FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 16

The Manweersmalls are born diggers, instead of getting a simple toy as a kid they received a pickaxe, so if that young and fresh digger still wanted a toy he had to earn it. Since Manweersmalls have no interest in gold the only way such a young miner could get a toy was to recover a metal from a mine. More valuable metal meant a better toy, such metals can only be found in the deeper parts of the mines and since kids like to show off there were plenty of young miners willing to go deeper and deeper to find the perfect metal.

Yet even the bravest of souls had an embedded border in their heads which they wouldn't cross for any treasure in the world, it was way too dangerous for youngsters like them to ignore that line. However not every youthful being had the comfort of knowing where such a line is or it they have crossed it already.

Like the four friends who have entered the mine recently, they didn't even have the opportunity to consider where such a border is. If they would rely on their imagination to tell them how exactly the mentioned border looks like, most likely every single one of them would say that it creates a mental barrier where one could feel only threatened by the unknown, or more literally- where there is only overwhelming darkness. The group of friends would probably figure that out, if they wouldn't be preoccupied with more pressing matters of course.

The only noise that vibrated throughout the mine was that of crumbling walls, deafening rumbles filled the entire cavern as huge and small rocks began to fall down into what seemed to be an empty dark chasm. If not for that terrible noise one could also pick up the terrified screams of three dragons who were the unfortunate victims of this resulting mess.

The sudden cessation of solid footing caught Spyro by surprise which he voiced with a loud scream that was instantly deafened by the rumbling noise. Momentarily everything went dark, at the beginning of his involuntary fast descent he could only feel some of the rough rocks bouncing off his purple scales. His sight was limited to the light emitted from the burning candle on his iron hat, but even the brief glimpses of reality before a rock after rock struck his head was enough to fill heart with worry.

Not far away from him Cynder was fighting with the same horrible situation he was, just past her he could spot the reddish illumination of Flare's body parts. He wanted to do something, somehow help them but he was unable to, the falling rocks effectively blocked every attempt of channeling an elemental power. It was a hard realization to swallow but it looked like they were on their own.

A somewhat curious insight occurred during their fall which in every other situation Spyro would probably make a mental note about it. The three of them were airborne creatures and as airborne beings their first survival notion when fighting against unwanted and fast descent was to spread their wings. In any other circumstances Spyro would find this situation peculiar and somewhat ironic, for all the bragging done by some of his more arrogant kind about the extraordinary differences which presumably made one special. All the arrogant dragons failed to notice that deep down they are all equal.

That interesting observation was pushed aside and concentration shifted back to reality when Spyro unfolded his wings, or at least when he tried to. The rain of rocks effectively blocked his flying potential, every time he opened his wings rocks started hitting his membranes, it was just impossible to withstand the jolting pain, impulsively every muscle and bone in his body forced him to hide his wings. However he didn't listen to his body, it was painful but it was the only way to slow down a little, the dragon kept folding and unfolding his wings, it didn't help much but it was always something.

As he hissed in pain while in the air Spyro could see his two other draconic friends doing exactly the same thing, he saw as rocks bounced of their scales scarring their bodies. That sight was enough to awaken the pain of his own wounds, he probably didn't look much better himself.

Spyro had no idea just for how they were falling, for him it felt like forever and that terrified him. He knew that his profession isn't exactly the safest one, an unwanted chance to lose his life waited on every turn from the very beginning of his existence, one could probably say that he was accustomed with life threatening situations like a normal person is accustomed with breathing. He wasn't.

He was terrified in fact, he is most likely going to die, buried deep down under tons of rocks within what seemed like an unending chasm. Spyro's concentration was torn in half, one part tightly gripped the probability of survival, fueling his aching body with new energy. The second one succumbed to powerlessness, this part of his kept thinking about things he will lose with the end of his young life. Everything he loves will be gone, his home in the Swamps...jokes...laughter...his parents...Sparx...and...

He never got to finish the thought since a grunt of pain was forced out of his throat. Spyro collided with some sort of a steep wall, the pain in his every bone intensified when he began to quickly roll down from it. In this swirling world he only recognized the tip of his own tail as it kept spinning by his eyes. He was shot from the ledge when the steep ground suddenly ended, the only thing he saw in front of him was a big solid wall.

Spyro managed to scream only for a moment before he collided with the rough wall, he impulsively extended his paws to cushion the impact but unfortunately the force of the collision still kicked the breath out of him and sent agonizing pulses throughout his entire draconic body. When he jerked his head back and opened his blurry eyes he noticed a stain of blood in the spot where his mouth was. Spyro felt like he was being pulled backwards, his body was torn from the wall just like an used sticky tape. He fell down with all of his legs extended upwards.

Another grunt of pain, another aching shock when he bounced off some other hard rough surface with his back. The impact turned him around, before he began to fall down Spyro spotted through blurry eyes a mix of red and white light below. There was a deep grunt and a squeal when he made contact with the surprisingly scaly and pleasantly soft ground. With a familiar female groan the ground started shifting below him.

" Get off me you ugly bug" a muffled female voice reached him.

Suddenly the soft ground below started to rise, it lifted him up and just when he was high enough the ground jerked sharply. Spyro's stifled yelp of surprise was quenched by his own grunt of pain when he landed forcefully on his back, this time however on the rough stony ground.

When he heard a surprised squeak he opened his eyes just to see five silver-white sharp tips coming at him. He quickly jerked his head to the side, his grunt mixed itself with a more softer one the moment more additional weight was added onto his chest. Spyro relaxed when the sharp tips that missed him turned out to be the ends of five from six familiar silver-white horns.

Cynder's battered and bruised body was sprawled on top of him, she was laying on her back with her tail reaching almost to the middle of his own and her head hanging just next to his right cheek with one of her smaller horns nipping at his scales and a nearly closed tired eye directed at him. Spyro felt as her body was sliding down, reacting by instinct to prevent any more harm from befalling on her he wrapped his forelegs around her, gripping her tightly.

Cynder jerked sharply as if trying to escape from danger, her only visible eye snapped wide open instantly revealing a huge shocked green orb aimed at him. It only took a while for her to relax, in seconds she realized that danger was gone and she was in safe paws, literally. She offered him a bloody, aching and apologetic smile

" Sorry for calling you a bug" she breathed heavily and looked him over with her one eye " I'm not taking ugly back, you look like hell"

Spyro laughed inwardly, after hearing her snide remark, he couldn't come up with a clever response at the moment as he was completely preoccupied by the feeling under his crossed paws. He could feel bloody cuts on her belly but luckily it wasn't anything serious, from here he could tell that the left side of her snout was in overall good condition, minus the cut lip.

He offered her a tired smile " Still better than the bugs I hope" he decided to continue as a victim of her innocent game

Cynder looked him over once again " Eeeh" she muttered meaningfully

Spyro laughed and hissed a cheerful grunt of pain " Damn" he touched his stinging mouth, his lips were also cut " Those rocks better crushed all of those damn bugs"

The dragoness looked at the dusty ceiling above, it had a big hole in it, through which they most likely fell into this cavern " I'm too old for this" she sighed and threw her head back and closed her single visible eye while breathing heavily

" Oh come on, don't say that you don't like uncontrollable falls and rough landings?" he panted

She exhaled deeply two times, as if in deep sleep " I can land on you anytime"

Spyro's masculine go reached its summit, his whole body twitched nervously as he tried to hide a broad grin and a sudden strange shock pulse directly into his heart which was oddly pleasant

Cynder watched his reaction through supposedly closed eye and cursed her weakened senses and tongue for the inconsiderate words, but on the other paw it felt damn good to be in the safety of his embrace and she was just too tired to fight with her boiling emotions.

" My back" Flare grunted as his fiery form twitched just next to the two dragons, he slightly pushed himself from the ground to stretch his aching back " Damn, whatever fell on me weighted a lot" with one last stretch he dropped flat on the ground, panting.

An awkward silence has befallen on them, nobody said a word, Spyro's heart still pumped blood slightly faster, he really wanted to wait and ponder at the somewhat odd pleasure but his adventurous spirit urged him to move on.

" We...we better get going" he muttered while shifting his body. His eyes widened when he felt claws wrapping themselves around his retreating paws

" Shhhh... let's rest for a while" Cynder whispered barely conscious, she delicately let go off his paw, automatically an uncontrollable smile tugged at her lips as she felt the grip around her body tightening itself " Just hold me" she uttered barely audible, finally giving up to the exhaustion and boiling feelings, letting her body completely succumb within his embrace.

Spyro was tired himself, all this time crawling through narrow edgy tunnel and then the fall burnt out most of his energy, what he needed was rest. Before his eyes closed completely he wanted to make sure that his friend will forget about all the bruises and relax. Impulsively he started to gently massage her chest with one of his paws to comfort her, something inside him urged him to do so.

As he continued to massage her bruised scales for a while he spotted that Cynder's mouth was slowly hanging open, as if she was sleeping. However that observation was quickly pushed aside by the strong feeling of her scales under his paw, everything else seemed unimportant suddenly. As he rubbed her belly scales he just couldn't believe just how soft they were, he just couldn't get enough of that sensation.

Driven by sheer instinct Spyro trailed his paw up and down her underbelly, slowly and gently, not wanting to miss even a single inch. As he continued the gentle rub he had to accidently touch a sore spot since suddenly Cynder let out a stifled moan. Strangely it didn't bother him in the slightest, his paw never left his scales, in fact he began to explore her body even further, trying to find another sore spot, he couldn't explain it but he just wanted to hear her moan again.

His heart pounded at his chest like some sort of a huge hammer kicking the breath out of him momentarily when she once more let out the desired sound. Cynder's head fell even further down, she started drooling from the corner of her opened mouth, her body relaxed completely. Spyro saw her eyes moving behind the closed eyelids, he had no idea where her mind drifted but judging from her expression it had to somewhere pleasant. It seemed she wasn't having a very calm dream, If her rapidly moving eyelids where any clue that is.

Her entire body shivered on top of him, her tail slid left and right across his own. Not only her underbelly was pleasurably soft, the pressed black scales on her back were no different. She kept twitching restlessly and the constant rubbing of her scales against his underbelly made his heart race. A strange lustful sensation was building within him which overcame every other emotion with ease. The feeling was so strong that he lost track of his surroundings, he ignored absolutely everything, even the sound of a male grunt and a clicking sound just next to him.

Spyro was concentrated only on the twirling body on top of him, he just couldn't have enough of it, he just needed to watch her from up close, he just needed to look at her from as close as possible. Blood started flowing through his veins at increased rate the moment he pressed his wounded mouth to her shoulder and heard her exhale a wavering squeaky breath, he now knew that he liked to watch her.

The longer he observed her moving body from up close the more he became certain that it was the best sight he has ever seen. After all they've been through since they have entered Munitions Forge and now the ordeal through this mine, all this things combined were the reason behind their tiredness.

Her chest was moving up and down rhythmically in sync with his own chest, his cheeks got extremely hot when he suddenly noticed her rapid breathing, she was panting just next to him. For a moment he focused entirely on that sound, and the moment he did he knew instantly that it was the best sound he has ever heard. Her panting mixed with her heaving chest created the perfect combination, he just laid there, panting with a racing heart as he observed and listened to every move her body made, to every sound her throat emitted.

Spyro's eyes began to travel across her whole body seeping every detail until they finally stopped on her exposed neck. The source of all his from now on favorite sounds was just in front of his eyes, he trailed her sleek neckline with hungry eyes, even the choker on her neck didn't ruin his enthusiasm, strangely seeing the silvery piece wrapped around her throat roused him even more. A strange feeling of domination boiled within him, she was here defenseless within his grasp with a choker around her neck, she was vulnerable, and she was all for him.

He looked at her snout and for a moment all those feral feelings disappeared, impulsively his eyes travel towards her neck again but soon returned and stopped at her enthralling expression. The wounds covering her body didn't bother him in the slightest, he was captivated by that black snout, he couldn't get his eyes off her, she was just so...breathtakingly beautiful.

Spyro gripped her tighter and let out a quenched and passionate warm moaning breath directly at her exposed neck. The shiver and a squeaky moan she let out soon after shot all of his senses to the orbit, he started to feel numb, he started to lose control of his own body.

And then suddenly everything returned back to normal, the bubble of enthrallment burst. Spyro's eyeshot wide open and his instinct kicked in when there was an unwelcome hissing sound, out of nowhere one of the small bugs was falling down on them, directing its pincers at Cynder's sleeping body.

" Cynder!" Spyro yelled and shook his body violently to wake her up, she stirred on top of him, but he knew that it was already too late, their enemy has taken advantage of his surprise attack in the fullest. However before the bug managed to reach them a fiery tail wrapped itself around the bug's form, momentarily the surrounding area was filled with the odor of burning flesh.

" Move you two!" Flare shouted as he hurled the remains of the bug at another incoming enemy.

Cynder's eyes shot wide open, adrenaline fueled her veins instantly, with a forceful yank she rolled off Spyro's muscular body and unceremoniously sucked the trickling drool with an even more unceremonious slurp. With a quick breath she took her wounded scales into the air.

The bugs were falling down from the familiar hole in the ceiling, the light on her helmet showed her that most of the bugs was dead, their chitin armors broken, some were not strong enough to survive the strong collision with the rough walls. Unfortunately there were also bugs which did survive, and there was plenty of them.

She could hear hissing all around her in the surrounding darkness as she flew up. She just kept cursing under her breath as she proceeded forward, she blamed herself for everything. The moment Spyro grabbed her a devil and an angel popped on her shoulders, the angelic Cynder urged her to get up, warning her that this is not over yet, trying to force her body for to accept another dose of pain. The devilish Cynder on the other paw told her that everything is over, that she deserves a moment of respite, to relax within the grasp of someone she loves, just for a little while of course, nothing bad can come out of it, she won't regret it.

She listened to the devilish figure, explaining to herself that she will rest only for a little while and then get up, however it went differently, she lost control and completely drifted away within Spyro's grasp. But she had to admit that it felt great, his strong paws around her, her imagination running wild, the beating of her heart deafening every other irrelevant sound, all those things created the perfect dream, it was just.... Damn it felt great.

Now she blamed herself for her moment of weakness, with a corner of her eye she saw the angelic Cynder shaking her head slowly fully disappointed. The dragoness understood now that her act was selfish and so inane, there was a swarm of bugs on their tails and she just decided to ignore the threat and concentrate all of her focus on her feelings. Poor Flare paid the price for her moment of forgetfulness, as she rose she saw him fighting already with a couple of surviving bugs, with some other laying dead by his paws.

With a growl of anger and guilt she slashed with her claws forcefully, the hissing bug heading her way was cut in half, greenish gore shot from the severed body. Flap of black draconic wings blew the nearby bugs away from her, she ignored the flicked bugs, there was no time to chase after them, there was something far more important to do if she is to redeem herself for her mistake.

The light from her candle showed her that the bugs kept falling into the cavern from the hole in the ceiling, remembering how many of those creatures were up there, there was no doubt they will overcome them if she won't do something. Luckily for them she knew exactly what to do.

" SPYRO!" she roared releasing all the boiling anger inside her, the discharge of her emotions fueled another slash with her silvery claws

Spyro just dropped a bug while fighting side by side with Flare, he instantly looked up after hearing the female roar, there was no doubt about it, she was calling him and it seemed urgent. He looked at the fiery dragon, his companion was completely focused on fighting, the dragon just fried two jumping bugs with his wing while tearing through another one with his claws. One of the creatures cut his jaw, Flare didn't even hiss as he got wounded, he instead took revenge by snapping with his razor sharp teeth breaking the natural armor of the bug momentarily, greenish blood started trickling from the dragon's mouth as he spitted out the remains.

Spyro looked once again up, the beam of light showed that many more bugs were approaching, without hesitation he took to the air. Flare was a fierce fighter when cornered, he will take care of himself, he has to. Somehow they needed to stop the advance of the critters before they get swarmed, the urging roar of his friend made him realize that she has already come up with a plan.

Cynder spun in the air avoiding two bugs just to deflect with the silvery bracelet on her forepaw an attack of another one of the bugs before she sliced through the critter with the blade-like tip on her tail. She was close to the hole, it was time to put her plan in motion. The dragoness began to channel her Wind element, moments later she opened her mouth and powerful gusts of wind cut through the air, the bugs instead of going down began to rise with tremendous speed.

Cynder unrelentingly pushed forward continuing her offensive, those damn creatures won't get her friends, not when she is still breathing. She reached the opening in the ceiling and began to hover just below it constantly breathing air inside it, blowing all the falling debris, broken husks and living bugs up. She only stopped her attack once Spyro reached her.

" Freeze the damn hole, I'll hold them off" she growled a stern command and despite the nagging exhaustion continued her offensive

Spyro wanted to say something, he knew that tone, he wanted to tell her that it was all his fault, it was because of that awkward moment before that the situation looks like this, but he thought better of it. He didn't know how to explain this to his best friend that he considered her to be beautiful, hell he felt really strange himself about this. Probably every other girl would be thrilled to know that he, the purple dragon considers her beautiful, but that was Cynder, his best friend, you shouldn't say such things to your friends, it was just wrong in his opinion. However oddly enough a part of him wanted to scream those words out, yet he never decided to do so, he was just afraid of her reaction. He gave it a rest, there was no chance that she won't blame herself for the whole thing regarding the bugs, he knew her just too well.

He immediately got to work, with a couple of swaps of his wings he reached the far end of the hole. Freezing it will require a lot of elemental power but currently it was their only option, he channeled his Ice element and seconds later a stinging cold breath was sent at the wall where the hole began. Icy mist began to raise in the air as the stone cracked under the freezing breath and began to turn into ice.

With Cynder covering him he didn't have to worry about anything surprising him, he could concentrate fully on his work. As the block of ice began to turn solid and thick he flapped his wings forward to push himself slowly back so he could extend the freshly created block of ice through the whole dimension of the hole.

He was tired, the usage of his elemental energy in his wounded state didn't make the situation any better, but no matter how exhausting this is he just won't stop, his friends and brother are counting on him and he won't fail them, not again. Safety comes first.

Then his eyes shot wide open, time seemed to freeze for a while, unconsciously he stopped channeling his power, only a barely visible icy mist hung near his agape mouth as he suddenly ceased his work. Spyro felt as his lungs crushed, his blood froze and his heart jumped to his throat, he just couldn't breath as a sudden realization struck him like a thunder.

" Sparx" he muttered inwardly and still in shock turned towards the ground below

" SPARX!" Spyro emitted a terrified wavering roar, but there was no response he so desired to hear. Flare was the only source of light down below.

" SPARX!" he roared once again

" Spyro what are you doing?" Cynder stopped her attack to let out an admonishing heavy breath

The purple dragon darted towards her " I can't find my brother Cynder!" he uttered completely scared and turned towards the ground again " SPARX!" he yelled

" He is hiding somewhere probably, you have to keep going" she urged him before she once again began to breath air into the hole as soon as she spotted all of the things she blew away quickly returning

" SPARX!" Spyro shouted again, still no response " He's not here Cynder" he muttered terrified

" He has to be" she replied irritated

" BUT HE'S NOT!" he roared at her, the callous tone of her voice angered him, he didn't care about her personal redemption right now. The startled shiver of her body after his unexpected roar made him feel guilty beyond imagination, that is not how you treat your best friend, he bit his lip after his outburst

" I need to find him" he mumbled more calmly this time, apology ringing within his voice

Cynder released another gust of wind into the hole, there was no way she can make up for her mistake all by herself " We need you here, we won't make it without you"

" You are strong, you will hold them off"

" Spyro..."

" He's my brother Cynder!" he exclaimed pleadingly " I have to find him!"

The dragoness shook her head and sighed, she wasn't disappointed with him but with her, she has no idea what family means and how important it can be for someone. There was no stopping him even if she wanted to, not that the idea crossed her mind anyway, her mind was preoccupied with blaming her for her stupidity.

" Then go" she said and determined began to fill the hole with the strong wind again

Spyro pointed his claw up " I have to go up there"

" What?!" she exclaimed, the wind coming from her mouth ended with an audible whizz " Absolutely not!"

Spyro threw his paws to the sides " Look around, he is not here. There is only one option" he pointed his claw up once again " He has to be somewhere up there"

" Are you insane?! Do you know how many of these things could be up there?"

" I don't care, I'm going after my brother" he hissed sternly and began to fly inside the hole

" Wait" she shouted, hardly swallowing the fear in her voice. She just didn't want him to go inside where the heart of all their trouble is located.

Spyro stopped and looked at her

She exhaled a nervous breath " I'll give you a lift" with that she freed her Wind element once more, wanting this to be over as fast as possible

Spyro spread his wings wide allowing the strong wind to spread fully through his membranes, he nodded gratefully before turning towards the direction from which the bugs were coming from. With a deep anxious and determined breath he flapped his wings strongly, one swing was enough, the powerful wind did the rest.

He gained speed momentarily as his wings went down, there was only a whizz of blowing wind cutting through the air as the freshly conceived force of nature shot him straight up like some sort of a cannonball. Using the artificially created wind he flapped his wings once more, slowly, with no rush, putting as much strength he could muster into that simple motion, tensing his every muscle.

Moments later the cacophony of hissing sounds started to break through the whizzing noise of the blowing wind, there was a lot of hissing, much more than he would like to hear in fact. The dragon was high enough for his light to illuminate the horrid scene up ahead. The drake narrowed his eyes, hardly swallowing the lump of anxiety that was stuck in his throat. There were many chitin husks floating above, they were not allowed to fall by the constantly blowing wind, many of those husks were cracked, their inhabitants long gone, lost somewhere during the fall. However there were also husks that were still occupied, and there were many of them.

Spyro tensed his body to fight with the artificially created force of nature, he needed to slow down, colliding with that swarm would be deadly for sure. Gritting his sharp teeth together he finally managed to take control of the situation, his wings already felt sore, nobody should be going through such an exhausting trail just after a painful crash with reality, literally.

" SPARX!" he roared, if there was a response he couldn't hear it, these damn bugs were effectively blocking every sound, hopefully his brother managed to hear him, if he is even alive yet.

He swallowed another lump, just thinking about Sparx being dead made him nauseatingly sick, the floating carcasses only reminded him how life is fragile, it goes without saying that the sight didn't help him to feel any better. Dark thoughts began swirling through his mind, questions he would never want to hear.

What if Sparx was crushed by the falling rocks? What if the bugs caught him and tore him to pieces? What if his body is now floating somewhere among the husks above. Even if his heart was bleeding, he had to know the answer to those questions.

Spyro tensed his sore muscles and slowly began moving his golden wings, delicately pushing them down, faster and faster with each flap, completely being in control of his ascent. He didn't want to accidently fly right into the rabid swarm, nor did he want the bugs to fall down on him when the wind will eventually stop howling and it will, despite Cynder's stubborn attitude, there was no chance she will hold out without a break in her tired state.

The bugs fell in sheer rage as soon as the purple dragon got closer, the critters began thrashing fiercely, hissing menacingly and clamping their pincers in a typical uncontrolled feral manner, trying to tear off a piece of the hovering drake appetizing purple scales.

Spyro ignored their aggressive behavior as best as he could, however part of his mind urged him to send an Electric Orb into the middle of the swarm to silence these annoying bugs once and for all. As he circled the group of critters the aggression within him died down replaced by the slowly raising flame of hope the longer he watched the swarm. The bugs were cramped together, he couldn't see through all of these wiggling husks but what he managed to see made his heart beat a little slower, there was no sign of Sparx or his still body anywhere.

Suddenly the wind stopped blowing and the critters hissing loudly started to fall down, together with the rocks and remains of their unlucky companions. Spyro trailed the falling swarm with his amethyst eyes, first thing that crossed his mind was a selfish congratulation for his cold thinking, keeping a safe distance from the swarm was a good idea. He let out a silent breath of relief when the second realization ran through his mind, among the swirling mass there was no sign of Sparx, it was obvious now, his brother wasn't there.

In his moment of delight Spyro forgot about one important thing, all the falling things have to come from somewhere and the spot where all that mass was cramped earlier was only occupied because of the created wind blowing in one direction, the place from which they fell into the hole was somewhere else.

It didn't take him long to realize that the place he was looking for was just above his head, he hissed when suddenly something hit his head. The dragon took a glimpse of a small rock with a delicate hint of red on its edge, it was blood, and it was his own. He raised his head, the dragon's eyes widened and he immediately flapped his wings forcefully to make a swift maneuver in the air but unfortunately it was already too late.

Two bugs fell on him, to slow their descent the creatures plunged their sharp pincers into his flesh, everything happened so fast for the critters that they only managed to sink one of their pincers into the purple scales before the dragon yanked his body sharply in the air, the move made them dangle like a pair of flags.

Spyro grunted as he beaten with his golden wings, he felt as the creatures were tearing off the flesh from his bones as their bodies wiggled as he maneuvered in the air to avoid more falling debris and enemies. He gritted his teeth, the stinging pain was unbearable, he literally felt as his scales are being pulled off directly from his flesh. He needed to throw the bugs off of him somehow.

Spyro screamed when he felt another two pincers plunging themselves into his scales, the bugs were now safely attached to his back. Another pulse of pain shot through his nerves as a sudden sensation of sharp teeth piercing his leathery armor could be felt, the damn creatures were tearing and eating him alive. The dragon thrashed in the air, but no matter what he did the bugs didn't fell off and there was no way he could reach them.

Another shot of pain, blood sprinkled from his back, Spyro had enough. Growling in anguish he spun in the air, turning his body in such a way that his back faced a nearby wall. He straightened his body and with a powerful frontal flap of his wings he threw himself at the wall. Spyro grunted as shocking pain ran through his whole spine and coughed soon after when dust shot from the old jagged rocks, besides the thud created by his impact with the wall, he also could hear bunch of cracking sounds and two wails of anguish.

The stinging pain on his back was still there, without wasting any more time Spyro pressed his hind paws to the wall, using his wings and the claws on his back legs he unglued himself from the wall. Gritting his teeth he straightened his body once again just to throw himself at the wall once more. Spyro let out a painful moan as another shock hit his spine, this time however the cracking sounds were much louder, the same thing couldn't be said about the wails, these seemed to turn to a barely audible hiss.

The creatures were still there, he could feel them on his back, another push and another collision with the wall. Spyro screamed, the almost paralyzing pain was unbearable, besides his shout there were also two loud cracks, like something just broke under high pressure. With the corners of his eyes he could see bits of the chitin husk flying in every direction, the stinging pain was gone, replaced by the sensation of something thick slowly flowing down his back, it was blood, but not entirely his own.

Angered by the whole situation Spyro pushed himself from the wall with an threatening growl, he directed himself upwards, these bugs were getting on his nerves, just thinking about the pain his brother has gone through if the bugs managed to lay their pincers on him before Death took him within its embrace maddened him beyond any imagination.

Spyro dodged a pair of stones just to notice a bug falling at him just beyond them, with a loud growl Spyro grabbed the critter, and forcefully shoved it against the wall, dust and some chunks of rock shot from the wall at the impact. The trapped bug hissed and wagged with its pincers chaotically, every now and then managing to nip at the dragon's paw.

Spyro ignored the pain, in mere seconds he channeled his Ice element and released a freezing breath directly at the thrashing bug. The critter hissed in agony as the icy mist started slowly numbing its every muscle, slowly turning it into a brick of ice. Spyro's paw stung, his purple scales were slowly being covered by a delicate layer of ice, however he knew the bug will be gone first, as a dragon he was more resistant to the powers of the elements than the small creature.

Moments later the hissing sounds of the bug were replaced by a cracking sound as a bluish brick slowly embraced the critter, just as soon as that started happening Spyro withdrew his delicately numb paw. He ceased his elemental attack the moment the creature was entirely encased in an icy prison, Spyro grabbed the freshly solidified sculpture and immediately hurled it upwards in the direction of all the incoming debris and the like.

He then channeled his Electricity power and sent a shock pulse directly at the raising block of ice. The small pulse cracked through the air, the prison of the frozen creature shone and sparkled brightly for a little while the moment the electric attack connected with it. Momentarily the block of ice shattered into many sharp pieces, the projectiles flied with such a speed that they were like little knifes cutting through butter which turned to be the chitin husk of more falling bugs.

Spyro roared triumphantly seeing the small carnage he caused, he wasn't even bothered by the greenish blood splattering on his snout and body, the dragon was completely intoxicated by the sweet taste of revenge and a bitter taste of fear. More rocks and more creatures kept falling down from steeper parts of the mine, it didn't stop him. Spyro pushed forward growling while he avoided the rocks and killed the bugs, ripping their chitin husks with his claws like they were made from a poor quality cloth.

He was so lost in his feral frenzy that he forgot about one important thing, he wasn't alone in this struggle. Suddenly a powerful gust of wind howled through the cavern, it caught the dragon unprepared. The artificial force of nature hit his opened wings with such a force that he was unable to control it, the wind blew the dragon aside, making him spin in the air uncontrollably.

All that boiled aggression faded, all that feral rage dispersed when he was roughly brought back to reality by a nearby wall. Spyro grunted when he collided with the edgy rocks, unfortunately the wind blew him in such a way that his head received the worst shock. The impact left him dizzy, everything spun around, lights danced in front of his eyes, most where white, some were lightly brown, even a bright yellow could be visible.

The sharp pain shooting across one of his wings made some of those lights adopt a more solid form, some of those forms were also hurled in his direction by the wind, some of them found safety in the membranes of his wings. However when the pain brought back senses to his mind Spyro understood instantly that he didn't want to be the guardian of those lights. He groaned when another sharp pain shot through his muscles, then the forms solidified completely, and one of those forms was now ripping his wing's membranes with its pincers.

Growling in pain Spyro began to fall down, for a moment letting gravity to take control of his fate, as he descended down Spyro opened his wing as far as possible and forcefully smacked it across the nearby wall. The jagged rocks pierced his wing, blood started trickling down from his newly created wounds, however he wasn't the only one hissing in anguish. The small bug that tore his wing earlier let go off his wing, its husk was cracked seriously after the strike, green blood was flowing down in streams from the gaping wounds.

Spyro spread his wings, the bug fell down from the dragon's brown membranes, however it never reached the ground since the wind carried the creature up. Before Spyro fully retook control of his body he gave the raising bug another slap with his wing, smashing the creature on the nearby wall.

The blowing wind wasn't stable, one time it was stronger, another time weaker, it was obvious- Cynder was losing her strength. He was the unfortunate victim of these unstable currents, the dragon was in full control of the artificial force which led him to complete domination of his body.

The same thing couldn't be said about the bugs however, the changing wind blew the creatures in every direction, one such blow was unfortunate for Spyro. Many of the bugs were sent flying at him, three critters were flung fast enough and reached the dragon before the rest of the bugs did, one was coming at him from the front, two from his back. He parried the attack of the critter up ahead with his left paw just to finish it with the other one, while at the same time charging his Ice element, moments later he swung his tail, icy spark shot from his golden tip which froze the attacking critters on spot.

However that wasn't the end of his troubles, he slashed through more and more bugs, every next kill aroused the inner rage inside him, every part of him kept telling him that he won't see his brother again, there was no chance he could survive something like this. Spyro swallowed back tears, if that's how It's going to end he will make sure that the damn creatures will pay for this.

Roaring in anger he kept fighting, he kept slicing at the bugs, the bugs kept slicing at him, there were just to many of them, there was no way he could avoid them all. However the dragon wasn't bother by his wounds, he just wanted to crush these creatures for everything they had done. He kept slashing with his claws, swinging his tail and every now and then, using his elemental powers occasionally.

After some time Spyro made a decision to clean one of the nearby floating groups, without any hesitation he made their way towards the nearest one and began to lessen the group's numbers. Slash after slash, breath after breath and the bugs still kept falling, this whole situation resembled a hydra fight, the more heads Spyro cut twice, their number appeared in their place, yet it didn't discourage him.

Spyro kept attacking the hovering swarm, he was completely overwhelmed by rage, green blood shot in every direction as he pushed forward, there was no stopping him. Even in his killing spree his natural warrior instinct still worked, suddenly it warned him that something is approaching him from behind, that there is a presence behind his tail.

Spyro growled and spun around, paw raised, claws at the ready, just as he was about to face the intruder he slashed with his deadly natural blades. Spyro gasped when he set his eyes on the presence behind him, his body froze, the claws that were meant to end the life of the intruder stopped just right next to his head. He couldn't believe his eyes, there was a yellow dragonfly hovering in the air in front of him, the dragonflies body was tense, his eyes were closed , and his expression was ruined by a terrified wince, he was readying himself for a hit.

It never came since the claws stopped just inches from his head, the owner of those claws was completely paralyzed, tears began to fill his amethyst eyes. Moments later the dragon's body began to shake uncontrollably, the tips of his claws dangled just inches from the dragonflies head, Spyro was barely holding back his emotions.

His brother opened one of his eyes, then impulsively he looked at the claws next to him, with a gasp he jerked his head away. After a sigh of relief he turned towards his purple brother. Spyro didn't say a word, Sparx only felt a purple paw wrapping itself around him. The dragonfly yelped when suddenly the dragon carried him down.

Spyro held his brother tightly, close to his frantic heart as he quickly descended towards the caver where his friends were. He fought unrelentingly with the blowing wind, the strong current made his already painful wings ache even more, yet it didn't bother the drake, he needs to get his brother out of this treacherous tunnel and nothing is going to stop him.

Cynder felt as her elemental energy was about to end, the exhaustion was taking tis toll, she could barely keep herself hovering in the air. The flaps of her black wings were extremely sluggish making the dragoness to slightly bounce in the air, she was at the brink of collapsing, the only thing that kept her going was Spyro, he needed her help and there is no way she is going to let him down.

Her green eyes widened when suddenly a purple shape appeared in the ray of her candle light. New surge of energy filled her veins at the sight, she immediately ceased filling the opening with her Wind element. Taking advantage of the calm air Spyro dashed quickly inside the cavern, releasing a glowing yellow shape as he did so.

The purple dragon got to work at once, he started to freeze the opening again, renewing his work from the spot he stopped earlier. Seeing this Cynder decided to not fall behind and renewed her attack, the wind once again howled through the cavern above. After some time the icy blocked was finally finished, all three friends backed away and observed the newly created obstacle intently.

Bugs and rocks kept falling on the thick icy block emitting muffled thuds as they collided with the newly created cold surface. More and more things kept falling from the darkness above, eventually creating quite a considerate pile of debris and living things, however no matter how big the pile was getting there was no visible crack on the surface of the icy blockade, it has held. The three friends observed it until the falling debris and bugs created a pile so big that it blocked the view behind them.

All three friends emitted a desirable sigh of relief, not even the muffled scratching and hissing from above couldn't ruin their moment of victory. Spyro once again turned towards the dragonfly when he absolutely sure they were safe for the time being.

Once again the dragonfly didn't have the time to utter a word since the dragon quickly grabbed him and pulled him closer, effectively preventing any comprehensible sounds coming from his throat.

Spyro hugged his brother tightly, tears began to flow from his eyes " He is alive" he mused" HE IS ALIVE". All of that boiling rage was gone momentarily replaced by the long craved, tears squeezing joy.

" Dear Ancestors Sparx" Spyro muttered with a wavering voice, not even trying to hide his agitation. He pulled his brother even closer " I thought you were dead"

There was only a muffled response followed by three quick pats on the dragon's gold scales. Spyro understood the signal, he released the dragonfly immediately.

His brother gasped loudly as he pulled himself from the dragon's iron grip " Damn Dude" he took a deep breath " You nearly choked me there" he rubbed his neck and looked at his draconic brother. The purple drake was staring at him with watery eyes, Sparx felt like his heart was just being squeezed by an invisible hand

" Stop crying man" he muttered with a wavering voice, barely able to contain his emotions " What would our parents say?"

Spyro chuckled and began to rub his eyes, remembering the moments in his childhood when the two of them stood up to their parents to show just how mature they are, that true males never cry.

" Where were you? I was worried sick"

" Seriously?" Sparx blurt out faking a surprise and smirked " I couldn't tell" he cleared his throat, putting humor aside for a moment " Anyway remember bro that I fly, I can't fall down like you guys when a ground suddenly collapses under my feet. I was following you all the way down but I just couldn't catch up with you, I really thought I lost you back there but luckily for me the tunnel had only a one-way ticket for sale so..." he threw his arms aside " Ta-da!"

" I'm just so happy to see you" the dragon sobbed

Sparx poked his brother's shoulder " No way you are getting rid of me that easily" wth a smile he turned towards the black dragoness " YO! Second Tail!" he waved at her

She didn't say a word

" Give me a sec" he muttered before dashing towards the black dragoness

Cynder fought valiantly but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't completely prevent her mouth from turning into a smile " Hi Annoyance"

He spread his arms wide open as if provoking a hug " Missed me?"

" Not really" she replied with a twitching mouth

" At least admit that you were worried about me"

" Not really"

Sparx looked her over, she was exhausted and wounded, their little adventure ripped her of that natural ominous grace, yet even despite the wounds her somewhat oddly charm still managed to push through, not that he would tell her that of course

" Been to a claw polisher lately?"

She swelled her chest in faked pride, knowing exactly where this is going " Becoming isn't it?"

He smirked " Not really" he leaned closer " But you know what they say, there is no goose so grey in the lake, that cannot find grander of her make" with a wink he began to return to his brother

When he looked behind his shoulder he noticed Cynder giving him a silent response, he didn't have to be an expert in lip-reading to know that her happy mouth formed the " Screw you" phase. Sparx smiled and looked up at the icy block and the bugs trapped behind it the moment he reached his brother

" So what's the plan? We can't go back the way we came that's for sure"

" We go down" Spyro replied " This is a mine it must have a second exit somewhere, but first let's grab Flare and get out of here. I don't know how long this thing will last, we are inside a volcano after all"

After those words the three friends descended down, towards the ground with which the three draconic friends had a really bad meeting. On the terrain below amidst many scorched remains and bloody ground stood with his head lowered a lone, wounded, exhausted fiery drake,

" It's good to know that he can protect himself when he wants to" Sparx rolled his eyes, clearly remembering what Flare did back in the tunnel and what it took to bring him back to his senses, not to mention how much panic the dragon's... whatever it was caused.

The group landed behind the dragon and examined the ground, remains of bugs were strewn all around the place, the stench of charred flesh was unbearable.

" Man" the dragonfly huffed " He surely know how to make things dead"

Cynder worryingly looked over the dragon, she knew his story, heard what he was forced to do back in his prison but she just couldn't imagine that he commit such a massacre, the scared dragon she knew would not be able to do it. But the dragon she was looking at right now wasn't him, at least not entirely.

He looked different, not because of the many cuts and more deeper wounds covering his scales, but because of the fiery parts of his body. The flames looked like they were alive, like they were angry and they don't even try to hide it. The fires were burning brighter and with more intensity, she could feel the heat emanating from there right here where she stood, accidently touching the dragon in one of those hot spots would be very dangerous right now.

" Flare?" Cynder asked gently while taking a cautious step towards the drake, he was her friend, and fiends take care of each other " Is everything alright?"

Still panting Flare slowly rose his head " Couldn't been better" he replied without looking at her, there was something strange about the tone of his voice, it was cold, lower, distant and ominous. It sent a chill down her spine.

" Dude!" Sparx exclaimed spreading his arms, not noticing or perhaps ignoring the dragon's odd behavior and looks " Look whose home!"

Flare turned around, the three friends gasped as he did so. His snout carried the sign of recent battle, cuts and torn bits of flesh covered his jaw and forehead, a mix of green and crimson blood trickled down from his mouth. He looked like some sort of a crazy killer but his image wasn't the actual reason behind their shock, it was his eyes. They were burning, literally, just like somebody would ignite his feline pupils and start a small fire inside his eyeballs.

" Sparx you've returned. I'm so happy" Flare's mouth twitched into a very creepy smile, as if he would be trying to smile for first time in his life

The dragonfly raised his finger and pointed at his eyeball " Dude, your...your eyes..."

" Flare what is wrong with you?" Cynder interjected the moment she recovered from her surprise and slowly advanced forward

The fiery drake aimed his cold, despite the burning fires gaze at her, the dragoness shivered once more " Nothing my friend"

She didn't buy that, mainly because of the way how he said the word friend. It sounded more like a warning than a simple polite presentation of affection. She gulped

" I'm perfectly fine" the dragon assured her

Sparx leaned towards his brother while covering his mouth with his hand " There is something seriously wrong with this guy" he whispered

With a delicate nod of agreement Spyro stepped out in the open so he could easier get the dragon's attention " Flare you are acting really weird, tell us what's going on, we will help you"

The red dragon narrowed his eyes on Spyro, the moment he did so his eyes and every other burning part of his body burst with fresh new flames making his three companions squint.

" Help me?" the dragon snorted in disgust " Who do you think I am to believe in such lies?" tiny red flames wafted through his nostrils "You don't know what that word means, you are a purple dragon, a deceiver, a worthless bug whose dependable on others. A weak incapable of progress lizard"

Spyro narrowed his brows, he heard and knew that Flare disliked him, that he is a victim of superstition, but the dragon was never so straightforward with his inimicalness.

" What has gotten into you? I helped you with that golem, the Keeper remember?"

Flare cackled, that was the most scary laugh they heard this day " You destroyed the Keeper because it threatened you, it is always about you"

The purple dragon shook his head, that just made no sense, why makes him think that it was a selfish act? Yet he decided to leave it be, there was no convincing the dragon anyway, he needs a different argument.

" I've fought these creatures here with you" he nodded his head towards the charred remains " Side by side"

" But then you left me here alone, at their mercy"

" Cynder called me!" the purple dragon exclaimed " I knew you would take care of them, so I went to help her"

" Deceiver!" Flare growled, more heat burst from his fiery parts " A convenient excuse, like always, but you won't fool me, you thought that I would die"

" WHAT?!" Spyro exclaimed shocked

" You are just like the others, playing your own games thinking you're the smartest dragon in the world, but you are not"

" Can you hear yourself? Look around!" the purple dragon spread his wings aside for a second "There is no bug here! If I wanted you dead than I wouldn't block that hole above our heads"

There was a sudden crack when a part of a chitin husk cracked under Flare's hot claws, that was a bad omen. It seemed like his words didn't calm the dragon but irritated him even more.

" Stop lying!" Flare growled " You noticed that your plan didn't work, that I survived so you needed to come up with a new one. But I've learned all your tricks already, so stop finally pretending!"

Spyro snorted in disbelief, perhaps it was wrong to force his point across but he just couldn't stop himself, he didn't hear such nonsense in a very long time.

" If I really wanted you dead I would try to kill you earlier don't you think? Come on Flare, we are friends so s-"

" YOU ARE NOT MY FRIEND!" he roared cutting Spyro off, the air got hotter suddenly as once again flames burst from his fiery parts

" But-"

" YOU ARE A VERMIN!..." Flare growled and lowered on his paws

Spyro's body tensed seeing the drakes hostility, he knew where this is going

" Flare don't" he muttered adopting a defensive stance

"...and vermin needs to be eradicated" he roared

However before he pounced at the purple dragon Flare received a strong blow to his left cheek which turned his roar into a deep whimper, made his teeth rattle and his head jerk to the side. Every flame that his body was emitting died down when the dragon in his confusion rubbed his aching jaw and looked at the culprit who caused the pain with wide eyes

" That hurt" Flare whined while massaging the painful spot on his snout more fiercely

Cynder just stood there and watched the fiery drake, slowly unclenching her paw and putting it onto the ground.

" Remember what I've told you about watching your tongue? We had a deal and I always keep my promises"

Flare wasn't angry, he remembered their conversation perfectly, the dragon just lowered his head in shame and remained silent.

Cynder looked him over, his fiery parts returned to their normal state, no extreme heat could be felt in the air. She once again recognized the dragon who she called friend in him. The dragoness had no idea what just happened but it was good to see that he sincerely regrets his actions and since she hates seeing her friends sad it was time to do something about it.

She slapped his head with the flat side of her tail tip.

" Aww!" the dragon whined and instinctively touched the back of his head " What was that for?"

The dragoness smiled " That was for calling me fat" she winked

" What the hell Flare?!" The fiery dragon's smile was gone after he heard Spyro's shout, the purple dragon approached the red dragon with fire in his eyes " You tried to attack me?!"

The fiery drake bent on his paws and pressed his nose to the ground like a guilty dog " I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he whined once more " Please don't hurt me!"

" I have no intention in hurting you! How many times do I have to tell you that!"

" I'm sorry"

Cynder pressed her paw to Spyro's chest to somehow cool his advance " Shouting won't help here" she said almost pleadingly

" No way Cynder!" he delicately pushed her paw away " I want to know what did I do to deserve such hostility! I won't be traveling with a guy who can put a knife in my back without even blinking!"

" I'm sorry" Flare whined again

" I'm sure he didn't mean to attack you, did you get a closer look at him? Something was different" Cynder explained calmly

" This doesn't change anything! Because of him the bugs almost got us in the tunnel, Sparx got lost and who knows what can happen next! I can't put you in danger!" he growled when a sudden realization struck him " The damn mole was right"

" And what?" she blurt out " You want to leave him here?" Cynder could barely hold herself back from shouting, this whole situation was irritating her also " He will get lost or worse"

" First I want to hear an explanation!" Spyro shouted again as he turned towards the fiery drake

Flare could feel the dragon's amethyst gaze on him " I'm s-s-sorry"

" Shut up! I'm tired of your whining! Tell me what's gotten into you!" Spyro growled making the red dragon shiver in fear

" I c-c-c-can't r-r-really e-e-e-explain t-this. S-s-s-sometimes d-d-during a f-f-fight I g-g-g-get e-excited a-a-and l-lose c-c-c-control"

" This doesn't explain why you wanted to attack me!"

" Alright gang!' Sparx interjected suddenly " I propose to leave this conversation for later, I don't know how about you but I feel uncomfortable herw with the swarm of bugs above our heads, especially when they can crash the party anytime soon. I would want to be long gone when that happens"

" He's right' Cynder added quickly seeing as it would be a very hard task to push Spyro away from Flare's throat. Perhaps if both of them would focus on something else they might eventually sort out their differences.

Spyro growled quietly, part of him wanted to push Flare even harder but he decided not to do it. His friends safety was more important, it was time to go. A thought about leaving Flare behind crossed his mind but he quickly shook it off, it would be cruel and besides it was his decision to bring him along. He has to pay for his mistakes.

" Fine, let's go" Spyro announced

Sparx clapped his hands " Now that's music to my ears" he raised his forefinger " But there is still one little problem, Do we know which way to go?"

Spyro looked around, the light from his candle revealed that the cavern had many opening in its walls, leading probably deeper into the mines and even more dead ends. When the boiling anger inside him slightly faded, he felt a familiar tingle running through his body, he concentrated on it. it wasn't long before he located it's source, it was coming from one of the tunnels.

" This way" Spyro said and made his way towards the tunnel with his companions closely following him