to do it and his guest's mention of the towel brought him back to the moment where they were stopped during their incognito transport.

He had a feeling that this dragoness was among the group that halted Ignus, if not being the one that did it itself.

Whoever she is and whatever her relationship to Ignus might be, one thing was certain, she was worthy of keeping an eye on for potential favor partner. Having experience with Iris and her trust issues it would only benefit them to have someone else they can count on than rely solely on Ignus' good will.

The dragon might have helped them but unfortunately for the drake he was familiar with his bloodline and despite the fact that many years separated the young Ignus from volatile Iris it would be foolish to pretend that this family doesn't have violence and betrayal sewn into their bloodline.

After Boven and Diazen it would be very naïve of him to believe that the folks from the past help them out of the goodness of their hearts.

More dragons followed after the one called Marble, Ignus greeted each with the same amount of chill joy, yet his slightly twitching tail betrayed that he felt more comfortable around the next guests than he ever did around the first one. Funerals have more life to them than this reception.

Ignus made a fuss about this masquerade to the point that Sparx believed that almost half of the city would pour in to grope them, yet there were only a couple of dragons here, the door closed faster than when Ignus thought about opening them. There were six dragons in total, including their host and even though their bodies weren't that massive yet, all of them were in their adult youth just like Ignus, he still felt overwhelmed despite the spacious interior.

Ego has a way when it comes to spreading its arms wide.

Sparx winced, rubbing the tip of his nose as if he was about to sneeze. The peculiar stench of a lie and pretense pulsed lively from the guests, the entire party was nothing more than fakery. A forgery of authority and power. All of the dragons that arrived wore a mask of their own that was supposed to shield their true motives from the rest, they were holding to it so tightly that it blinded them from one simple truth.

This whole party was hidden under another big mask that enveloped all of them.

Plotting it was called.

Whoever they might be Sparx could easily see that they weren't power players, he spent most of his life around a dragon that beamed with superiority, this is why he learned that true majesty doesn't come from flexing your muscles, this was always a sign of weakness.

And all of those dragons that entered were flexing so hard that they risked bursting like bubbles.

Whoever they pretend to be, the true power player of this city wasn't in this room.

And ironically, despite the ego, he found it quite satisfying to think that most likely each and every one of them knows exactly that. Bullies suck.

"Exquisite" a male dragon of reddish scales rumbled loudly as he tapped his claw against his chin from which protruded a fiery beard

He had manicured, well taken care of claws. Sparx rolled his eyes in his imagination, masquerades have unwritten rules of not overdoing it, you might dress as you want but there was a limit how much you should push to avoid being ridiculed.

That guy was clearly way past any reasonable border of taste.

"You really snatched the main prize Ignus" the groomed dragon nodded approvingly

In between each jerk of his head Sparx could smell fear and hate wafting from the dragon.

"Oh yes" Marble whizzed excitedly "Such a delightful haul, and so swiftly acquired before Skyward even got the chance to sniff it out. One can only ask here who had such a big, sweet heart to tip off our welcoming host, hmmm?" Marble swished her tail playfully, similar embroidery from which her mask was made was attached to her tail, it kept shifting colors hypnotically with each tender twist

Marble had flexed.

And Sparx gulped at the sight, while not being the main force of power like all the rest of them this dragoness was dangerous and she clearly felt like fish in the water in this company of fakeness. The insinuation in her voice was blatant, yet she weaved it with such grace that he doubted that any of the other guests noticed.

He did though, he saw the uncomfortable twitch in Ignus' eye.

She immediately caught his attention, she reminded him of Coriza, it was not about the sweet, naïve heart, no, Marble was far, far away from being nice and good. She reminded him of his most favorite cleric because she was a walking contradiction, exception of the universe.

This world is ruled by magical, yet simple rules, the life of the dragons is dictated under the tempo of their element, to master control over it they must become a part of it, there was no other way and hence in majority of cases the attitude of the dragons is reflected by their scales. Chaotic when yellow, temperamental when red, or, like in this case, calculating and stoic when green.

Yet Marble didn't fit that typical example, she was way too coquettish and emotional to be considered the basic representative of her element. That alone made her remarkable and worthy of keeping an eye out.

He wasn't wrong with Coriza.

He doubted he would be wrong with her.

"I simply know when to keep my head to the ground and snatch the opportunity when it presents itself" Ignus retorted, his voice boomed with arrogant confidence

"Naturally! After all no one of us here can boast about being the first in line to the throne. Ending up second in such a race must be a dream come true" Marble's mask glimmered quickly, as if laughing

"A dream come true" Ignus repeated obediently, voice stripped of joy entirely.

The dragoness had Ignus on a leash and she was cracking a whip over his back without mercy. There was a history between the two and Sparx made a note that it wouldn't be bad to keep them two interested, after all conflicting sides can brew up a fight without much of an intervention.

And it would be a very nice distraction if need be.

"What is this peculiar little thing?" a thin dragon appeared before the group, swiftly bending his body as if swimming through the air. He was unbelievably fast, thin for a dragon and graceful as a snake

A claw stretched out towards Sparx before he could react, poking his body aggressively. The tip of the curled blade creating a small puncture wound on the yellow body. It took some time for the dragonfly to process what has happened, only after a short delay he realized that there was a dragon in front of him and after another delay after that he realized that something touched his chest.

Only when he looked down, pressing the chin against his body he noticed that there was blood flowing from his body. Then came the pain.

He yelped, throwing himself back, slapping his hand to the wound, through two of his fingers blood started to soak through lazily.

Spyro was about to throw himself at the dragon, in fear for the health of his loved ones he was about to drop all this pretense and demonstrate what a purple dragon can really do. He didn't do it immediately though, in the back of his head exploded the words of his brother, a warning and a scold about him being reckless when faced with situations when the ones he cares about get hurt. Moments where he puts himself on the front line without thinking about the consequences, like he did so many times with Cynder.

He heard his own thoughts among them, reminding him that he said he will change his attitude.

Yet being so close to all of it was stronger than any mental restraint.

Before he acted though, Ignus proved that this tiny moment of hesitation was all that he needed before he would ruin it all. The red dragon swiftly jumped between the sleazy drake and Sparx, shoving the first back with the strength of his armored paws.

The dexterous dragon, who turned out to be of yellow shade backed away with a hiss, avoiding the touch of the metallic blades on his host's armor.

"This is not your property!" Ignus roared aggressively "You'll do well to keep that in mind Bolt before you lose your legs"

"Forgive my brother our venerable host" sweet and poisonous tongue Marble gracefully planted herself between the two dragons "He can be rather too obnoxious sometimes, lack of attention in your childhood, you know how it is" her cold eyes turned to the drake who seemed to shrink under their weight, despite the loving smile, the lifeless eyes of the earth dragoness were ready to suck the soul out of the poor fellow "I'm sure that it won't happen again, isn't that right dear brother?"

The swift dragon sucked onto his dipped in blood claw, the hooded cloak he was wearing together with his frail form made him look like an overgrown rat sucking on a piece of cheese.

Hardly someone who you could consider high society, especially when he looked almost like a twin brother of the jailer named Bones.

"Very right sister, very right" Bolt nodded swiftly, his hooded head bouncing on the long neck like a ball, his agreement interrupted by the slurping sounds of his twisting tongue around the claw

"Ugh. So I'll-bred" a young blue dragoness hissed, wincing her nose in disgust under the shade of a very big feathery hat, only held in place by her horns protruding from it since its size was too big for her head

"Utterly ghastly" exactly the same spoiled, squeaky voice added its words to the original ones as if being the extension of the idea but voiced by another mouth.

The other speaker was also a blue dragoness, wearing the same overgrown hat and depicting the same mannerism like a mirror's reflection made of flesh and bone.

While Bolt only resembled Bones in some behavioral aspects, the two females were a literal copy of each other. Rocking their identical behavior proudly, like all true twins should.

Cynder watched the group with forced polite indifference, yet no amount of restraint could hold her head from shaking, at least a tiny bit.

"Ancestors, I have never seen so many folks with tails up their asses in one place before. And I thought that Iris was the worst" she whispered to her friends

A faint, yet angry growl rumbled from Iris' throat, she clearly didn't like being compared to any of the recent arrivals.

"Are you okay?" Ignus turned his attention to the dragonfly

Sparx looked at his hand, no matter how many dangers they went through he never got used to the prospect of being wounded. There was a time when he believed he could be like Spyro, able to dance and fool around with thousands of open cuts if he wanted to. It's enough to say that he never reached that kind of resistance.

Dragonflies are all about speed and between him and his brother he was the one who weren't confused about his origins, knowing its limitations and all. Limitations that were only flashed out in greater detail when spending most of your time around a dragon, a purple no less, who is barely affected by anything thrown his way.

It made him feel weak.

And the ugly truth was that he was fully aware of his physical flaws, that doesn't mean he liked it. He wanted to be a hero just like his brother and to cope up with him he needed to pretend that his physical limitations don't exist, that speed is all that matters and that he is the best when it comes to utilizing it.

Getting wounded ruined that illusion and put a dent in the mask of confidence he clung on to so very hard.

Even though the wound wasn't serious and there was only one line of crimson painting his palm, the sight of it still reminded him of the fragility of his existence.

"Yes" Sparx nodded, his head bobbing with ease, he was the only one aware of yet another crack appearing on his mask

"Ignus, Ignus, when you will finally learn" the manicured claws rubbed against a red scale, only to that movement Sparx and his friends noticed that the body of the of the red dragon wasn't made of scales alone, in between the cracks there were gems inserted, red as his scales. The gentle rub triggered some sort of reaction in the crystals, making each gem shine and glitter with the tiniest movement of red limbs

"Such civility is...unnecessary" the elegant dragon stretched out his glimmering foreleg, observing the shining paw with a self satisfied twinkle in the eyes "Those are mere toys, in the end we grow apart from them, why keep such good material dusting when it can be processed and molded into something more..." he smacked his lips as if he would be blowing a pipe "...tolerable when it's still fresh" the proud twinkle turned instantly into a ravenous stare when the eyes of the dragon ran over the group of wo called servants

"How I establish the rules of my house is my affair alone" Ignus commented sternly, his solid armor groaning menacingly "In the end you get what you want, don't you Kindle?"

"True my boy, true" Kindle bobbed his head "I simply want to offer you the opportunity to relieve you of such..." his eyes jumped at the special group huddling together "complicated weight"

Marble laughed sweetly, one could believe that the venom coating her words was just an illusion.

"Oh how I adore these little meetings of ours, so full of nuances and innuendos, it's so much fun" her cold eyes landed on the group, making them gulp uneasily "You might want to loose those straps Ignus, you need all the air you can get and armor can be so very...constricting"

"Thank you for your concern my lady, but I'm fine" he pointed a claw at the red dragon "And how many times do I need to tell you Kindle to stop calling me boy, you're only three years older than me"

"It is not about the age of our bodies, it's our actions that define whether we are serious or still naïve" the scrutinizing gaze of the dragon fell on the group of pretended servants, why there was clear fascination in his eyes, the aura of displeasure was as evident as the manicured claws

It was clear in which group the dragon considered Ignus to be.

"All this talk is insulting!" the first of the twin sisters whined loudly

"Let us play!" the second sister jumped in front of the group, spreading tentacles of ice from underneath her paws that immediately set to envelop Spyro in their freezing embrace

"I do fancy this one very much" she licked her lips, only then they noticed that the sister had a very long, glowing, blue tongue and it looked like there was a tiny piece of a feather growing from the bottom side of it

Spyro gritted his teeth, balking under the assault of the freezing touch, the flowers around his neck began to wobble, shaking like the tail tip of a cobra.

The other sister joined her twin, pressing her body so tightly against the second that it almost looked like as if the two of them joined their scales together. Both girls in perfect unison craned their necks forward, there wasn't even an eyelash stretching a millimeter farther than that of the other twin, the females being a perfect reflection of each other.

Having them so close made them look like a two headed dragon.

"Not so deadly" the first head smacked its lips

"Not deadly at all" the second commented seconds after

"Cute and fake!" both heads exclaimed in unison, getting thrown into a fit of giggles

The tendrils of ice strengthened their grip on his body, he could hear the blood in his veins cracking delicately as if it would be becoming ice in some places. The power of the magical hold seemed to increase the moment both girls came closer to each other.

"Polar and Glacial, always so demanding!" Marble chuckled melodically

"Ice dragons are like mosquitos. Buzzing and annoying, there is always a room full of their infuriating chatter" Bolt hissed from underneath his hood, pair of reptilian eyes with slips as sharp as blades flashed from behind the shadows of the outfit the dragon was wearing

"Now, now brother, why so harsh? We all are friends here and we all are just giddy to share, like all friends do, especially those very good ones" Marble winked at Ignus who immediately averted his gaze with a rough cough as if something would get stuck in his throat

Sparx rubbed his chest, the wound he received seemed to bleed a little bit more whenever he focused his attention on the earth dragoness. Her unique charisma was hard to resist, even despite the almost profane venom behind her words that just didn't suit someone as enthralling. Whatever role she played in the events of this world, he had a feeling that Ignus took much of it to heart. She seemed hard to resist, almost like supposedly Iris in her prime and no matter how stubborn one might be, in a hostile city like this sipping on poison was a very hard thing to avoid.

"Share!"

"Yes! Share!" the twins immediately jumped towards Ignus, letting go off Spyro immediately

The purple drake gasped loudly, shaking his body to get the blood pumping in his veins again.

Marble's lifeless eyes turned towards Spyro, her mask shifting through patterns of ominous, dark colors. Even amidst the death fish stare the group could find interest pulsing. The girl's eyes were so full of focus that she seemed to be picking him apart with her stare. The cold pupils kept following one of the floating, purple leaves with great attention until it eventually evaporated with a tender puff.

The look, so much similar to her own when she was falling in love in Spyro made Cynder's heart ache, jealously was something easily stirred in her, even though she trusted her mate will all her life and every part of her logically thinking mind was telling her that there was nothing wrong with other females finding Spyro interesting, he was THE purple dragon after all, nothing of the mentioned things was strong enough to silence her heart.

And nothing ever will, not even the realization she came to in this world, that Spyro was too special for her to have a private grip on him. She had to share his gold heart with others, it will happen anyway whether she likes it or not.

It would be just better to accept it. For her own sanity and everyone else's.

She couldn't though.

She believed that she sorted her fickle heart, came to some understanding with it, especially now when Spyro, with that tunic, put his entire heart on display for everybody. It was a thing she could do nothing about, not that she would even dare demanding any restrictions on this gold heart of his.

And yet despite all of those logical thoughts she couldn't help herself but to desperately fight against the urge to tear that chick's infuriating eyes out. How she wanted to give that broad a solid kick in the rump and sent her flying far, far away with her Siren Scream ringing in the green girl's head.

HE'S MINE! HE'S MINE! HE'S MINE!

With great difficulty, as strenuous as trying to lift a mountain, she forced her eyes away, feeling an obvious sight of jealously forming itself on her snout. She was glad that there was still that feral, survival instinct in her that was simply too afraid of projecting true emotions to creatures swimming in a world of intrigue and betrayal since the day they were born.

And while she considered her bond with Spyro a chain of strength than weakness, it would be best for everyone if this card would remain a secret. This knowledge might be dangerous to their companions and perhaps even used against them by this plotters, she was sure they were capable of spinning their bond against them, she could quite clearly see Iris and Cellsa, even Orbis betraying them at some point, believing the false accusations that they would put the two of them above everyone else.

It was a terrifying thing to realize, but this plan wouldn't be so far from the truth. She would fight for her team, but would she really be able to sacrifice Spyro, her anchor of tranquility and the only thing that kept her alive for so long for the life of her friends and even Spyro's brother?

Considering just how much her heart stung just by thinking about it made her really doubt it.

Ancestors, please, please, please, never allow me to find out.

Ignus backed away, rising his armored paw in the air in the popular gesture of halting someone, the plates he was wearing groaned ominously. Stopping the flapping, long blue tongues in their tracks.

"Nothing changed between us, I assure you. All in due time like always. It is always like it had been before"

"Before we all knew where and when the tastiest eggs are coming" Bolt hissed, his voice rattling, his reptilian pupils kept dilating as if he would be preparing to pounce at someone at any second

Kindle nodded gloomily. His glimmering scales turning blood red.

"Precisely, this price Ignus you have snatched before anyone of us smelled it" the dragon's voice was monotone and calm, the only thing betraying his irritation were the sparks of flames bursting in his gem infused body "I applaud your swiftness, fetching such playthings, so utterly alien with a probable lever for our destruction among them, must have been quite an effort. Pray tell how did you know that such creatures, things that we never believed existed, were the guests of Skyward's most famous torturer?"

Marble's smile grew wider as she kept evaluating the group, none of them could help but to feel that they are being judged by a predator deciding right now who amongst them would do for a perfect appetizer.

"It is very simple and yet something you deemed unworthy of pursuing dear Kindle, as you said you won't mingle your majestic scales with gutter" Ignus smirked

The red dragon snorted indifferently.

"I'm in close contact with the current Warden and lucky for me, as it turned out his children were battling these creatures in Skyward's vicinity. So I had first paw information of the identity of the incoming prisoners. It is useful to have contacts my dear friend"

Manicured claws tapped against the red chin.

"Alien, according to stories, with the most powerful creature among them battling under the biggest city of our world and losing to some pitiful children and standard guard, right under your nose. How very convenient, I must congratulate you on your luck my very, very dear friend. This must be the most braindead nemesis we have encountered and since this is the only nemesis in our known world the title will be held for a long time"

"Pride is a downfall of all, we know this better than anyone else"

Kindle acknowledged the words with another causal nod, it was impossible to tell if the dragon was honestly agreeing with Ignus' suggestion or merely pretending.

"Naturally, the most treacherous foe is deadliest to all. May I ask from where they came from?"

"I don't know"

The red dragon's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You don't know?"

Ignus shrugged.

"Yes, I don't know and sincerely I'm not interested. Most likely they were pawed off by the Moonborne, those barbaric beggars move all around the world and dig in every hole, eventually they find something that nobody believed existed, like always, and trade it away for months of sustainability. What matters to me is that now they are here, under my care, everything else is irrelevant, their story begins anew"

Marble gave the group a wicked wink. The colors of her mask shifting wildly, projecting a thrilled giggle.

"A true master of convenience. I envy you boy" Kindle commented, his voice sounding like lifeless static, the only thing broke the illusion of serenity were his quickly pulsing gems that pumped the colors so strongly as if they were individual hearts sustaining themselves through rapid sprints

The twins craned their necks forward in perfect unison, giving Ignus a prolonged sniff.

"Fake!" they both exclaimed, ripping their joined body apart when each dashed in the opposite direction like feral animals startled by sudden explosion

Kindle nodded silently, acknowledging the single worded sentence with the typical stoic demeanor of a king receiving grim news during a banquet.

"So our little treasures, fancying our company already?" Marble smiled sweetly, her eyes with great attention eyeing each and every member of the so called servant group, lingering on each in equal measure. She observed them with a trained art of a treasure seeker who is judging the wealth of his newly discovered spoils.

"We guarantee unbridled attention and fulfilling satisfaction" she pressed her paw to the side of her mouth, leaning closer "Naturally some of us replace "guarantee" with "demand"" she whispered, leaning back she gave her words a dismissive wave "But its such a trifle, not worth bothering yourself with it"

The group stared back at Marble in utter silence.

"Hmmm" the earth dragoness mused out loudly, her mask taking on a more darker tone "Not very talkative are we?"

"They are well behaved" Ignus added, not pretending to hide arrogant pride in his voice

Kindle clapped his paws in slow appraise.

"Not only he procured specimens unknown and legendary to this city, he also taught them proper manners, in a span of hours after dragging them out of the torture chambers! Unbelievable!" the red dragon chuckled, shaking his head, the clapping became a little more faster

Sarcasm and mockery were dripping from his tongue like venom from a viper's fangs.

"A dragon of such skill venerable guests! One could believe that grand destiny awaits such talent, and yet, it is the enchanting side of the same family coin that dictates our manners my dearest friends. A slip in the grand scheme? Bested perhaps by better set of abilities? Or maybe the shadow that followed you in the race to the top was perfectly matching your features?"

With one, final smack of paws the drake announced the end of the applause, making room for the rather straightforward silence of awkwardness where the faint echo of mockery sunk into Ignus like a twisting dagger.

All this façade of high social status dispersed from the host of this party when his eyes flashed with honest intent for feral murder.

Bolt chuckled under his nose.

"My friends!" Marble exclaimed, her tail swiftly shooting through the group, drawing a magical vine around Iris' leg and hurling her in the middle of the group.

She collapsed with a grunt, a pair of feathers dislodged themselves from the last making circles in the air.

An unexpected bolt of pain stabbed Ignus' heart, it was a blow that no amount of armor could protect you from. It came so unexpected, yet he knew what triggered it, it was Iris' groan of pain. It became unbearably hot in the heavy plates he was wearing all of a sudden, he so desperately wished to rip the armor apart and free himself from the burden at least to some minimal degree.

This sensation scared him, ruining his image of a proud host instantly, a feeling he didn't experience for a very long time, last time when he felt something like that was when he got separated from his sister for the first time. This feeling was similar, but so much stronger, so much different, coated with an affection that should never be there, affection so foul that it left a bitter taste on his tongue.

The confusion only strengthened by the chaotic wrapping of the whole situation, Iris was a stranger to him, she might look like his sister, she might be even his niece from the future but to the current him, she should be nothing more than a stranger, an abomination not worthy of a spit, a disgusting half blooded wind dragon.

And yet despite this protest he couldn't silence the internal desire to slaughter them all for merely lying their filthy eyes on her.

Luckily Marble's sudden stunt drew the attention of everyone to Iris, so nobody caught a glimpse of his true self behind the tilted mask.

"Allow me to remind you who is our true foe here" green tail dragged the tripped dragoness back onto her paws "And while I enjoy our little bickering, in the end we all are on the same side, nobody of us will ever satisfy their craving if wind dragons keep standing in our way. Because what's the point of prestige if a ruler hostile towards us will reign, stripping us from pleasure, prestige and honor?"

Marble's words struck true, before nobody really bothered paying attention to a feathery winged servant, plenty of them pass around these walls anyway to bother. But now the focus was shifted towards Iris, for the very first time they got here the invited dragons truly acknowledged her presence.

Each of their masked expressions faltered in their trained behavior, revealing in each a speck of raw hate, making every dragon present look like a rabid beast craving for blood.

"Blue wings!" Polar exclaimed, sinking her long claws into the feathered membranes, roughly plucking out a tuft of feathers

Iris yelped in pain, with a snarl slapping the invasive blue paw away.

Bolt sneered.

"Not so well behaved after all"

The blue dragoness ignored the rebellious display, either not caring or accepting the fact that pain causes a natural defensive reaction even in well trained prisoners.

She sniffed deeply on the tuft, her nose dragging droplets of blood that still clung to the forcefully ripped off feathers.

"Look sister!" she presented the odd bouquet to Glacial who's eyes shone brightly at the sight of it, the first sister pried the second one's mouth open, dragging the long tongue into the open

"They would fit you nicely!" she compared the bluish feathers to the tongue, their shades weren't a perfect match, but they were still more matching than the white feather dangling from the bottom

Glacial chuckled, prying the mouth of Polar open and joining her identical blue tongue to hers.

"Youllll tooooo" she slurred and both girls began laughing

Sparx shook his head, he was wrong, so very, very wrong. No amount of crazy chicks Spyro invited to follow him could amount to the sickness of mind of these twin broads.

"An odd coloration" Kindle drummed his beautiful claws against his chin, enthralled by the blue shade of the feathers

"Who cares about wings" Bolt hissed, brandishing his claws like a set of lock picks "Beautiful eyes, what other treasure is hidden under the mask? Ready to collected?" he flapped his tongue across his lips, reptilian eyes glinting with lustful desire of a thief spotting his main prize

"Don't you dare touching her!" Ignus stepped forward, pushing his armored chest in front of the flying, greedy claws, reflecting them back at its owner

Everyone present looked at the red dragon with wide eyes, even Marble seemed genuinely surprised.

He felt the weight of the stares on him, they were beating his composure to dust, he didn't know what came over him, but he simply couldn't allow Iris to be mistreated, not when under his care. The threads of Fate he was clutching so strong slipped from his paws, laughing away as they disappeared into the darkness.

Everything he worked for could be ruined.

Think Ignus!"

"You...won't...destroy..." he pronounced each word slowly, temperamental voice vibrating with commanding emotion while the gears in the head spun wildly, looking for a solution "...my spoils!" an idea flashed in his mind, Iris was wearing that mask because of injury

"Bones put that mask on her for a reason! Her face must have been in ruin for a torturer to stabilize it with such device and your greed won't ruin what I worked so hard to acquire!"

"You can't touch me, fuck off" Iris snarled proudly at the dragons from behind the armored body

Faint gasps of surprise echoed from around the group.

Ignus' eyes sparkled with unexpected fury, he swiftly spun around, throwing a powerful slap at his future niece, hitting her right across the head, the force of the anger infused blow sent her flying to the ground.

The group of friends in the corner hissed at the sight of the small explosion of fiery sparks when the armored paw connected with the blue scales.

"Don't speak without permission!" he roared, staring with hateful eyes at the fallen girl, who looked at him defiantly through her burned cheek, spitting a glob of blood on the floor

In those white eyes he could see the reflection of his very soul.

She knew he will react this way.

She did it on purpose.

He raised his paw against family with no hesitation.

He never felt so caged before.

The group of friends fidgeted, whispering words of preparation to their muscles, the perspective of a fight hung heavily in the air.

And then suddenly instead of fierce roars and aggressive battle cries the twins together with the manicured dragon erupted in satisfied laughter.

Ignus' scales seemed to turn more red.

"Defiance!" Polar exclaimed joyfully

"Such defiance!" Glacial joined her sister in laughter

"Not so talented after all" Kindle added his own comment to the fray, for a moment there his built up distance and mockery towards the armored host faded away

"Fuck off!" the twins mimicked Iris' words, spitting their curses directly at Bolt as their idol did

The hooded dragon remained unfazed by the taunting, his reptilian eyes narrowed themselves on the robed dragoness lying on the floor, his sight passing in between the armored legs of his host. Tail making unnatural and extremely uncomfortable looking twists.

"Pretty eyes, pretty voice, pretty wings" the dragon licked his lips after counting the three traits off, gaze burning through the robe the feathered girl was wearing, with ravenous hunger watching the blood trickling from her mouth

Iris felt the weight of the craving gaze on her, while the dumb male hoped to get a hold of her, like many others before him, whether it would be with force or laughable plea, she couldn't care less. His sight was like any other male one, worthless. Just like any other male in this damn world he was unworthy of her attention.

Welcome home daughter.

She fought back desperately the hateful urge to look back at him and with a mere glance announce just how pitiful he is to her. This damn parade has to go on though and as for now uncle danced well to the song he believed he orchestrated, having no clue that he wasn't the one playing it.

Bolt's claws twitched anxiously.

"I would like to dissect this wind dragoness"

Marble snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Have some standards brother. Blue wings, green wings, who cares. Feathers are there and that means she's an overgrown chicken"

"Enough!" Ignus blared out, his roar sounding more like a cry of frustration than actual commanding show of authority

He felt his heart rattling inside his chest, each shake choking the breath out of him.

"Special batch or not, you are in my house and nobody will ruin my spoils, as it always have been. Admire, but remember these are my playthings and I'm not bored of them yet, something they are fully aware of. Do not stretch my welcome to thin, mock all you want but from all of us I'm the only one related to the current ruler, therefore I have more power over you than all of you combined. Behave" he turned his fierce stare at Iris "That applies to everyone" he nodded his head towards the staircase

"Go clean yourself up, you'll find a basin behind the stairs"

Iris scrambled her body from the ground, not before she broke her early set of restraints and looked straight into the needy, flashing eyes of the restless wanker. She saw him balking in attention, awestruck like all the worthless drooling fuckers before him. He was hers before he even realized it, one glance was enough, something that before she only believed her body can do.

Too bad for you rat that this time the princess you are seeing isn't clueless and unexperienced.

You will lie gutted below my paws.

Not keep thinking about me for the rest of your life.

Iris pulled her sight from the dragon, noticing him instinctively craning his snake like body hectically, just to find himself back under her attention.

Because I already forgot about you.

The trio of companions watched her walk with hardly contained anxiousness, they weren't blind to her taunting glance, nor they didn't ignore Bolt's uneasy wiggling, they were ready for a little taste of the Dark Realms spreading around this room.

As if sensing their worry Iris rose her piercing eyes to look at them, which was already far much that they expected from her. Those expectations were surpassed the moment she gently nodded her head, dispersing their focus with a calming, well known gesture that they immediately took for an honest one.

After this, when the stress of incoming fight faded, the other thing they had to fight back was confusion, it was strange to see such team spirit from Iris. Maybe this was overstretching it, but her behavior could be an indicator the souls they encountered in these halls can play their own cards of surprise.

They sure were capable of it.

Bolt fidgeted uneasily, torn between the desire to respect his host's command and personal craving to have that feathered dragoness all for himself.

Marble wrinkled her nose and for the first time since she entered this house the charming smile she was wearing was gone, even the lifeless eyes, uncaring from the beginning, reflected what was truly going through her mind right now.

It was disgust.

Embarrassed disgust.

"Have some standards and don't shame our name, brother" the last word she hissed with such abhorrence that one could think that her acid coated tongue burned holes in her throat

Bolt ignored his sister's comment, his needy eyes following the robed dragoness until she disappeared behind the stairs.

A longing sigh escaped his throat.

"You don't know what's good, you never did"

The earth dragoness snorted.

"Good and wind dragons don't go in pair"

"A feud!"

"Family battle!"

"Fight!" the last word the twins exclaimed in unison, breaking in a fit of whizzy laughter

A vicious snarl wrinkled Marble's mouth, her anger though was not directed at the ice dragonesses but her brother who only made her mad more by casually slinking away, with no will to defend his, and what it unfortunately implies, also her name.

Ignus didn't have the desire to hide the satisfied grin spreading his lips. Hold Fate as hard as you can, its threads will always slip away and come back to bite you in the ass.

Life has a way of teaching respect to those that believe they are above it.

She had turned to face him as if sensing his smile, the visible hate and clear threat of wiping that grin off of his snout that shined in her now lively eyes only forced the grin to widen even more.

"Scatter!" Ignus announced merrily, shining with triumph "Servants! Offer your services and bring refreshments! Guests!" he exclaimed cheerfully, with great satisfaction eyeing Marble down "Feel like home"

The delicate twinkle of her lips that revealed sharp fangs underneath, together with the murderous flash in her eyes. It was everything he needed from this parade.

A throne can be a slippery thing.

Ignus grinned widely in response.

"Let's get this party started!"