FSE

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Chapter 44

"It's been so long ago that I hardly remember" Ignus laughed, leaning his head down to tear and chew a single leaf of the stuffed basket filled with mint herbs that hung from around his neck

"My youth was full of ups and down, it was nothing like this" his eyes traveled across Warfang and its big walls and citizens that besides throwing them some curious glances continued on their way.

Blue sky stretched out above the buildings, birds together with dragons soared the sky, their wings gladly taking on the air, filling themselves on the sense of freedom it provided.

From the square they were walking through, surrounded by homes and workshops, tall as eyes could see, as tall as the mountain he spends most of his time on, all of it really made him feel like an insignificant bug.

Just thinking about it woke up the hard hammer in the back of his mind, it started to hammer, releasing distant thoughts that very often pry sleep from his eyelids.

He bit into another leaf, ripping it apart, the moving of his jaw as it crushed the mint between the teeth sent pulses through his skull, returning the favor back to the annoying hammer, managing to silence its nagging just a little.

"There was no community, no sense of belonging...only struggle"

"That sounds horrendous, I'm sorry" Coriza who joined the dragon for the walk kept to his side, genuinely worried by the information

"There's no need. That was our life"

"It couldn't be all that stressful though. Your niece adores her mother, as a cleric I can recognize true affection, such love doesn't develop by abuse or manipulation. It is a honest, pure feeling"

Ignus smiled warmly and she immediately noted just how weirdly unfitting it looked on his draconic face. As if he wouldn't be doing it for a very long time and the muscles no longer remembered how it felt to feel true joy.

"Young mistress, you fail to realize one crucial aspect of basically every community. Royals are not treated the same was as common souls do. Not even here in Warfang, just look at your former temple leader. It is a beautiful notion to believe in equality, but the world is ruled by power and power manifests itself to those who also hold a fruitful batch of it in the most pleasant of ways. The rest my dear cleric, are left with the scraps, and waste is what grows the most when a population increases"

"Finally someone with some sense!" Cloudas whined, gently bumping the priestess from the opposite side of the red dragon "I've told you that Shapers are all that matters, you might pretend to reach for something, but ultimately it will all end in failure"

Coriza looked down, gently brushing the strands of hair from her special eye, she looked once at the red drake and once at the wind one, the first more distorted than the other, she didn't know why she did that, this wavering forms only made her head spin and yet somehow, she sensed that it was important for some reason.

Almost convincing herself that the two of them can't know what they were talking about, neither of them tasted what true power meant, and never will, not with that aura.

Suddenly a foul taste filled her tongue, like she would lick something old and rotten, the unexpected sensation made her heart jump.

Their meager auras were disgusting.

The revelation shattered her ribcage making the heart beating inside spring up to her throat, she felt dizzy all of a sudden, the twirling shapes at the sides of her were making her feel sick. She immediately turned her special eye at the ground and her slowly tapping blue paws.

Focusing on the scales, on the stony floor, on the plain, white claws sticking out of the toes. Solid shapes, no whirling, everything stable, the world seemed to slow down for a moment, the unnatural sensation as odd as the last one.

She blinked, or at least she thought so since the paws she was watching disappeared from her sight. She blinked again, even though she didn't feel her eyelashes moving at all, whatever happened though, helped, the paws were back into her vision.

But they were crossed.

There was no stability, no control, she recognized the signs instantly, having to deal with them often during her life. Her clumsy spirit took advantage of her distraction, she was tripping, she lost her balance the moment she glanced from behind her strands of hair.

"Eeep!" she squealed, feeling her body titling sideways

"Got you!" Cloudas flexed his muscles, drawing claws into the stone, his body an unmoving rock that Coriza supported herself with and she did that fiercely, sinking claws into feathers and scale

She didn't drop on the ground.

The revelation pried her eyes wide open, back in the days each clumsy trip ended with a rough crash, she got so used to it that actually having someone helping her stand felt surreal , it's not like people never tried to help her, they did, but her falls happened always when nobody expected it.

"You weren't kidding!" Cloudas chuckled, the laugh quickly turning into a painful hiss as the claws of the gripping him cleric sunk deeper into his body

"But straighten up now or you're going to pierce my membranes" with a joyful snarl he gave the girl a tender shove

She unglued herself from him almost effortlessly, recovering balance immediately, with one jerk, like she would be a pupped pulled by a string. Her shocked eyes were aimed forward, not daring to glance sideways, following the orders of her head to the very last command. She was looking down on the ground, at her claws, tips of which had pieces of tarnished, white feathers attached to them as if she would rip apart a pillow.

A fierce blush of embarrassment colored her cheeks.

"I am so deeply sorry" she whimpered with a wavering voice, with a shaking paw dragging more hair on top of the treacherous eye, punishing it for causing such embarrassing chaos

"Hey, cheer up!" Cloudas nudged the cleric, you protect me I protect you, that was the deal right? It's not like you haven't warned me or anything. And besides you pulled me when Warfang almost trampled me, about time I returned the favor. A good, mutual transaction if you ask me"

Ignus looked down at the cleric, her clumsy trip was not as shocking to him as the faint realization that the cleric reminded him of the day where he also tripped, but instead of mixing his paws, he dipped his entire existence into chaos.

Yet he had never recovered.

The one that was supposed to assist him, the one he foolhardy believed to overpower one day, turned out to be more slippery than ice itself. When he finally tried to do it, instead of shattering the ice, all he could see his own reflection gazing back at him from the floor.

He was sorry too back then, especially when he realized that this was not a mere mirage of glass, but he himself, in blood and flesh that fell and trapped himself behind the ice, never to return to the life he once knew.

And there were times where he really wished that there would be some paw clawing a hole through which it would pull him out from.

Times like this now, when he observed the innocent girl.

His mouth stung, he numbly rose a toe there, only to feel a smile, a line of joy stretching to places on his draconic face that weren't used for a very long time.

No wonder you can't resist her Danox.

Purity is such a narcotic for those of evil heart.

He knew an innocent girl like that too once, he couldn't resist her either and now she was here with him, trapped behind the ice. The hole eventually appeared, but instead of a helping paw, it was his own that shot from the opening, clenching over a blue, striped with white neck and dragging her into the cold depths.

We are corruption you and I my black friend, we destroy everything we touch.

But world be damned, if it didn't feel nice to pretend that there was a chance somewhere out there for the likes of him to taste true love, true bond, true family.

I'm so sorry sister.

I'm so sorry Iris.

The hammer began to pound again, each strike causing his toes to unwrap and release the strands of Fate he clutched so tightly that they were basically red by now as they ground away at the colors of his scales.

He didn't mind both right now.

He patted his smiling mouth a little more, regretful heart bringing faint and dim pictures of a past long gone before his eyes. In that past there was also an innocent, blue girl, a time where victories, triumphs and plans weren't sketched on maps or displayed in trophies rooms. Those were the times where everything was much simpler, where everything that was needed to mark a goal was to make a scribble on a drawer.

A fleeting moment away from the turmoil of real life.

His numb toes dropped, leaving only one standing out, claw of which instinctively began to scrub at the corner of the smiling lip, marking one of the most perfect of victories.

Maybe it wasn't too late?

After everything.

Maybe it really wasn't too late?

"Look! Even Ignus is laughing! Forget it, what's done is done, it is who you are, you can't change that, don't be silly"

The voice hit him like a thunder.

You can't change that.

What's done is done.

Don't be silly.

The lonely toe dropped down fiercely, tip of the claw cutting the edge of his lip that immediately shrunk to a thin, irritated line. The strands of Fate he wanted to let go slapped him across the snout, falling back into his paws again.

Just like before, the moment was only a pretense.

But it still felt so damn good.

Red eyes looked up at Cloudas who had ruined it all with his words, blood boiling behind his red scales, the strength behind the glare could only be compared to the bloodthirsty stare of his niece.

And if not for the red pupils they could easily mistake him for Iris.

"I wasn't laughing" Ignus snarled angrily

"I saw that smile, it-"

"I wasn't smiling" the snarl morphed into a threatening growl

"Alright! Sheesh! Don't rip my feathers!" Cloudas ducked behind the cleric

"Is something wrong? Coriza turned her blushed covered snout at the red dragon, despite the shyness she wasn't unable to ignore the calling of her priestly duty

The strong thud that echoed inside his brain nearly shattered his skull to pieces. He met the big eye look of the shaded eye, gold, innocent and so full of life. The makeup surrounding it emphasizing the orb within, making it glow like pristine gem. Such a pretty, wonderful sight.

A familiar sight that should be treasured.

He was left breathless when the hammer struck once more, shaking his vision in the process, among the swiveling flashes the black shade around the eye turned to pure white, the gold iris became piercing white, the cute, blushing snout shifted into an elegant and beautiful shape.

The blush remained, paired with the wide eye look it created a familiar, godlike figure meant for greatness.

There was a time where he had everything he ever wished for without even realizing it.

Another thud, so fierce that it make him hiss in pain, the ache blurred the vision even further, colors were a chaotic mess, stripes of blue, white and gold kept flashing all around, with one more color that suddenly appeared among them.

Red.

It kept slashing across the blurred figure that was once beautiful and innocent, each clawing strike making something at the back of his mind pulse like a heart on its last breath. Each strike splashed everywhere the colors from which the familiar silhouette was made from. Painting its entire world with tragedy that could be described in several words.

Blood. Terror. Death. Oblivion. Emptiness. Betrayal.

The image od the beautiful figure was distorted, no longer reminding him of anything familiar and pretty, the shape ahead of him was nothing more than a husk, filled with not a soul anymore, but the disastrous effects the red color had on it.

He felt an irresistible urge to tear that red paint away, end its horrid existence, push it away where it no longer could cause any harm.

But he couldn't.

When he tried to pry it off he noticed that the red paint was stretching out from his own paws.

The scream that built up in his throat was the only thing that brought him back to his senses.

"Nothing is wrong!" he kept his jaw tight, it was enough to contain the built up scream to the level where it no longer sounded like a startled blare

He still didn't like the sound of his voice, but it was better than giving in to emotions of the youth that should have stayed buried a long time ago. It seems that not only his mind took something from the damn dogs, his heart did as well, it kept finding buried regret in the ground like the canines did bones.

Fucking hell, he needed a drink very bad right now.

"Ignore this old fool" Ignus shook his head "I'm old, it's about time for my sanity to catch up with the age. Don't bother yourself with troubles of an elder"

"You shouldn't say that. You are still many years away before your heart will finally have enough" Coriza smiled warmly, words were flowing from her mouth with the grace of a landing bird, she was as fluent in sharing words of comfort as the avian was in flight.

"I would ask you to visit the temple if it..." she swallowed uneasily, the harsh events of visiting the Seeker there flashed before her eyes and for a moment her wounded pupil put the world in another spin, she quickly stretched a few more strands of hair to cover it before the chaotic dance would spin out of control

"...becomes available again" she brightened up to the best of her ability after those words, right in time when her mind was filled with memories of times were everything was simpler "Participate in our sermons, many troubled souls like you joined us with similar doubts about their capabilities due to age, but through the assistance of the Ancestors they rediscovered their determination and if I may so myself, such finding is a true treasure indeed. I myself not so long ago learned just how powerful little faith can be, determined motivation is an aspect that can stand toe to toe with magic itself. You did give me a wonderful advice. You are still capable of doing great things"

Ignus chuckled.

"Great things? Me? I no longer play a major part in this story, advice is the only thing for me to give and it warms my heart to see that it is somewhat valuable. Because out of the two of us young priestess, you are destined to make great things, you have it written all over you"

Coriza blushed, her smile polite, yet holding no true confidence despite the lessons she learned, her life was enough of a harsh teacher to remind her that the inherited flaws were an effective blockade for any sort of ambition.

"I appreciate your words, but I am a simple cleric, my duties are nothing spectacular"

"If life would be so blunt and easy priestess we wouldn't have heroes and leaders. You actually remind me of someone I used to know a very long time ago" the red pupils in the dragon's eyes took on a more radiant and welcoming shine "She also seemed helpless, just like you considered herself as one as well. Potential though is a magical trait that only the eyes of the outsiders can truly notice, the girl I knew was meant for greatness, she had everything yet was shy and unsure to fully display them at the beginning. Individuals like these dictate how the world turns, you have something from her in you. You have the potential, the humble spirit, you even look like her"

"There aren't many sickly dragons like myself"

"It's not about the strength of one's muscles, or appearance in general. Power is in the soul and if I look into your eyes..." Ignus' voice was cut short when he truly looked into that sun like pupil, years of being in the court and high society embedded into him a habit of sweetening his words almost instinctively, most of the things he said though were not his true feelings and were mostly there to appeal to one's ego.

"I see a vibrant soul in there" he continued almost breathlessly, this time speaking out the words with all the honesty his tarnished heart could muster

Iris had a soul like that too once.

Coriza looked away, startled and embarrassed by the revelation. She still couldn't get used to it, being in the center of attention was never her dream, or even comfort zone.

But then again she keeps putting up make up and perfume.

And feels absolutely fine about this hypocrisy.

Her whole existence seems to be one big contradiction to the order of the very universe.

"Thank you for your support" she acknowledged the words with a respectful nod, attention landing back on her legs "But I'm afraid that my clumsy paws might not agree with you. Great things require leaping and before I would land I would break every possible bone in my legs"

"It is not about how fast you get to your goal, as long as you get there in the end. A simple analogy. Warfang has moles as its citizens, moles are miners, when a miner finds a rich vein he has two options. When he is capable his ingenuity will allow him to construct a device that will help him break through the stone. Another miner, who's not so brilliant would start chipping at the vein with his pick, only the first mole is capable of leaping, but then he depletes the vein with ease and move one while the second hardens himself until he too eventually reaches the end and the experience he gained will be crucial in the future. Does that make one better than the other? No, because essentially they both reached what they wanted, using the traits they were most capable of"

Ignus swallowed uneasily.

"Ambition knows no bounds, if you can't do great things now cleric" he shrugged "then do many small things in a great way"

Coriza felt her heart skipping a beat, being basically raised in the temple made her specially sensitive to advice, especially to that coming from a mouth of someone older than her. Priesthood while quite popular in the Dragon Realms doesn't attract many young souls often, majority of the caretakers and clerics are made of adult or elder souls and as a young heart among such experience she always listened carefully to what those wiser than her have to say.

Even though that with time she developed her own opinions it was always a valuable treasure to understand a view from someone else's perspective.

No different was with Ignus.

He had some special charm about him that simply spoke of knowledge and experience. She couldn't tell if this was his royal blood, or years spent in the military, but she couldn't deny the fact that he had a way of grabbing her attention.

After all his previous advice worked, she had a companion, her first follower towards the ultimate goal of recreating faith in the Ancestors and the temple. She simply felt that this advice, about taking things slow and careful will also play a big part in her life.

He seemed really genuine, speaking from the heart and if not for the fact that he was a dragon from the past she could swear that they must have met somewhere, the ease with which he stirs her heart was so fluent that one would say that Ignus had known her for years.

"I don't know what I did to deserve such honor of guidance, but I swear that I will take your advice to heart. Thank you from the bottom of my soul" the cleric bowed respectfully

Cloudas rolled his eyes.

"Oh, no, no, no" Ignus chuckled, shaking his head "I'm just an old fool blabbering too much. You just remind me of someone that I used to know did I say that already? I think I did" he scratched his head as if trying to wake whatever was sleeping inside

"I was too busy in my youth, I've been a queen's brother after all, not only I has to look after my royal sister I also had our subordinates to look out for and I simply missed the chance to spend the time with the one that my heart yearned to be nearby"

The red dragon sighed sadly.

"Just forget about the prattling of the silly old me, it is simply a far cry of a senile mind. If there is an advice I can give you that's really worthwhile then this is it. Don't waste time, time flows even for us dragons, if you postpone things forever you won't even realize when you turn old and weak like me"

Cloudas' wings fluttered, a gentle snarl wrinkled his lips, a mouth that he kept hidden behind the cleric, trying his best to not disturb her. For whatever reason she was willing to listen to the old dragon and since she pulled his tail out of the fire, respecting her wishes is the least thing he can do to pay off the debt he owes her.

The unusual jerk of the feathery wings didn't escape Ignus' notice, having a niece with the same membranes taught him valuable lessons, for instance he knew that these things betray true feelings with more accuracy than a wagging tail does.

Seeing that silent aggression made the flame on his tail tip flash brighter with satisfied joy. Even after so many years causing discomfort to a wind dragon, any kind of discomfort really, was still a fulfilling experience.

"I will do my best to remember that" Coriza thrust a wedge in the middle of the silent battlefield with her tender voice

"Wonderful" Ignus purred with wild satisfaction, only after he pried his eyes off the feathered membranes the thin line of smile that appeared on his mouth seemed to be filled with genuine, fatherly concern

"But let that be enough of lessons for today, this old body is getting tired and as much as your pure spirit is refreshing, I do not wish to deplete it of its grace. This city needs you more than I do" he bowed respectfully "May the path you walk be a smooth one young cleric, I hope that we will meet again, you bring light to this dark heart"

"Thank you" Coriza's head bowed deeper, her nose practically rubbing against the ground "It makes me happy that I managed to somehow alleviate your worries, even though I'm not sure I'm capable of doing anything spectacular, at least not for the time being that is. Your advice will need time to bring forth spoils"

If you only knew little cleric just how spectacular you are, if you only knew how addicting purity is to a heart made of darkness and just how much of a pain it is to not be able to be around you for a heart like that.

"Be well priestess" with a bow Ignus took to the air, frowning deeply as his wings carried him away, each beat bringing more tears to his eyes

Paws slammed against the chest, feeling as if it was being pried open, the created shadow between his toes and body seemed to pulse with its own life, desiring to spread onto the light of the sun.

He needed a drink.

"Finally" Cloudas growled in irritation

The unexpected aggression made Coriza blink in surprise.

"What's the matter?"

"That guy is such a fake, you should really stop drooling over him if you know what's good for you. I could barely stand his blabbering any longer"

"From where is this bitterness coming from Cloudas? What has Ignus done to you?"

"it's not about me, but you. I owe you and I don't want to see you getting hurt because some dude manipulated you"

"I am grateful for your concern friend, but I think you overestimate my value" Coriza smiled a toothless smile "Manipulating me would be a waste of energy, if not for you supporting me when I tripped I would already be in a hospital with more broken bones or teeth"

"I'm quite sure that he calculated that risk in"

Her priestly heart bled, she knew that his concern was genuine, yet she couldn't ignore the fact that he was like the many troubled souls coming to the temple, projecting their demons upon the ones they care about. Cloudas was no different in this regard.

And when she placed her paw on his shoulder, feeling the tension zapping through his body, reaching the wings, making the flutter open and feathers stand on end, she only confirmed her previous suspicions.

"Look" the wind dragon sighed, her warm, caring touch seemed to melt his bones away, he felt that the breath he just let out exhaled the dust his bones were turned into

"You and me, we have a thing in common and don't get me wrong here when I'll say it. We don't matter Coriza, there might be something about us that some will find interesting, but they just like us realize that we are nothing more besides that. We crawl through the world, this is how it is and there's nothing wrong with it, this is how it works. Powerful rule the weak and in our best interest is to avoid the gaze of the stronger than us. We are like snails hoping a boot of someone bigger won't stomp our existence out"

He felt her paw loosing its grip.

He quickly pinned it in place, looking straight in her eyes.

"I know it sounds harsh, but I'm not making this up, I've been in the same place once" he gazed upon his freshly drawn glyph, switching his attention between it and the toy medallion hanging from his neck "It didn't go well when I tried to break the rules of the universe, I believed that I'm someone else, listened to sweet advice" he shook his head "It all ended in tragedy"

He let go off her paw that immediately slipped onto the ground, he kept looking into her glowing eye, but it was the first time after his sister's death that he felt regret when doing so.

"Don't go that way. I don't like the guy, he's not who he seems to be"

Coriza reached towards him, gently rubbing his leg. Cloudas might be a soul from the past, but like every soul that was hurt he was projecting his bad experiences on others, all that was needed to make a connection was a similarity. She didn't blame him for that, life experience after all was not something that could be ignored easily, no amount of Faith could protect you from making a bad decision than true knowledge of the consequences.

She was also not someone who would ignore the warnings either, in situations like this she found out that the best solution to these problems is mixing logic with faith. If she would follow every word people tell her she would never met Cynder, never learned that behind those black scales that people curse so much beats a vulnerable, loving heart.

Even if Cloudas was right, she couldn't simply cast Ignus away, who was she to disallow someone's chance for redemption?

"We still make the choice in the end, advices are there only to show us one of the probable paths to take, they do not force us on it"

Cloudas snorted.

"I've grown up around what you people might call demons around here, masters when it comes to deception, the advices you talk about are parasites they plant in your brain. The choice you speak about is only an illusion and if there is a guy giving them out left and right, who is not a Shaper mind you, then I know he's talking crap"

"Thanks to one of those advices we are here together now. Is that not a good outcome? I wish that it feels as good for you as it does for me"

"Yes, it's nice, but..." the wind dragon pulled at his feathers with a growl "Argh! I don't know. I'm not good in this philosophical stuff" he shook his head "Just...be careful, please? I hate to lose the only wings I can hide under in this city"

"I will" she chuckled softly "Danger is a thing I'm quite good at avoiding. And you my friend" she gave his feathery shoulder a supporting tap "You are among allies here, there are no demons here"

"Demons are everywhere" he looked up at the sky, at the shrinking figure of the flying away Ignus "Some are tricky enough to keep their hooves hidden though"

"Ignus kept his niece alive throughout difficult times. He can't be that bad, he had to have some good influence"

*

"Forget it Marble. I'm not doing it" Ignus snarled, stashing the last pieces of the broken glass into a box

"You're doing quite a lot lately" she observed his crunched body with a look full of disdain "A venerable master you are, cleaning after your servants like this"

"I'm protecting the rest of my stock from their clumsy paws. You know how hard it is to make this disgusting wine drinkable"

A loud noise came from the main hall, a combination of cheer and anger, mostly fueled by the twins, their squeaky laughter was a hard thing to miss.

Marble's mask took on a more gloom tone.

"You're dancing the way they want you to. Have some dignity, I chose you because you are more than these fools out there, stop disgusting my day any further, you had your fill already"

Ignus gave the dragoness a predatory smirk.

"I will never get tired of making you miserable"

Marble rolled her eyes.

"So childish" she gazed down at the floor, where among the spilled wine a few feathers were seen "Only towards me however, my fault for making you too comfortable. Among your new toys you can behave like a male, almost the same way when you had the pleasure of meeting me"

The red dragon balked.

The mask took on an attractive shade of pink.

"Who among those you took in sparks your flame the most Ignus?"

"Don't be ridiculous"

"You can't keep secrets from me Ignus. I know you inside out. Hmmm.. you always had a soft spot for feathers..."

"My heart is my soft spot!" he sprang towards her, spreading his mouth and displaying the fangs as if wanting to bite into her throat

Marble looked at him with a calm, charming smile.

"And you know this harpy. I'm the only one in this fucking city that sees the prisoners as more than just meat to be grinded. And unfortunately of all the possible corrupted souls that inhabit this place you must be the one who decides to toy with it instead of ripping it apart like all the rest would do"

"You wound me" she faked a sob "After everything you still see me only as heartless and cruel"

"Also sadistic, you take unimaginable pleasure from my plight"

Marble grinned.

"Guilty"

With a snort he pushed away from the girl, returning back to his work "And stop with this foolish acting finally, we are alone"

"Ignus, Ignus" the earth dragoness shook her head in disappointment "Must I really remind you just how thin these walls are?"

"It does not matter after that little stunt my...our new procurement committed. Having the twins smacked around shoved any idea of spying to the background. No sane dragon will risk his neck in getting between the sisters and their prey. I'm sure that someone already spread the word around"

"Very accurate deduction my dear host" she clapped her paws with a melodic laugh "It's nice to see that my time didn't go to absolute waste"

He gave her a fake smile.

"That means a lot to me and now that I scrubbed your ego how about you return the favor and use your earth magic to wipe the tiles clean from all this wine?"

Marble laughed melodically.

"I think not. I enjoy watching you bending your back before me way too much to do that"

He expected such an answer, it was worth trying though nevertheless. He wasn't mad though, it was his house after all so cleaning it wasn't as condemning as Marble made it to be, besides it was fun to have her act all high and mighty, especially when she didn't realize that not so long ago she swallowed a mug of wine that first was distilled in Iris' mouth.

Ignus shrugged, reaching into one of the drawers and picking a cloth from there, it was not the first time he had to wipe the floor in this place after all.

"Believe it or not, but I also do it for you. You must never forget how it is to get your paws dirty. There is still a long way for us to go"

"How noble of you"

"You did get the dragons out of the dungeons didn't you? You would never do it if I would spoil you. We are a team Ignus, I know how to get information and you know how to work based on it, I'm not even getting mad that you satisfy your own quirks every now and then, your job was to get the purple dragon out as top priority, the black one and the glowing thing was a bonus. Why did you take also the wind menace and the Warden's brat is beyond me, but at least you stashed the second away and spared my vulnerable soul her infuriating presence, wish you would do the same with the chicken, but to each their own I guess"

Marble smiled, pleased with herself.

"See? I care about you, you still do your own thing even though I know about everything"

"I'm a lucky guy. Bar the door before the horde of jealous guys wanting to take my spot will trample us"

The mask turned acidic green.

"Such a comedian"

Ignus chuckled, not because of the dry, sarcastic humor, not because he managed to annoy her, which was always a good thing by the way, but because in her arrogance she was so damn wrong. He was being toyed with, but that doesn't mean he couldn't return the favor, you don't know everything poor Marble. You don't know for instance that the wind dragon is a half breed and that she is my niece. You don't know that Spyro is not the weapon you think he is, something you would know if you paid attention to lore and legends, the tunic he was wearing was not there just for show after all.

"Still, I'm glad you're in a good humor, you are quite a chore when you're grumpy, don't go that way, people might find you annoying. We will cater to that soft spot of yours, with the purple dragon in your paw you have all the opportunity to end this war and prove to everyone that we dragons have no reason to kill each other anymore. But first we must make Athron see and give the thrash below us a sense of justice and what is better than punishing one of the arrogant highborn? The Queen then would have no other choice but to acknowledge your power, after that it is only a short way from your desired peace"

"I'm not going to try and kill anyone"

Marble rolled her eyes.

"Morals are a hindrance. Start with Kindle. The only thing holding him back from spitting on you is the fear that the spit might leave stains on his perfect scales"

"No Marble" Ignus pushed himself up from the floor, he was strong and confident in his protest "He might be a douchebag but I won't be crippling my own race. Don't try to change my mind, I've started this because I believe there is another way"

"I'm sure your toys appreciate it the day when you hand them over to be someone else's playthings, too bad they never get to speak up again, I think I recognize one of your treasures, she makes for a great hat, fits Glacial nicely"

"I can't change the rules in a week and you know it, so spare me the mockery. You know just as well how important it is in Skyward to keep pretense"

Marble shook her head.

"You must be ruthless Ignus, when you will finally learn? Or maybe you are secretly satisfied with being your sister's claw sharpener? Have some fetish for sibling paws perhaps, hmmm?"

"Get out" Ignus turned around with a snarl, pulling another cloth from the drawer "You sicken me"

"This city Ignus, she cuts like a knife, you better start to love the fast pace life or she will break you down" the dragoness gracefully approached the hunkered down drake, tiptoeing around the stains of wine on the floor, she grabbed his paw, licking off the wine from his stained, draconic palm

Ignus wrinkled in disgust, feeling as if his paw would be devoured by acid instead of the alluring caress of a female tongue, he hissed seconds later when he felt his scales cracking, the barbs on Marble's tongue sinking into his flesh like daggers.

She held his paw to the light, where through small holes her tongue made pulsed droplets of crimson.

"You can't be afraid to spill your own blood"