FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Kind of a short chapter again...oh well. Thanks to SGDragon for the tip on the game (which I wanna play SO badly right now but am patiently waiting for a Wii), I think I can work that advice into what I have so far.

If you're under 18, get outta here. Period. I'm tired of writing these messages to you who aren't old enough to be here. *charges ice-breath*

Chapter 14 -- The Foretold Light?

Evening came, and with its usual color-changing lighting, it also brought another change. Spyro and Cynder had never been this far out west, and as they looked to the horizon the treeline began to quiver and slowly break up, exposing a flat, dry land of dirt and a few small plants.

"Ignitus said that we were gonna end up in a tropical jungle or something," Spyro said. "Did we go in the wrong direction somewhere?"

"Guess we won't know until we can't find the portal," Solar said. "Though my light powers are helping me sense the darkness of the crystals...and we're headed straight for one of them."

"Solar," Spyro started, turning his head to the white dragon, "Will we be able to use light?"

"I have a very strong feeling that yes, both of you can," he replied, "problem is, though, I have no clue how you two would learn it..." He fell silent for a while and they both tried to think of how to learn light. He surprised them when he called them down to the ground.

"I thought we wanted to get there as fast as possible?" Cynder asked, looking at Spyro as they swooped down to follow their icy friend. Spyro was just as confused as she was, and they both landed and jogged to Solar and sat down in front of him.

"This may be awkward but I have a feeling this will work," Solar said. He was sitting between them and the setting sun, and he moved so they could see it. "When you look at the sun, do you feel something inside you? Some new power or ability?"

They stared at the setting red sun, and they were lucky--there was a haze over it, scattering the light enough that they could look directly at it. They sat there for a few minutes.

"Uuuuuhhhh..." Cynder said, squinting as she felt inside herself for something. "No, I don't feel anything." Spyro was silent.

"Reach deeper, know yourself," Solar said, a bit desperate. The sun wasn't waiting for them and he wanted to see if this worked. Spyro opened his mouth but it was a minute before he said anything.

"It feels like...kinda like my elemental powers did before I discovered their use...like something hidden and waiting for its time to come."

"Good!"

Cynder grunted and gasped; she'd been holding her breath, apparently trying too hard. But she did feel something.

"I feel something there," she said, a bit confused. "It...I dunno...it feels like the sun's warmth..."

"That's what I'm feeling," Spyro said, grinning at her, and she smiled back.

"This is good!" Solar said, excited that his idea was succeeding. "The next step should be to harness that power--bring it up to the surface."

He watched as they both focused on this new ability, and smiled as Spyro began to glow faintly. The evening light made it easier to see. Cynder grunted and gasped again; she'd held her breath again as she strained herself, unsure of what to do.

"I don't get it! What am I trying to do?" She was a bit angry and jealous that Spyro knew and she didn't--she hated feeling like the taglong in the elements.

Sypro turned to her and took her chin in his paw, gently turning her head to him.

"Please, Cynder...don't get so upset."

"But how...what am I looking for?"

Spyro couldn't put it into words, and she searched his kind face for an answer. She took one look into those amethyst gateways to his soul and somehow understood completely, as if he was communicating to her soul with his. He smiled at her when he saw a gleam of understanding in her eyes, and and he sat back as she closed her eyes, reaching deep as she searched for that feeling. She opened her eyes and looked at the sun's final rays...

"Very good!" Solar said as Cynder began to faintly glow. She opened her mouth and breathed like she did with fire, and a small beam of light shot forth from her mouth. It wasn't very bright, but it was something. Spyro did likewise, but because he had more experience with elements his beam of light was brighter and more powerful; though he did feel a little dizzy afterwards. Cynder tried again, and around 6 to 7 beams of light flew from her mouth in random directions all at once. Solar was excited; it was actually working!

"How are you doing that?" Spyro asked Cynder, and tried it himself. He only got that powerful, straight-ahead blast again. She looked at him and tried to emulate his breath, but again she got smaller beams of light that flew off in different directions. She gasped with the new effort and looked at Spyro a bit jealously.

"How do you do that?" she asked him.

"I think," Solar said, coming up to them, "I think your breath attacks won't be the same. Cynder has more fire-power than you do with fire, doesn't she?" he asked Spyro, and the purple dragon nodded. "It only makes sense that your attacks will be different." He looked at Cynder and she looked back with exhausted eyes as her expendature of elemental energy caught up with her. "I'd ask you to show me that again, but you need rest. Light is a very draining power."

Spyro collected as much dry material as he could, but soon gave up--it was all grasses and thin plants that would burn away in no time. With a disappointed groan he wandered back to Cynder, who was lying on the ground waiting for him. She smiled sadly when she saw him return a bit downcast.

"It's okay, Spyro," she said as he sat down next to her. "We have each other to keep warm." She nestled against him and he sighed happily and rested his head aginst hers, draping his wing over her black body. He looked up to see Solar sitting at a distance, staring at the moon. Spyro felt so sorry for him, but there was nothing they could do right now...Solar sighed, a tear falling from his eye.

"Oh Flare...I should've tried harder..." he said. "I miss you so much..." He lay down on the ground and curled up. This only strengthened Spyro's determination to help find Flare, and he looked down at Cynder as she fell asleep, safe and warm next to him.

* * * *

The sun rose to find them already on their way west. There wasn't much food here, but their determination kept them going. The air was getting heavier and colder, and they felt a controlling, oppressive force all around. They were silent, giving their all to flying as fast as they could. By nightfall they were dead-tired but they didn't want to stop to rest. Cynder's wing cramped again and she screamed in pain as she fell, her muscles pulling tightly. Spyro caught her and set her on the ground, and immediately began massaging her wings, toning down his firebreath to a mere heat wave to warm her muscles as he breathed gently on her back. She closed her eyes, absorbing every bit of this moment as her lover tended to her. Solar, still able to fly, circled above them. He kept sensing something watching their every move, and it definitely wasn't the air's repressive force.

When Spyro was sure she was good to go he backed away a bit, and she shuddered and shook herself, giving him a playful glare.

"What, you want more?" he asked.

"Well..." She sat back and thought. "Nah, not right now." He guessed what was on her mind as she glanced up at Solar, and then back at Spyro with that familiar playful look in her eyes. They both felt warmth in their tail-bases but restrained themselves. They knew that out here they couldn't afford to get caught like that by a potential surprise attack.

Solar landed nearby, a cautious gleam in his eye. He motioned for them to be silent, and he slunk away, low to the ground, looking like a white snake. They watched him come to a stop and lunge at something, quickly wrestling with it before throwing it high up into the air, shooting up, and sending it flying towards the ground with a powerful elbow jab, where it disappeared on impact with the ground. He stalked back to the two young dragons, shaking his head.

"Some stupid mushroom thing," he said.

"I haven't seen one of those in a while," Spyro said.

"Well, they're in hiding. I saw a few in the woods around the temple, but never long enough to get a good look. These shadows running around have all your usual enemies fleeing."

For about an hour or so, Solar gauged their lightbreath attacks, and helped Cynder learn how to control the directions of the multiple beams she generated. She found it easier on her energy to use small, rapid blasts instead of one long draw, but Spyro found the opposite easier, maintaining a strong beam of light for quite a while without feeling much energy loss compared to Cynder's method. Their attacks were still weak though--Solar had quickly created targets of dry material, and the most they could do was cause a few thin wisps of smoke in the moonlight. The white dragon finally called it quits, impressed with their quick learning, and he took off to scout around for more potential enemies.

Solar came across a small dead tree as he secured the area, and quickly cut it up and brought it back to Spyro and Cynder. They were just starting to get comfortable against each other when Cynder heard a thud behind her. She looked up sharply and saw Solar placing the other log segments not too far away. Spyro lifted his head up off Cynder's side and lit the log piece Solar had set down, and the warmth flowed over them as the log flared up. Cynder snuggled in closer to her purple dragon and he put his arm over her and pulled her right up against him. She grinned sleepily and yawned, closing her eyes as his paw graced her cheek gently.

"So, we can both breathe light," Cynder said sleepily.

"I'm so happy I'm not the only one who learns new elements...so glad that the other one happens to be my mate," Spyro replied, and she twisted her head around with a giggle and kissed him quickly. "We'll just have to get stronger with it and then...Dark Master, watch out," he said, and she smiled at him, staring into his purple eyes as they pressed their foreheads together. She twisted back around with a yawn and closed her eyes, falling asleep as he pulled his arm back and began rubbing her wing-bases again. She stretched and arched her back into his paw in her sleep with a content moan, and he smiled sleepily to himself before he too let his mind and body rest.

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Well, Chapter 14 down, now just to edit and post the other 8 or 9 I have left so far.

Don't forget; I like constructive criticism! Thanks for all the support thus far!