FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 50

"I need a breather Sparx" Spyro collapsed flat on the murky, dark floor, tongue popping from his mouth like drop of blood from a squeezed wound

"Sure dude" the dragonfly pushed with all his might, the hinges of the trapdoor were far too massive for him, Skyward was a city of dragons after all, yet he still managed to close it, his brother helped him by pushing the mechanism through the heaviest part, but it still felt to him as if he would lift a boulder

Sparx massaged his sore arms when the trapdoor slammed shut, his body giving the only light in the cellar, something that he already noticed that might not last long if they won't be careful, there was a crack in the wall, faint and tiny ray of outside illumination was shyly poking through.

This building was damaged, the forsaken explosion touching even its bottom layers, he was no expert, but without moles around he doubted that these dragons had the necessary skills to repair it in adequate time, it would be easier for them just to construct this whole thing from scratch.

And he really wasn't looking forward to roofs falling on their heads.

And this is what will they get if they won't be quiet.

"You're so dumb Iris" Cynder hissed from the darkness, she was leaning against a wall in a sitting position, licking her scratched and cut shoulder

"I didn't ask for your opinion, bitch" Iris tried to growl at the black dragoness, but her depleted, flattened on the ground frame was only capable of a faint rasp

"And I don't care about your wishes. You shoved us into this shit so I will make sure to smear you good with it, whore"

"I will slice out your tongue"

"No problem, I'll drown you in my spit then"

Spyro tried to lift himself up, but the only movement he managed to do after helping his brother drag all of his friends his down into this cellar was to look up at his brother pleadingly

"Sparx"

"No bro" the dragonfly shook his head "I'm not getting involved in this" he clapped his hands quietly "So vent girls to your hearts desires! Just be quiet about it, remember that you need to patch yourself up first and I have enough rocks around here to knock you both out if I have to"

"The hell Spyro?!" Cynder spat the shards of rocks her tongue managed to scoop up "You're still going to fawn over her? Didn't you do enough already? And for what? She shoved it all down the drain during one of her crazy tantrums. I know all about it, your heart and so on, but come on! I swear if I feel or hear another thought or word just how we shouldn't say anything about our poor, little, walking bomb then I'll ask Sparx to pass me the rocks so I could bash my brain in myself"

"Don't waste time" Iris slid a rock across the floor that hit Cynder in the paws

"Fuck off" she kicked the stone back at Iris

The ice dragoness snarled, her claws curling in fury, one paw automatically extending towards a pile of glittering gems nearby.

"Oh no! Off limits!" Sparx dashed, slapping the white paw away, blocking the way to the stockpiled shards of Spirit Gems with his own body

"We need them you moron" Iris' voice was quiet yet her eyes betrayed the feral fury her weakened body was unable to project, he could see himself being torn apart by her sharp fangs reflecting from her piercing orbs

"You're not getting any, I used them only to keep you conscious, we might need them later if someone decides to knock on our door before you get up. Besides" he narrowed his eyes on the feather winged girl "You're the last in line to get any anyway, last time you got some you used all that extra kick to make a girl implode! I'm not priming that box of dynamite again. You sure don't have responsibility for that kind of power"

"Who the fuck do you think you are worm to lecture me? I could squish you with my eyelid"

"Right now? When you can't get to your juice because of me? That makes me your master and there's nothing you can do about it" he poked her in the nose

And everything that Iris could do right now was to flash her fangs at him, something that for someone like him who grew up around dragons was as common as chains are for slaves.

Cynder laughed, it hurt, wounds and her aching bones were still recovering and they really demanded to have some peace, but she couldn't help it. There was nothing better in this shitty situation than seeing Iris having her royal ego humbled. It was a painful sense of satisfaction she greatly appreciated.

"I hate you all" Iris grumbled

Sparx shrugged.

"That you do, but the sooner you realize that you hate us the least from all the rest of the souls out there, the better it will be for you"

"But if our Dumbo doesn't have any brain cells left to realize that remember guys that I volunteer to be the one who shoves her out of the door" Cynder went into another fit of laughter

Iris' claws curled so fiercely that they made grudges in the floor.

"Get grumpy and mad all you want Iris, but they are right" Spyro spoke up and his voice had drawn Iris' attention immediately

For a second there he saw the eyes of the girl who pleaded him to spend the night together, that girl was bleeding, a knife of betrayal sticking out of her back.

He ignored it. Cynder was right, Sparx was right. Gold heart or not, he was too soft, if Iris won't learn her place in this group, if he won't make her yearn for a place in this group, there will be a a time when her tantrums will kill them eventually.

And this is something he won't allow to happen. It was about time to take use of the lessons of leadership Terrador passed onto him.

He even noticed Cynder propping her head in surprise, which would look cute since he always loved seeing her bewildered, but in this particular situation it made him feel like a total douchebag. Even his mate was shocked to see him behaving with some kind of authority.

Wimp.

It was about time to behave like a male and take responsibility for the ones you love.

"What you did was stupid, I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through, seeing your uncle and home city, even if in different state than you were used to must be quite a burden. But you are part of this team, we helped you get here, we are risking our lives because of you, it is your damn duty to actually pay us back, nobody even asks you to respect us for it. But a team works together and if you again will bargain with the lives of my friends I will make you pay for it"

There it was. He said it and despite the fact that he absolutely despised threatening people, flexing with your power always seemed very haughty to him, but he couldn't deny the sinful wave of satisfaction that washed over her, it felt damn good for some reason.

He couldn't tell if it was a good thing or not, yet he didn't dare to look underside of his paw, afraid to see a black scale pulsing there happily.

And despite his weakness he must have sounded confident enough because Iris didn't snap back at him, her hurt eyes that most likely he alone sees looked away in embarrassment, followed by a snort of supposed indifference as she laid her head on top of her paws.

Claws of which were splattered flat this time.

Seeing Cynder rolling her eyes made him realize that she cursed Iris in her thoughts, certain that his words had no affect on her. He however was not so sure of it, Cynder didn't have the personal experience he had with her, she wasn't aware of the fact that Iris idolized dragons like him in her childhood and that part of her is still alive somewhere deep in her soul.

It had to leave a mark.

Idols work that way, he learned it the hard way with Ignitus' passing.

Cynder didn't believe it though, she seemed to be content with his intervention but also seemed very uncomfortable with it, her eyes kept avoiding him, almost as if she blamed herself for forcing him to do something against his will.

Sparx on the other paw wasn't as conflicted, giving him a silent, supporting thumbs up.

"What are you guys crying about, holy shit" Cellsa voiced her disbelief, being glued upside down to the wall with the tip of her tail dangling basically in between her horns

It must be terribly uncomfortable of having your butt hanging above your head, but they all decided to stop questioning Cellsa's decisions when it came to her well-being. She wanted to get back to the same position she was in after the explosion, so be it, maybe it was her special way of maintaining her improbable flexibility.

"This was awesome!" the electric dragoness laughed "For the first time in my life I didn't have to do anything and everything worked excellent!" she punched her dangling tip, the electric tail cracking with faint electricity after the blow "You mopped the floor with those fools! Cloaca even put some literal meaning to it, dudes I knew you were something different, but fucking hell that was something not of this world. So fast, so smooth, no time wasting straight to business, almost the same kick my treats give me! Loads of fun woo-hoo!" she howled in joy

"Shut up!" Sparx hissed at her roughly

"Oh right! My bad!" she giggled "Tell you what, if you want me to be quiet you gotta tell me what kind of magic was that you guys used. Spyro! Iris! Be honest, how come one of you teleported me from the claws of that stinky tin can while the other basically detonated that poor chick, what kind of magic was that?"

"Are you seriously threatening us after everything that just happened?" Cynder snapped in disbelief "Did you forget that your life is on the stake as well? Truth be told if someone hostile finds us, your life will be the least worthy to them"

"I know silly!" Cellsa giggled, her tail flicking up and down while her teeth tried to catch it

Sparx exchanged glances with Spyro and Cynder, twirling a finger near his temple in a clear silent sign what he thinks about the electric dragoness.

Iris simply stuck her claws into her ear holes, a frown of irritation wrinkling her snout.

"But you guys are all so STIFF! Someone's gotta breathe some life in you all! Seriously though, you must tell me what kind of mojo was that! We're a team right? I need to know what you are capable of so we can all work better together and all that yeah? Your words not mine"

Spyro sighed.

"I rescued you with my Time powers, it's hard to explain so I'll put it simply since only purple dragons can manipulate that kind of power. I basically slowed down time to get you out of there"

Her eyes sparkled with interest, in Cellsa's case that saying took a literal meaning since there was truly a pair of sparks flashing for a moment in her pupils.

"You serious? If you can stop time then why save me at all and not just kill all those guys when they can't defend themselves and just be done with it. Would be quicker and not so flashy, boring really" she tapped her chin "You know what? I'm glad you didn't do it"

"I couldn't kill them all even if I wanted to. Every action I make when the time is stopped is very draining on my elemental magic, I need to save it. Besides..." he swallowed uncomfortably, realizing just now after Cellsa mentioned it that he never thought about using his Time powers to actually kill anyone, and now when she brought it up he couldn't help but to feel overwhelmed by it

He could kill with ease, but there was something holding him back and truth be told he was glad for it. Taking someone's life like that would be like an execution that could be done on a whim. A line that crossed would mean that his heart is becoming withered like that of Malefor.

"...besides" he repeated with uncomfortably dry lips "Killing someone who can't defend himself would be wrong"

"What a noble spirit folks!" Cellsa shook her head with a giggle "You don't belong in this world you poor boy"

The words struck Sparx right in the heart, forcing his thoughts into a spin where images of the recent events his brother was the focus point of flashed before his eyes. Oh you clueless girl, if you only knew that with how things were developing those words would fit in every timeline.

"Iris used Fury magic, compressed to her own individual form. Very dangerous and very devastating as you surely know. The way she used it might have mislead you, but it was Fury in the end, minus the sky opening, but if there would be no ceiling above us who knows what might have happened" Spyro continued his explanation

The dangling tail stopped moving, Cellsa froze for a second there until eventually her pupils snapped towards Spyro, a single toe of her hind paw twitching anxiously.

"Fury magic? What is that?"

"You don't know" Cynder mumbled in surprise after hearing the girl's genuine shock, her mind having troubles wrapping itself around such a perspective, something she believed to be another step in the evolution of every dragon, missing such a milestone almost felt like intentional dismemberment.

"Perfect you idiots" Iris growled angrily "Tell the rats where all the cheese is, I'm certain that Skyward can withstand a choking tide of filth. It's not like the city is locked in a constant war after all"

"Your caste suppressed the magical potential of those lower born on purpose didn't it Iris?" Spyro voiced his conclusion, he already knew the answer to that question truth be told, expertly reading on the sarcastic remark

"Most likely. My mother hardly spoke about the times of her youth but after you receive some education even a naïve brat can come to a conclusion that to rule you need to wield power, only then you can sweeten the life of those below you, blind them enough so they'll never realize what put them in that place to begin with"

"You little, sleazy fuckers!" Cellsa yelped, crashing back on her belly

"Quiet!" Sparx hissed at the girl

"You suckers crippled us on purpose so you can smell your own farts on your thrones undisturbed?!" her eyes were burning with anger but luckily she was smart enough to vent her displeasure through clenched teeth "I knew you were dicks but to do this? When Skyward is literally battling for survival? So many of my good friends could live if we knew our true potential! So many good dragons died because of this!"

"You squabble between each other all the time you dumb bitch so don't spit nonsense about friendship to me. I don't have the patience to listen to this shit"

"I almost died because of this. Orbis almost died"

"Rats have limited lifespans. Nobody gives a fuck about you vermin"

Cellsa held her breath, visible murder appeared in her eyes.

"I'm going to slice your neck and piss in your head, properly this time"

The threat made no impact on Iris, she hardly gave the dragoness any attention, the single pupil that kept looking her way seemed to be terribly bored of its job.

"I'm right here"

The indifference was far more provoking to the electric dragoness than any bad word Iris' mouth was capable of forming. Nobody interfered to solve this skirmish, preferring to save their strengths on true enemies but also believing that the two dragoness in their group were clever enough to realize that their magical potential should not be stretched now.

All the signs were pointing exactly to that, that despite the tension in the group they all were aware of their positions.

Cellsa however forgot about it, charging her power to fiercely attack the ice dragoness. Electricity cracked around her body as she jerked forward, but only for a brief second, the bolts short circuited like used fuses, sending a numbing effect along the nerves that immediately tied the limbs of the electric dragoness, making her drop flat on the floor.

The remaining white eye turned away in satisfaction, already familiar with the consequences that stubbornness brings when you are not in shape. In her case at least there was only one soul who saw the humiliation.

"Calm down Cellsa" the remaining three of the group spoke up in unison

"You half-blooded bastard!" the orange dragoness spat in the direction of her feathery enemy

"She's provoking you, just ignore her" Cynder added her insight

"How to I activate this Fury stuff? I need to be mad right? Where's the button that I need to press? I'm pretty pissed off right now and need to vent" the torrent of words that left her mouth was so swift that it would put Volteer to shame

"It's not about anger. Relax Cellsa, you can't use Fury magic right now" Spyro explained calmly "Your energy is drained, you don't know how to tap into that power to begin with and if by accident you would manage to do that, your first attempt wouldn't be as elegant as Iris'. You would bring this whole building on top of our heads, if not the entire cave. Let go, there is nothing you can do about it now"

"I only want to see her explode"

Cynder snickered, if she only knew that she wasn't the only one.

"What Iris did was special, brutal beyond any means, but special. Even I can't compress Fury like that, you would create a small apocalyptic tornado like the rest of us and if left unchecked it is powerful enough to bury the world in ash. We hardly use it ourselves since it's so devastating and don't get me wrong, but if the royals keep that magic away from you they might be actually doing you a favor. I mean basing your power on the potential of apocalyptic arsenal you wield is a reckless thing to do, sure it might give you many years where you dictate the rules and all that, but one day someone will come that'll challenge you despite all that arsenal. You end up using it and then what? There is nothing left to defend and the only thing that kept you safe is gone, you die and the ones that thrived to the potential without that super power will take over"

Spyro shrugged.

"So if you really want to punish them properly, grow strong and big enough so when one day you'll say "screw it" the ripples of your voice will be felt across the world. Apocalyptic, imperialistic powers have a tendency to destroy themselves, if not then in contrary to you they are unable to accept total loss so in the end the fear that kept you down under their claws might be the thing that will tie their souls in the end and allow you to overtake without destruction at all. There are kings in scraplands too, and egos in the end only need an audience, doesn't matter from where it comes from"

"Damn dude, easy there or you're gonna ruin my reputation. I'm the brain you're the brawn, remember?" Sparx chuckled

Spyro blushed, his brother's teasing remark making him realize that he overdid it with this rather philosophical lecture that was more fit for a classroom ran by an elderly teacher than a basement of a ruined building with a dragon like him that many still consider a child.

No matter his own thoughts about the situation his speech had drawn attention of every female in the room. His eyes met Cellsa first, he immediately noticed her growing smile and building up amusement in the pupils which only intensified the flush painting his cheeks.

Right now he felt as if he was about to explode, without the assistance of any kind of Fury magic.

But then his amethyst orbs noticed Cynder and Iris looking his way and while he was aware that Cynder would be furious if he spoke his mind about it, he couldn't help himself but to think that the attention they were giving him were so very alike.

Both were giving him glances of almost offensive, hungry affection which only made his feelings about imploding that more real. Both girls looked like they wanted to eat him alive, a pair of sisters craving the same meal.

He forced his head away from them, preventing them from seeing his growing, dreamy grin that would most likely turn that wishful thinking into a brutal reality if they managed to read his dirty thoughts right now.

That and he didn't want them to see his most likely, completely red snout, his cheeks were so hot that he could feel steam hissing through his ear holes.

"Ha!" Cellsa exclaimed joyfully "Thanks Dad! You shared more growing up lessons with me in these few minutes than my parents did for several years, combined together! And you didn't do it in that grumpy, boring way Orbis usually does either, neat!"

She shook her head in what seemed to be disbelief.

"Where and how did you find this guy Cynder?"

The green eyes remained locked on the purple figure in the distance as if they were hypnotized, the blood that still lazily trickled from the wound on her shoulder no longer bothering her, offering a surprisingly pleasant tickle instead.

"Sometimes I ask myself the same question" there was so much sweetness in her whisper that it could give diabetes to the more vulnerable

Sparx smiled, scratching the back of his neck as he observed the two, he was not the romantic type, but even he had to admit that there was something special when you became aware of the bond shared between the two of his dearest family members. It was simply beautiful to see two souls that were meant for each other to be joined together

"You gotta tell me the answer when you'll find out, I must put my flexibility to good use and tie a guy like that around myself one day, they are a limited supply I suppose. But anyway!" she giggled, shifting the mood and points of focus like used helmets "For all your smarts there is that one tiny thing that you missed, power hungry bastards won't allow you to grow if they notice your potential beforepaw"

Cellsa rolled on her back again, splaying herself out in a completely, relaxed pose.

"We wanted to find Athron right? This Fury stuff saved us a lot of walking time, after this display its only a matter of time before Athron comes to us, we just gotta wait"

The entire group perked up in attention, the romantic atmosphere was shoved out of the window in a blink of an eye.

"So you guys know any fun games we can play in the meantime? I'm slowly starting to crave for my treats again and need the distraction to keep my head busy. I know this one game, it's fun, let me tell-"

"Athron will be coming here?!" both Sparx and Cynder exclaimed in unison

The electric dragoness nodded.

"Yup. Hundred percent, I can bet all my claws and horns if you want, not the hair though, I kinda like it"

"Are you really certain of this?" Iris poked the girl further

"I told you. I'm sure as I can get, especially up here, among the best of the bests" she sighed tiredly "Look, trust me, I know what I'm saying. She even came down to us on several occasions when we created a ruckus big enough to threaten her power. It was not pretty how it ended but we got her attention. I'm confident that almost causing a cave-in will catch her attention too, especially up here, if burying the highborn in the petals they wanted so hard to keep away didn't do the trick already that is"

Iris sprang on all fours, her sudden move speeding up the heartbeats of both Spyro and Cynder.

"And you didn't find it convenient to tell us about it earlier you STUPID BITCH?!" she sprang towards the electric dragoness, her move making Spyro and Cynder jerk in her direction despite the weariness, luckily for everyone Iris merely towered above the lying dragoness

Huffing at her heavily, faint streams of magical chill wafting from the nostrils.

Sparx didn't even dare to remind them of being silent.

"What the hell is your problem?" Cellsa stared back at her confidently

"If we knew that the only thing that it takes to get my mother's attention is to slaughter enough of you worms we wouldn't have to drag our asses up here!"

"It's not like you had a choice you stupid slut, did you already forget that you were barely alive? Besides, the fuck you want anyway? You wanted to meet up with your family, you even joined up with your uncle for fuck's sake, what can be better than that?"

"EVERYTHING!" Iris roared at the dragoness, a vein popping in her eye, turning it bloody red

The amount of pain in that scream silenced everyone in the room.

Iris panted, every part of her being ready to fight further, yet eventually the silence got even to her and she realized that it was her causing it. The stillness of the moment choked the emotion out of her, her snout smoothing itself out, devoid of any emotion like a face of a sculpted statue.

She sucked her breath in and without any further words dropped flat on the floor once more, the drop was so heavy that one might think that she carried the entire weight of the world on her shoulders.

Cellsa remained lying on the ground with a wide eye stare.

"Damn, my skull is ringing" she punched herself in the head "Seek help Cloaca, there's something really wrong with you. I personally think that you're crazy"

"You would be too" the ice dragoness whispered, curling into a ball, embracing herself with her own tail, snatching it with her claws to keep it as tight as possible.

This pose paired with the feathery wings lying on top made her look like a small cloud.

It left the remaining three speechless, while Spyro and Sparx seemed to be really lost and not knowing how to act, the radiating pain struck Cynder the most that she even felt stupid for calling Iris an idiot. She instinctively started to scratch around her heart, struck by a bolt of cold so strong that her teeth started to rattle.

A wail so traumatic that she was certain she would scream in the same way if Spyro would turn away from her.

It was a shout of trauma, she had no doubts about it. The dread coming with that sensation couldn't be taken for anything else, it was so powerful that it tied your very soul in a knot.

And she pitied Iris with all of her heart for having that trauma connect with her family.

She finally understood why she so desperately tries to cling to the memory of her mother. Experience taught her that to get yourself afloat in that sea of depression you need an anchor that will keep you on the shore.

She had Spyro, Iris had her mother. She could no longer blame her for her aggression and recklessness, she was certain she would do the same just to be able to hold Spyro close.

Not to mention she had never reached the level Iris did, in her worst moments she still had enough strength to keep going, even though many times she wanted to crawl into a bush and die, she actually never did it.

Something that couldn't be said about Iris.

Naturally crimes and bad deeds cannot be forgiven just because you couldn't handle the pressure, nevertheless after this short moment she will look at Iris differently, especially when only one sentence kept shoving itself towards her mouth.

I'm so very sorry.

The silence was more toxic than any poison they had the unlucky chance to breathe, it was so uncomfortable that Sparx didn't know what to do with his hands, palm kept rubbing against the palm as if trying to create some heat by friction.

"Soooo...." He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling goofily "...what's that game you wanted to play?"

Spyro and Cynder glared at the dragonfly indignantly.

"Well-"

"Turn every stone around!"

A deep, accented with some hard to describe sensuality voice rumbled loudly above them.

Iris immediately sprang on all fours, her head kicking up so fiercely that several snaps could be heard from her neck.

"Mother" she breathed heavily, her whimper was so quiet and pitiful that many would take it for the final gasp of someone on their death bed.

Her whole body quivered wildly making the feathers on her wings wave to the rhythm of their own created gust of air.

"Find them! And get that veil patched this instant!"

Another rough order, sharp and commanding, merciless. The rest of the group shivered as well, but they were far from being as excited as Iris was.

"We might need those gems Sparx" Spyro whispered cautiously

Iris snarled viciously, taking a defensive posture, she didn't have the strength to stand in between the gems and the group, but she gave enough body signals to show that taking them was out of the equation.

"Get a hold of yourself there princess" Sparx spread his arms to the sides, giving as much cover to the crystals behind as his small body could offer

"We need those crystals to defend ourselves" Spyro explained calmly

"I won't let you hurt my mother, I will fight even you" she glared back at the purple drake

Cellsa opened her mouth, but the voice that wanted to rise from there was immediately silenced by a black tail landing in between the lips. Cynder shook her head when the dragoness threw her a surprised glance.

Neither hers or Cellsa's input will help here, it was a very sensitive deadlock that only those who experienced something similar could understand. You don't think clearly and see enemies everywhere when the chance to find relief is so close. Something that most likely is far more worse for Iris who seemed to have many, many more years of abuse under her wings. The last thing you want to hear in such situations are the voices of folks you hate the most.

"Iris, listen, we are not here to hurt your mom, we need those crystals to keep her from hurting us" Spyro explained as calmly as he could

"Don't be stupid, mother won't touch you, I'll tell her about everything you did"

"Iris, this version of your mother is younger than the one you are used to. She might behave differently than you remember, especially to you with those feather wings of yours" Sparx added his own insight to the mix "These are not the same times, just look how young your uncle is"

The hopeful glee in the white eyes faded slightly after she blinked, the words must have struck something sensitive since the ice dragoness immediately glanced at her feathery wings, something she was so proud of now disgusted her beyond means.

"She will easily mistake you for a wind dragoness, this younger version of your mother is not used to dragons like you"

"It can be corrected" Iris bit into her wing fiercely, tearing off a hefty tuft of feathers among sprinkles of gushing blood from the wound

Cellsa whimpered into the black tail, sinking her teeth into it that only made Cynder deepen the frown that wrinkled her snout after that masochistic show. Pain is one thing, but purposely hurting yourself is a greatly troubling even for someone like her who is no stranger to violence.

Especially in such a rough manner Iris did it.

"Stop!" both Sparx and Spyro exclaimed in unison "Do you really want to show yourself to your mother crippled?" the purple dragon asked "What will she think of you?"

There was a moment of silence as Iris processed the words, whatever was going on in her head right now was really susceptible to suggestion since she immediately allowed the bloody feathers to fall numbly onto the ground.

"She won't recognize me" several more pieces of ruined feathers escaped the bloody maw after the devastated mumble

"Your uncle felt something, your mother will too, but first you need to buy yourself enough time to give her the chance to think about it. If we all will be weak we might not give her the opportunity"

Iris stood paralyzed, each limb locked in place, the only thing that moved were her pupils that kept springing in the eyeballs from side to side. Sparx gave his brother a thumb's up when he noticed that reaction, knowing already that whatever self-destruction idea Iris came up with was luckily discarded.

But there will be a day when Spyro won't be here and all the fears he had about not seeing Iris backstabbing them might come to fruition.

With one final blink the confusion was gone from the white eyes, Iris kicked her head high, figure giving off royal, full of authority vibes.

"Very well, you may use the gems"

Cellsa grumbled aggressively, giving the tail in her mouth a fierce bite which made Cynder yelp and lose focus, which opened a window of opportunity big enough for the electric dragoness to slap it away.

"You never told me that Athron won't recognize you!" Cellsa blurted out alarmed

"Hello?" Sparx spread his arms in defeat "We told you we came from the future"

"Yeah! But I never thought it was that far away!"

"Cut the doses on the drugs there lady since you have troubles connecting obvious dots" the dragonfly pointed at the feathered dragoness "You see her? She's about your age right? How on the Ancestors could you think that Athron would know who she is when she has no kids at this time? Or maybe you know something that Ignus doesn't?"

"I didn't think about it alright smart-ass?!" she blurted at the dragonfly "If you won't stop this unstable chick from doing something totally stupid that will kill us all then Athron will rectify that mistake if she fucking finds us! I'm worthless to her, so is her supposed daughter since everybody takes her for a damn wind dragon anyway! We all are dead!"

"Two of the soldiers that attacked us lived, they surely relied everything they experienced to their leader" Cynder added, looking up at the ceiling where the sounds of more and more thudding paws grew systematically louder "A half-blood like Iris is most likely far more valuable to them than any of us since it puts a heavy doubt on the integrity of this society, mingling with an enemy during a long war is the worst thing that can happen to loyalists. That alone should buy us some moments of hesitation we might take advantage of"

"Exactly!" Sparx nodded, proud of his sister's bright mind, no wonder they found common ground, big brains always stick together "All is cool, it might look crappy but we've been through much worse"

"Shit not cool! Out of all of us I'm the one she knows! I don't want to die in some shitty hole, I haven't seen the Upper City properly yet!" Cellsa protested fiercely, her voice ringing with pinned down desperation

"We will protect you" Spyro assured the dragoness

"You can barely stand"

"I'll be much better when I'll absorb the gems, as a purple dragon I recover much faster than each one of you"

"There is no one here mistress" a shout, a very clear one echoed from above that was quickly muffled by a ferocious rumble of a pile of kicked stones

"Every ruin I told you! I haven't seen you digging through this one yet!" once again the commanding purr could be heard, followed by a noise of stones rolling across the floor above them

The dragons did not waste time and recharged their elemental energies with the gems to the best of their ability.

The trapdoor they used to get here opened up and an armored head stuck itself into the hole, a pair of bright, green eyes grew wide and scared, accepting their fate that life will soon fade from them.

But the group that just caused a small apocalypse didn't seem to be hostile.

"We were only defending ourselves" Spyro said

"They're here!" the head screeched jerking back so hard that at first it got lodged against a frame, only after a second push it managed to free itself, the helm clanked down onto the floor

"Inside! Inside!" chaotic noise of thudding paws could be heard from above as if the loud whimpering would be dictating the rhythm

"We were defending ourselves!" Spyro roared at the top of his lungs

"You can't do this sister, not in front of the eyes of the people!" a voice came from above, it was hard to discern the tone among all that noise, but since it referred most likely to Athron as a sibling they could guess that it was Ignus

Vicious magic intertwined itself with the air, the temperature immediately dropping to bone freezing levels, seconds later a characteristic, cracking sound of forming ice could be heard, the floor above them turning to solid ice.

"Cover your heads!" Spyro blurted out while Cynder jumped up, snatching Sparx in her protective grasp

The ceiling exploded, raining icy shards on them as they covered themselves under their wings. All of them, driven in majority by their survival instinct than true, battlefield experience opened up their wings with fierce snarls as they felt the avalanche of shards slowly coming to an end.

They adopted their defensive postures, coming snout to snout with a mixture of peacekeepers and guards, there was quite a handful of them, but while they seemed formidable nothing drew attention more than the dragoness in glistening armor that stood in front of that group.

Despite their fervent creed of survival they all felt their muscles relaxing under the intimidating force of that presence, Iris being the one that practically dropped her survival intentions completely.

In front of them stood Athron, the mother they went out to find, the feared leader of Skyward

And she wasn't pleased to see them.