TLoS: Challenge of Hearts (Chapter 21)
Chapter 21:** Confirmation**
"I don't know what to do with you two. There is so much that I can't find out, but I have to because that's what I have to do!" Cyril was pacing back and forth before a seated Flame and Ember. "It has only been two days since the... 'Incident'... And you have had no signs of having hatchlings, right?" Ember shook her head, nothing for her had been out of the ordinary over the past few days. "That's good, I suppose. But it can take anywhere up to a week for any signs to emerge."
"Why does it matter if I am to have hatchlings? They would be mine and I would care for them like I wanted when I was that young. Flame will always be here and they wouldn't have to leave the temple for any reason until I think they would be ready." Ember thought that she held a valid point.
"Yes, you could look after them, but in the process your hatchlings would be surrounded by every single dragon living here, smothered within an inch of their lives."
"They wouldn't leave my room fo-"
"And then you would have Volteer poking in every few minutes to make sure that everything was fine."
"He would leave me alone after a few-"
"And what about Flame? If you do lock yourself into your room he would be carting food and other supplies to your room and back again." Ember lowered her head, understanding that not everything would be as simple as she thought. "I'm not trying to put you off having hatchlings Ember," Ember muttered under her breath a few incoherent words. "But we're just not ready for them."
"We? Who's we?" Flame questioned.
"All of us. Whether it be you, Ember, myself, the other guardians, or everyone else living here. If hatchlings were introduced here and now then this whole place would fall apart. Because the moment one comes in, another two get created, because everyone thinks like Ember did a few moments ago." Cyril sighed heavily and turned away. "There are some tests I could do to check if Ember is gravid, and it would put us all at ease. But the only one who knows how to do it properly is Volteer."
"Then it won't be done. It's not like I won't feel something inside me." Ember stood up, Flame immediately following suit.
"But by then it would be too late to-"
"You didn't hear me. If I am to have hatchlings in the near future, then I will. If I'm not, then it doesn't affect me. Either way, you are doing nothing to me, and that, is final."
Ember turned around and headed back out the door. Flame tailing right behind her. Cyril stood still, stunned by the young female's inability to listen to reason. The ice guardian shook his head and turned away. There was nothing he could do about it. "I guess I should start preparing then." He muttered to himself. "Why doesn't anyone listen to me? Soon enough we'll be having hatchlings running around this temple and all kinds of other problems." Cyril headed out his door and down the corridor, in the opposite direction to where Flame and Ember had left. "I certainly hope that wasn't the first sign..."
* * *
"Ouch... What was that for?" Spyro had regained his ability to think freely after Cynder had whacked him on the back of his head with her tail-blade. The purple dragon looked towards Cynder then down the hall where a non-descript red mass lay still. Cynder had sustained a few cuts along her forelegs and a fairly deep gash in her left shoulder. "What happened? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine Spyro," Cynder then glanced back and admired her handy-work. "But I can't say the same for them."
"Y- you mean there are more?"
"Were... They won't be bothering us for a while." Cynder took a step forward to beside Spyro. "I have no doubt that they will try again though. She continued forward alone, as Spyro remained looking back at the bloodied body down the corridor. "Are you coming Spyro?"
He turned around and walked to Cynder's side. "What did you do to them?"
"I taught them that they can't take shortcuts to finding a mate." Cynder had a strong limp on her left foreleg. "But I doubt they'll remember that lesson."
"Cynder, you're hurt. Here, let me help you..."
"Help me how Spyro? It is because of you that this happened in the first place! All because you and following the guardian's stupid rules." The black dragoness stepped forward, turning to face Spyro. "I don't mind some things that have been said, but you're just following Cyril's rule blindly and dragging me along with you. Spyro, you're all I have. And even today I was close to losing you. There was nothing you could do about it then, but there is something we can do to stop it from happening again." Cynder took a step forward, closing the distance between her and Spyro.
"Cynder, we can't... Where would we go? What would happen to us if we were caught? What if you end up-"
"I don't care Spyro. All I want is you, and they will just keep coming back again and again until they have you."
"I won't let them get to me-"
"How Spyro? By having a dream about fighting them off?" Cynder turned away once more. "I love you Spyro. And I couldn't live knowing that you were taken by someone like that."
"Cynder, I-"
Cynder placed a paw on his maw, silencing the purple dragon. "Don't say it Spyro. If you love me, you'll save yourself." The black dragoness turned around and headed down the corridor, leaving Spyro to his thoughts. She knew he didn't want to have to go to such extreme measures, but there was no other option. The only way Cynder knew that he would remain hers, was if he mated her. And the others would stop at nothing to make Spyro theirs.
Spyro stood still as Cynder limped down the corridor and around the corner heading towards her room. Once again, he found himself conflicted. There was the request of his seemingly definite mate-to-be or, the rules and guidelines set by those who protected and trained him during the war against Malefor. Spyro knew that it was an argument with only one answer. He only wished that he could tell his mind that.
* * *
There were three taps against the door. Oh ancestors she wished who it was. Cynder remained silent, laying on her bed in the shadow of the afternoon, staring out her window into the vast forest that sprawled out surrounding the dragon temple. There were another three knocks at the door, but again, Cynder remained ignorant to the noise, waiting to hear who it was, rather than opening the door to someone she doesn't want to talk to. There was a long silence after the second set of knocks, but eventually, nothing. She naturally assumed that it wasn't anyone important, otherwise they would've spoken up and asked if she was there. Not like anyone other than Spyro or the guardians came to her room. Which meant that if no voice was heard, it wasn't Spyro at the door. Cynder took a deep breath and sighed, finding it painful to inhale completely due to her shoulder wound.
She idly licked at it as her deep breath re-opened the wound causing it to seep blood. Cynder closed her eyes at the sting, the wind picked up slightly, blowing gently against her other shoulder.
"Here." A voice spoke behind her. Immediately turning around Cynder saw Spyro hanging off her window-sill holding a life gem out to her.
"Where'd you get that? I thought they were all found and taken during the war."
"I was given more than you could believe. During the sparring matches of training even if I got the slightest cut everyone would offer me a gem, so, I held on to a few, I figured they would come in use eventually." Cynder turned away and continued to clean her wound. "Cynder, don't be like this."
"Be like what?"
"Cynder, what's wrong?"
"You want to know what's wrong?" Cynder pushed herself to her feet and stepped towards the window where Spyro was still hanging. "What's wrong, is that I am losing the one I love because he insists on following the rules. There is no point to the rules anymore. There is nothing that we need to be protected from anymore. No more running away, no more fighting. The world is finally at peace, and yet you are so insistent on following rules that are trying to keep us safe from nothing."
"They don't mean nothing Cynder. Do you think we're ready to have a hatchling? No! I'm not ready, you're not ready. I want to have a life, I want to see the world when it's not in war or recovering from a battle. The reason Cyril made these rules are so we can have a life beyond just looking after hatchlings."
Cynder turned away and walked back to her bed and lay down. "I already have seen the world Spyro. Yes, I saw it during the time of war and destruction, but I was the one who made the land how it is today. That's why I don't want to go out and see it the world Spyro. Right now, you are all I have left in this world that is good. Because if we were to go out and see the world, I would see the pain I caused." Spyro stayed his tongue for the moment. Contemplating how to continue the conversation, inevitably coming up with nothing. "You see? There is nothing else I want to see in this world. In a few years, when the land is restored and the rubble removed, yes. But this soon, I don't want to relive what I will never forget."
"I understand Cynder. I will stay, for you." Spyro stepped inside the black dragoness' room. "Here, please use this. I can't bear to see you like that." He held out the life gem once more.
Cynder reached forward with her uninjured arm. Spyro moved closer and handed the gem to her. There was a bash at the door not a moment later. "Cynder, are you in there?" It was Cyril.
"Go, run." Cynder whispered to Spyro, motioning to the window, placing the gem on her bed, immediately covering it with her sheets. "Just a minute!" She called back to the ice guardian at the door.
"No. You're right, the rules are stupid. I am not leaving your side again." And that was one of the many reasons she loved him.
"Is everything okay in there Cynder? I noticed the trail of blood to your room,-" Cynder opened the door, revealing herself to the ice guardian, the gash on her shoulder clearly visible alongside the several other cuts along her form. "Why are you injured like that?" Cyril's shocked expression forcing itself out.
"There was an incident along the west side classrooms. I'm fine, really."
"Cynder, I need you to tell me exactly what happened."
"It could be too late for them if you stay."
Cyril glanced down the corridor, contemplating what Cynder said. "Which floor?"
"Fourth"
"Alright, I'll go check on them first, but when I get back I want to know exactly what happened."
"Cyril. Take some life gems, they'll need them." He gave a swift nod before swiftly making his way down the corridor heading towards where Cynder said the incident had taken place.
"Why did you do that?" Spyro questioned Cynder, surprised that Cyril hadn't spotted him standing at the side of Cynder's bed.
"I want them to see what they can't have. And if they're dead, all of this was for nothing."
"So that's all it was for, revenge?"
"Spyro, they were going to force themselves onto you, and you were going to do nothing to fight against them." Cynder lay back down on her bed. "If you knew how I felt in that moment, you would want them to feel the same way. To feel that their world was leaving, that the only reason you had fought to fit in decided that he didn't want you anymore. Spyro, it's because of you that I'm still here. And it's because of you that I'm even alive. I owe you my life, and yet you think nothing of it."
"Don't talk like that. I-"
"See? That's what I mean. You act like it's nothing, but. It's not! And I don't think you understand this. You are my life Spyro, the reason I'm here, the reason I'm staying, the answer to how I got here. It was all you. And without you, I'm just the 'terror of the skies'." Cynder wiped a tear from her eyes as she uncovered the life gem Spyro had brought to her moments ago. "And you still keep giving."
"It's because you keep thinking that you're not worth it Cynder. But you are, I would fight Malefor again if I had to, just to keep you here. The reason I keep giving to you is because I'm afraid you will go." Spyro lifted Cynder's head with one of his arms. "I don't want to lose you, the same way that you don't want to lose me. Which is why I've decided."
"Decided what?"
"Use that life gem, and follow me." Spyro walked towards the window. "You'll understand when we get there."