FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 4

Spyro was looking through the window on the ground floor of the City Hall, one of the nearby braziers carassed his concentrated snout with its warm touch of red and yellow, the invisible fingers were dancing up and down his purple scales. The dragon observed the darkening sky above Warfang, the once azure sky was now painted with an orange hue of the fading sun. This was a call of duty for the many lamplighters available in the Dragon City, even in a city occupied by dragons and its streets teeming with magic, Warfang still had its connections to the more natural order of things.

Lamps and lanterns filling the streets were a sign of that, some were lit by magical means while other were dependant only on conscientiousness of the mentioned lamplighters, even if the manual duties could be easily replaced by magically mechanized technology they still found its place in Warfang, and nobody argued about that.

It was like the city itself invited everyone inside its walls, showing that no matter what differences are drawn between one part of the city and the other, everyone has his place here. It doesn't matter what can you do, how old are you, what is your favorite food or what specie are you, everything is unimportant in a place dedicated to equality and fair treating. It all sounds so wonderful.

Except the fact that this is just a courtesy call.

He has fought for every inch of these walls, every visible person and every shadow cast on the illuminated buildings, and for what? Once he believed, no, not believed, felt that what they did all that time ago in Malefor's lair was something good and pure, but now he had doubts about it. it was still good, there was no doubt about it, people's lives were at stake after all but it was no longer pure.

During the feast in the cheetah village, especially when the crying father approached him he thought that after such an ultimate sacrifice there won't be any more prices to pay, that there will be harmony and nothing will change his mind. However time has changed his mind, it changed his mind completely.

What kind of savior he is when he can't protect his closest friends? After ignitus now Cynder pays the price, and just like before he feels so helpless.

No!

This time he will fight.

He always considered himself to be open-minded, always respectful of other's whims and odd habits, we are not all the same after all, but the way people treat Cynder... he just can't comprehend that. Alright, he can understand -if he forces himself- the disdain and reluctance towards his best friend, even if she wasn't behind it people need someone to blame, some point of focus of their tragedy, it's a pretty natural defensive system.

But this kind of hate? This...this...revulsion?

This is not normal, this is sick.

This whole Malefor fight was not worth the price, now they are the victims, she is the victim and she has all the right to blame somebody or something for her misfortune. If Cynder won't do that he will do it for her, he will do whatever is necessary to spare her this sickness. He doesn't have to look far, the reason behind all this hate is already found, that reason is named Brill.

That damned mole is behind all of this, with his damn coaxing, with his damn fanaticism and his damn hostility. He only rubs salt into people's still fresh wounds, taking advantage of their fear and malevolence while In truth he is just like them, but hidden under a mask of eloquence, trying desperately not to realize that words are weapons of the terrified.

However it is unimportant what drives the mole, what is important is that his methods are proving effective. How he dares to taint the soul of the only dragoness he deeply cares about? He has no right to do that, let him be the idol, the great constructor, the brilliant inventor, or whatever else the moles used to call him, but he is not allowed to be a judge. Nobody deserves such a right.

It was relatively peaceful without him around, some insults, threats and taunts were all they had to face, all that she had to face. As ugly as it was, he was certain that Cynder could cope with that, but open hostility is something different entirely. Everyone has a limit of punishment he/she can take, even a strong character as her.

The world they knew was turned upside down at a moment's notice, the mole showed up suddenly, just like that, from nowhere. Why now? And why here? When things started to look good he showed up, ruining everything, as if feeling that this was the right moment to strike, it makes sense, when your enemies believe that they triumphed you need to show them they are wrong. That is the perfect time to strike.

Spyro's eyes grew wider at a sudden realization.

That's right!

Brill is not their main enemy here, he is perhaps just a general. Time is their true foe, how could he be so blind? The Chronicler warned him that manipulation of time might have serious consequences, and if he would be the judge he would say that reversing the catastrophic event caused by the Destroyer's walk around the globe count as a serious time manipulation.

It all makes sense now, all this nightmare is caused by the ability he believed he controlled, but in truth, it is the other way around. It is payback, he was sure of it, for wielding, for enslaving something no mortal creature should even be able to comprehend, for binding it to his will there will be a price to pay.

So be it.

It was about time their true enemy revealed itself, finally it decided to come out of the shadows. Yet there was that little poke of curiosity and doubt in the back of his mind, what if Time is just another pawn? What if their real main enemy is still shrouded by mysteriousness? Or perhaps their foe already revealed itself but they fail to see it?

These questions made him wonder just how many more enemies are still in the shadows, waiting and watching them, preparing to strike?

Suddenly Spyro felt tired, just like something would put extreme weight on his shoulders, weight that no young creature such as him should ever carry. In this moment of weakness he wished he could turn back time to the point where people thought they were dead, they would head straight to Warfang, snatch Sparx secretly and go their own way, somewhere far, far away.

Spyro sighed.

Who is he trying to fool? His escape plan would fail anyway, Time would still find him, and make him pay for his arrogance. There were moments when he believed that he and Time were partners, and as days passed their partnership began to feel like friendship, but in truth it was just a red herring.

Now when he knows what lays beneath the surface he won't allow his former partner to roam free, and by doing so he will develop, master and eventually exploit the part of this treacherous energy that has awakened within him.

If it wants war, then it will get war.

Spyro looked at the darkening sky through his glassy projector, his eyes concentrated at one slowly vanishing cloud, as if it was some sort of a bored listener. Time was watching him, and even if it had enough of the turmoil going on in his head, he had one last thing he wanted to tell it.

Spyro narrowed his gaze on the dispersing cloud, grimace of anger wrinkled his snout " Hey Time " he muttered " you're no frie-"

" Shhh!"

The purple dragon turned towards the direction from which this silly feminine sound came from that cut him off.

Cynder approached him cautiously while looking around vigilantly " You shouldn't say anything" she whispered ominously " you don't want people to know that you got the Sparxy"

Spyro furrowed a brow " A what?"

" You know, talking to yourself, becoming crazy, annoying and being ignored, that sort of thing"

He smiled " But you're talking to me"

She shrugged " I don't count, I'm sick in my own way" with a smile she stopped near him and looked through the window at the darkening city " You need to watch yourself, when you spill out everything that goes in your head out loud, it may have its consequences"

" Like what?" he played along

" I don't know, in your brother's case it's imagined importance, what if the words that I prevented you from saying would end a chapter of your life prematurely?"

" Nobody is interested in my life anyway"

Cynder leaned closer " You'd be surprised" she whispered coquettishly

Spyro huffed " Now when I think of it, it might have been a good thing"

" And miss another hours of pain, fear, sorrow, mysteriousness and hate?" she blurt out with faked indignation " Who would do such a thing?"

The dragon laughed " You're right, my life would be empty without the pain and troubles that are at the brink of overwhelming me"

The dragoness giggled " Exactly, you don't know-" her voice trailed off suddenly when she once again looked through the window. When she gulped Spyro could clearly hear the saliva moving down her throat.

With a smirk Spyro turned towards the window, still thinking that she is fooling around " So what do you see out there? Is it pain, fear, sorrow, mysteriousness or hate?"

" All of these things" she answered, with a barely audible, wavering whisper

Suddenly a gust of wind rushed through the room when the front door opened and a massive green dragon entered through them.

" Spyro, Cynder? " Terrador asked surprised when he spotted the two young dragons " A really windy evening isn't it?

Spyro turned towards the Guardian " We need to speak with you" he nipped Cynder with his tail to get her attention.

The dragoness remained unmoved, still staring through the window " I'll stay here, I don't want to talk about that guy anyway. You go on"

" Are you sure?'

She swallowed " Yes"

" Ok"

With that Cynder heard the clicking sound of Spyro's claws moving away.

Some usually inactive piece of her mind had to responsible for her hearing since the normally used neurons were all dragged towards the window and were preoccupied with the image behind it. She was so lost in that sight, that if somebody would ask her about what Spyro and her just talked about she wouldn't be able to recall a single word.

As she stared at the darkening city ahead of her, she could feel fear pulsing in her temples just like it would be some kind of a solid ball bouncing from one side of her head to the other. The ball had all the right to jiggle like that, Cynder was looking especially on one lit street, people were still eagerly traveling through its marble path, the late hour and a sight of a night spent inside the safety of one's home had no doubt something to do with it.

Among the sliding shadows was one thing that never changed, and that was the form of a dragon she was way too familiar with for her liking. The dragon from her nightmares stood in the middle of the street, he had his wings opened, presenting his mottled grey membranes, thanks to the light from the lamps she could see the delicate trail of smoke, dust, or shadow swirling around his green wings.

His scales were like from her dreams, purple, just like Spyro's, and since he's the only breathing drake with such scales, someone who would see the dragon for the first time could confuse him with the Savior.

Yet all these people Cynder could see paid the dragon no heed.

Every inhabitant who passed through the street walked past the dragon like he was no one special...or didn't exist in the first place. However that wasn't the most scary part, what really terrified her was the gaze of the dragon, his brown eyes were strictly aimed at her.

And she couldn't help herself but to look back at them while subconsciously rubbing her neck.

*

" What?" Terrador blurt out angrily

Spyro nodded sadly, the experience from the hospital that he just related to Terrador was still fresh in his mind.

The Earth Guardian ran his claws along his chin, scratching his draconic beard I'm glad that you listened to my advice and came with this problem to us..." the old dragon looked around the room "...me"

Spyro nodded once more, he did as he said he will, now it's the Guardians turn to keep their end of the bargain. He ignored the fact that the troubles with Brill started way before they decided to pass over some things that occurred in Munitions Forge. It was not a fair deal in the purple dragon's eyes, but it was still a deal, and as far as he can see nothing changed in the matter of the mole.

However he can't be straightforward about it, the Guardian's maybe had problems with Brill that he isn't aware of, and he learnt better not to jump to conclusions. The only reasonable way is to ease into this whole matter.

" People seem to be more aggressive" Spyro started calmly " They are more bold, more blunt and especially more unreasonable as of late"

Terrador set his eyes on the purple dragon " They are confused, they are bombarded from every possible direction. Unfortunately some are more than happy to exploit this"

" Like Brill"

" I know where this is going Spyro, I've seen many things in my life, I'm too old to be fooled by words, I've learnt to read between the lines as a soldier. You have to remember this when dealing with someone older than you by hundred of years, life in all its glamour is a rough teacher"

" Then why nothing was done about it?"

" We did our best, we allowed Brill to renovate the temple as he see fits, we granted him a place where he could worship all the dragons he seemed worthy. At the same time we forbade him from organizing any more public speeches and antagonizing his followers against Cynder, we told him that Warfang has changed, just like she did. It took a lot of persuading but eventually he accepted our terms and our point of view"

" What are the chances that he will keep his word? Especially when more dumb superstitions and hasty verdicts are going to be spread around the city? Because honestly, for me, it looks like he lied to you, even after all this time I don't see any difference, in fact things seem to be more worse than before"

Terrador sighed " And here we reached the heart of the matter. We watched Brill, we had to make sure he will be true to his word and believe me or not, he was, and still is.

Spyro scratched the back of his head " I'm confused, if he behaves then from where this aggression comes from?"

" It's the people Spyro, they do it out of their own free will and honestly we can't fight against the whole city. Perhaps time will help"

" Time won't have anything to do with it!" the purple dragon snapped making the earth drake jerk his head back in surprise. Seeing this Spyro lowered his head in embarrassment " Sorry, what I want to say is that Cynder deserves a place she can call home, a place where she can feel safe"

" I understand, but we need to approach this situation diplomatically"

" What makes you think that they will even want to talk? In the hospital they seemed to be done listening to reason"

Terrador nodded morosely " I haven't seen our people so driven by hate and vengeance before, it's like something triggered the safety button, and it wasn't Brill. Whatever happened, I'm sure that when only words will be in play nothing drastic will come out of it. People will eventually see how good Cynder really is and...well maybe not forgive her, but will accept her. Unfortunately that's the best we can hope for right now"

" And Brill will just stay out of it?"

" The more faithful will definitely flock to the mole like moths to a flame but as I said, he will not take any action. I don't deny the fact that he might break at some point, but there is nothing to be afraid of, with our experience and past victories we can easily counter his every argument"

Spyro looked at his best friend, she was still looking through the window with her tail frozen in place. He can't blame her that she wanted to sit this conversation out, and if he didn't knew better he would say that she avoided the talk for an entire different reason than fear. If he didn't knew better he would swear that there is actually something behind that window that's more interesting for her than this conversation.

The purple dragon sighed inwardly, he can't just sit idly and hope that everything will turn out for the better, Time has already taught him a lesson.

" Still..." Spyro said firmly and looked straight into the Earth Guardian's eyes "...I would like to speak to him"

The determined glimmer inside the young dragon's eyes threw Terrador slightly aback " Spyro-"

" Where can I find him? Is he in the temple?" the purple drake cut him off

" Spyro" the Guardian raised his voice slightly " I understand your displeasure, I know it might not seem enough, but don't do anything rash"

" I just need to speak with him"

" Spyro heed an advice of an old dragon. Nothing good will come out of it"

" The temple then"

The green dragon shook his head, but then suddenly let out a muffled cackle " By the Ancestors, I've seen such stubbornness before. Ignitus surely knew what pupil to choose, you are so much alike" he looked at the dragoness standing by the window " He would move mountains and stop rivers for you, just like you would do it for Cynder, it is a commendable trait but it also has its price" he turned his firm gaze at the young dragon again " It clouds your judgment, you need to set a line for yourself, a line that you will never cross, no matter what happens, when you will finally stop at that line and think about your next course of action just let go. It will hurt, I know that, but you need to understand that life isn't easy, don't look for shortcuts because they might lead you somewhere entirely different. This is unfortunately the road of every warrior"

" I will not allow it to happen"

Terrador sighed sadly " I hope you succeed" he muttered half-heartedly

*

There was absolutely no sound reaching her, except the one of her racing heart, she could feel fear pulsing in her every vain. She isn't dreaming , then why does she see this creature? Or maybe she actually is dreaming but doesn't realize it? Just like she doesn't realize that the gale intensified with the coming night.

There was a sudden howl.

Cynder let out a muffled yelp and her body convulsed in what looked like a posthumous contraction. The wind rattled on the window like some sort of an unsubstantial pianist playing a tune on its glassy piano which it composed eons ago. The howling music and the image of that dragon, that monster standing in the distance froze the blood in her veins.

She tried to get away but the dragon's brown eyes followed every pitiful jerk of her body. The dragoness couldn't force herself to do more than that, whenever she tried to move more than a single inch or two the brown eyes followed her, pulling her back and freezing her in place. Or perhaps it was just fear that paralyzed her, she couldn't say for sure.

What Cynder knew for certain was that the sun finally began to retreat behind the horizon, hiding its invigorating tendrils. What came after was a natural order of things, but for her it was something more, for the very first time in her life darkness scared her.

She watched as the shadows began to grow, covering every bit of Warfang that still resisted the call of the moon, but soon even that opposition fell. In that moment a sudden terrifying realization struck her, or it was just her instinct screaming, whatever it was it forced her to picture herself as one of the many bricks of Warfang, in that moment she knew that no matter how hard she will resist, she will succumb to darkness, just like all the bricks before her. And finally the last piece of the puzzle will fall in place.

Puzzle? What puzzle?

The question remained unanswered.

However in that brief moment of clarity she felt oddly complete and dumbfounded at the same time. The moment of confusion was just as brief as the lucidity of the previous moment, when the shock ended her emerald gaze landed on the street once more.

One by one marble paths were being covered by darkness, the unstoppable force of the moon was sweeping through the streets like a black flood. As she stared at the approaching shadows she couldn't shake of the feeling of utter terror. She never thought she will admit it, but that strangely thick darkness, her own element, was terrifying her. She was afraid of the dark.

The black mass moved through the city unhindered, streets, buildings and people were disappearing under its dark gown, not even the lights emanating from the many lamps were enough to disperse it. Something deep inside her told the dragoness that nothing alive will be coming out of this mass when the sun finally wakes up.

As Cynder observed the sliding darkness a numb pain started pulsing inside her head, just like somebody would play on a drum inside her skull. The pain intensified with every new meter the darkness conquered. The agony reached its pinnacle when finally the black mass connected with the dragon with brown eyes.

Cynder cringed when that happened, she felt as if a jar holding thousands of screams just exploded inside her brain, the released shrill sound threatened to pierce her skull. Everything began to swirl, except the image of the dragon, he stood perfectly still in that darkness, watching her every move.

The pain was unbearable, she tried to scream but the only thing that came out of her throat was a mute yell. The music returned, the pianist played another song, more intense than the last one. Every note shook her body, throwing her into an agonizing dance.

Cynder wanted to get away, but was unable to do a thing, the darkness was now moving across the City Hall's walls, and soon it moved along the window she was looking through. An intense prolonged sound of a key on the piano with the lowest overtone resounded inside her head, almost making her brain explode.

A leaf glued itself to the window.

With a howl of the wind came the same low overtone and another leaf appeared. The same low noise sounded again, one more leaf plastered itself on the glass. Cynder grabbed her head when once again a leaf got stuck on the window accompanied by the howling wind.

The nature's pianist began to hit that single key faster and faster. With every rumble of the piano Cynder felt as her brain was hissing with great exertion as some kind of a steam tank at the brink of explosion. The dragoness whimpered in anguish, the agonizing tune was just too much, not to mention that leafs kept hitting at the window with every press of the unsubstantial key. The thuds they created were boiling the blood in her veins.

She tried to scream but was unable to, her swirling world seemed to be in a different dimension. Cynder landed on her butt, with her claws at both sides of her head, trying to claw that terrible music out while her body swayed back and forth to a music of her own, created by the tears squeezed from her eyes.

It was like a never-ending torture, the constant thuds and rumbles were about to drive her mad. It was so painful that she wished to die, she wished it to be finally over, she couldn't take it anymore.

And then suddenly, it ended.

Still shocked Cynder opened her watery eyes, she was currently staring at the ground, with the tips of her claws slightly breaking through the scales on her head. Silence surrounded her. The wind stopped howling, the leafs ceased thudding, even the pain was gone, everything suddenly became completely still.

Cynder dropped her paws, she kept staring at the floor in utter shock, disbelief and terror, she couldn't believe that it was over. Still, she didn't want to look at the window, she felt as something was observing her and deep down she knew what it was. However there was that hard to explain pull, which urged her to look upon the glass, and she had no choice but to compel.

With fear still shackling her every motion she slowly raised her head, expecting the worst. Before she knew it her head was almost at the same level as the window, however she was unaware of the impulse that forced her eyes to shut themselves, as if acting like her last defenders.

She struggled for a while, but after a while came to a conclusion that there is no sense in waiting. It was hard to tell if that was her courage speaking or something completely different. With a hard swallow that almost choked her the dragoness opened her eyes. Her heart stopped for a moment.

The leafs were plastered on the glass, and they were forming a message that strangely seemed as the most terrifying thing in the world.

WE ARE ONE

_ _

The moment she muttered the three words an enormous shadow ran across the window, completely blackening the world while emitting the most deafening and blood freezing roar she has ever heard.

"...dow!"

Cynder blinked hearing a strangely familiar male shout.

"...er...indow!"

The same familiar shout again, there was something really inviting and kind beaming from it. She found herself turning around, she felt as her body was moving on its own, as if her mind was trying to show her the right direction, that there lies salvation, at least for the time being.

" Cynder! The window!"

It was Spyro, how safe and reassuring his voice is.

" The window!"

" What window?" she mused

And then in a sudden whizz reality came back to her.

The sounds of wood thudding on stone and glass screaming in agony at every impact bombarded her head. With a gasp Cynder quickly spun around, the window where the leafs once where swung wildly back and forth, slammed at the walls by the howling wind outside. The thuds were so powerful that it was just a matter of time before the window breaks from its frame.

Driven by sheer instinct she jumped towards the screaming window, not even realizing that she was actually standing on all fours and not sitting. The window fluttered two more times before she managed to grab the handle.

" Oww!" Cynder hissed the moment her claws wrapped themselves around the grip. Something stung her below the eye all of a sudden.

Shaking off the discomforting pain she forcefully pulled the handle, slamming the window in place before securing it so the wind won't tear it off again. The moment the roar of the wind turned into a muffled whirr she impulsively looked through the fragile glassy barrier while still clutching the handle, not even realizing that her claws flawed the wooden grip.

Nothing scary was there.

Absolutely nothing. Only people and lamp lights dotted the street.

" Cynder is everything alright?"

The dragoness jumped at the sound of the militant baritone voice.

" What?"

" Are you alright?"

" Me?" she asked bewildered and turned towards the window again, just for safety precautions. However no matter how long she looked, she still couldn't believe that the dragon from her dreams vanished, hell she couldn't believe that he was there in the first place.

" I'm...fine" her eyes ran across the nearby buildings. Nothing "Just...dazed off there for a while " she cut her gaze at the nearby visible corners of the streets. Still nothing. " You...know how it is"

" You could think while listening to that roaring wind?" Spyro asked shocked " I could barely hear my own thoughts, and I'm standing quite a distance from the windows"

" I've got used to the noise" she answered quickly, not wanting Spyro to pry she turned around and smiled cheerfully. " So, you decided what you are gonna do? Are you going to be my knight that you promised you wouldn't be?"

" I'm going to speak with him" he stated confidently

" Good luck with that. I'm sure it's going to be an instructive conversation"

Spyro was slightly taken aback by the lack of aggression or irritation in her voice " You aren't mad?"

" Nope, I knew it was going to happen"

He observed her carefully, he could smell fear on her, and as a friend its his duty to try to make it go away. There is only one way to defeat fear, you have to face it.

" Come with me. Together-"

She laughed bitterly " Oh no, that's not going to happen"

" Cynder I see that you're afraid but-"

" I'm not scared of that mole" she replied firmly

" Then why won't you come?"

" Because you don't bring a chicken to a wolf's den. And just between you and me, I'm really fond of my thighs" she winked " Don't tell anybody"

" Terrador, help me?" Spyro pleaded

" It is Cynder's decision Spyro, we have to respect it" the Guardian answered

The purple dragon understood that he is fighting a losing battle, but the bond of friendship between them demanded to try once more.

" Please?" he begged his friend " Do it for me?"

" I'm doing this for you" she said lovingly " Listen Spyro, go by yourself, you have better chances on your own, it's best if I won't show my snout in the temple. He might start drooling or something"

" Such insolence!" a furious roar that could belong to only one Guardian echoed throughout the City Hall

Grinning, Terrador gave the dragoness a meaningful look " Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

Both young dragons laughed.

" Such arrogance!" another roar resounded in the room, but this time its owner appeared.

Cyril stormed into the main hall, taking quick insulted strides. Icy mist was wafting through his nostrils, icy sparks were shooting from his tail tip.

" Cyril!" Terrador exclaimed cheerfully " What a surprise!"

Once again the young dragons laughed, yet out of respect they stifled their joyful concert as best as they could.

The ice dragon turned his cold and wrathful gaze on the Earth Guardian " We need to carefully pick our associates! Not everyone understands what a honor it is to serve the Guardians!"

" First of all Cyril" Terrador dropped the cheerful attitude, he once again was back to his normal militant and stern self " All of these people who decided to work with us are doing it because they want to help, not to be our servants"

The Ice Guardian snorted in disdain " Fine! Yet a little respect would be welcome!"

The earth dragon shook his head " And who is the one that offended you?"

" Amela!" Cyril growled " She practically kicked me out of the room when I wanted to interrogate the prisoner! Can you believe it?! She kicked me out! ME!"

" What I've told you about jumping to conclusions?"

" I don't care! Either you will do something or I will!"

Terrador narrowed his gaze on the Ice Guardian, almost making the icy dragon cringe under its weight " Listen to me very carefully Cyril, we know each other for a very long time, I can turn a blind eye when your egoistical nature targets Volteer, he got used to it. But I won't tolerate your childish outbursts when they are directed on someone else, do you understand? Amela is our most experienced healer, she deserves as much respect as you do, one of her assistants informed me that she will visit us after the surgery. And since it ended, if I understand correctly from your words, she will surely explain why she...excused you and surely she will shed some light on our recent guest"

Cyril rolled his eyes " Nobody ever listens to me"

It was hard to say if the argument between the two Guardians would continue, no one ever solved that questions since suddenly the main door swung open once more, inviting the wind inside. However all of that inconvenience was unimportant, the hooded figure standing in the doorstep drew all the attention.

The figure shut the door behind itself, it then rose his hands to reach for the hood, just to slid it backwards, revealing two feline ears all of the gathered dragons were familiar with.

" Hunter!" Spyro exclaimed joyfully

The cheetah hobbled towards the excited young dragon, even from here they could see a jaunty yet painful smile spreading through the feline's face.

That smile and the obvious injury on the cheetah's leg forced Spyro's smile to retreat.

Hunter stopped in front of the purple dragon and bowed " Spyro my friend, it is always a pleasure to see you"

" Likewise"

The cheetah's already broad smile widened even more. He turned towards the black dragoness and bowed again " Cynder"

She returned the gesture.

Finally he concentrated on the two old dragons. He bowed once more, out of respect shaking off his grin " Guardians"

Both adult dragons followed in the cheetah's wake " Hunter" Terrador addressed him solemnly before dropping the official tone and smiled " We are glad that you returned to us"

The feline bowed again " It was an honor"

Cyril to everyone's surprise offered a chair to the cheetah " Sit please"

Hunter thanked the Guardian and dropped on the chair, obviously relieved.

Cynder turned towards the sitting cheetah and grinned " It was a very boring mission I see"

The feline smiled " It had its moments"

Spyro examined his furry friend from top to bottom, some of his cloths were practically fresh, but most of them were tattered and carried signs of battle. Why the cheetah would wear them in their state he had no idea. The dragon's eyes once again traveled up and down until they finally stopped on the cat's extended leg he avoided to put much weight on " How bad are you hurt?"

Hunter followed the drake's gaze, after noticing what drew his attention the cheetah chuckled " It's nothing Spyro, I just strained a muscle"

" What?" Cynder exclaimed with a stifled laugh " You pulled a muscle? You?"

He patted his sore leg " The potion wasn't that good after all" and then he laughed

" What potion?"

The cheetah shook his head " It's a long story, I'll get to it later, but first..." he turned towards the Guardians " How is she doing?"

Both old dragons looked at each other in confusion before turning towards the cheetah again " She?" they asked in unison

Hunter looked alarmed " The girl Amela was supposed to bring back here. Is she here?"

" Oh yesss. The mysterious patient" Terrador muttered " Yes, Amela has brought someone to the hospital. We just weren't aware that the patient is female, nobody of us saw her. Do you know who she is? Because we only heard rumors. She's after surgery and I believe she will pull through"

" She is a dragoness, maybe a year older than Cynder. From what I could tell she is an Ice dragoness but... I'm not certain. We found her hanging on a tree upside down with a spear jutting from her chest. She lost lots of blood. There were couple of dead dragons and some strange bones near the place we found her. All recent"

" Strange bones? What do you mean?"

The cheetah lowered his head in shame " I'm sorry but this is the best I can give you. When we arrived at the scene the place was already cramped with scavengers, making identification impossible, at least for me. Amela might have discovered something, if she found the time to examine the bones that is"

" I had a feeling that our new guest is dangerous!" Cyril exclaimed triumphantly

" We don't know that for sure Cyril" Terrador corrected the Ice Guardian

" Please don't be naïve Terrador, the dragoness might be a murderer. You don't surround yourself with bodies by coincidence, something happened. Now it's up to us to figure out if our new guest was the prey or the predator. Remember that neither of this things exclude murder.

" Those are only speculations, we better wait for Amela. I propose to focus on something more solid. What of the Dark Army Hunter?"

Hunter impulsively ran his hand across his still sore chest " They were dispatched with the help of the Atlawa tribe, but unfortunately I wasn't able to stop them before they've finished the ritual. At least I believe that was a ritual, did the sky darkened here as well all of a sudden?"

" Yes"

The cheetah sighed " I apologize but I wasn't able to find out the reason or the effects of the ritual"

" I think it's connected with the Veils somehow" Spyro added

" There's one more thing" Hunter reached behind his coat and withdrew a dark bleak green crystal " A hero orc was carrying one of these" he put the gem on the table " It looks familiar, but I can't place where did I see it"

All of the dragons examined the gem " I've seen it somewhere..." Cynder muttered while scratching her choker thoughtfully

" Me too" Spyro added

" I believe we all did" Cyril's voice joined the brainstorming

" YOU!"

Hunter winced, his ears flattened on his skull after hearing the angry feminine shout. All of them turned around, in the entrance to the corridor connecting the City Hall with the Mess Hall and hospital stood Amela. The female cheetah wore a pristine white shirt and brown pants, in any other situation she would look like a beacon of serenity, but in this case that image was ruined by the cheetah's hands clenched firmly on her hips and an agitated grimace on her face.

" Did nobody ever teach you how to write letters?"!

The feline scout swallowed " it seemed to work"

" Of course it did! " she waved her fist angrily at him " it did more than just work! It mobilized the whole hospital! After reading _ The Atlawa will escort you, there was a massacre, make haste._ I woke up the whole hospital, gathered everyone I could and took every possible supply that we could carry. And for what?! Just to find a single dragoness wounded?! I'll repeat so you can understand. I took with me every available medical supply and personnel, leaving the hospital almost completely empty. Do you have any idea what could happen if there would be an accident here in the city?!"

" I-"

" NO!" Amela blurt out furiously " I don't want to hear your apology. When we are done here you will come with me and practice how to properly write letters, and you won't leave until I say so. Are we clear?!"

" Whoa" Spyro muttered quietly " She's pissed"

Hunter dropped his head, just like a guilty child.

" Amela" Terrador stated calmly " Hunter just returned from a dangerous and long mission, he deserves some rest"

" I don't care!" the feline growled " You put me in charge of the hospital Sir, and I take this task seriously. It's my sacred duty to help and protect all wounded people, and if we turn a blind eye even on such a stupid situation as this, sooner or later it will slap us in the face. I won't allow people to suffer because of negligence!"

" I'll go with you" the male cheetah added

The female healer nodded " Good, at least they taught you honor in that village of yours"

" Why did you throw me out from the girl's room?" Cyril asked as politely as he could, yet the rumble in his throat betrayed his real feelings

Amela was unmoved by the poorly cloaked irritation " No one disturbs my patients without mine approval"

" Excuse me?!" the Ice Guardian blurt out shocked " Did you forget that you may be harboring a potential murderer?!"

" She can be The Dark Master's daughter for all I care. She needs rest"

Cyril let out a disbelieving cackle " This is preposterous!"

" This settles the dispute then" Terrador interjected firmly, wanting to avoid further argument " What can you tell us about your patient Amela?"

She leaned against a wall and sighed " As I said, she is a dragoness, ice is her element I think... I'm not sure. She is a pretty young girl, a year older than our Cynder here. We found her with a spear protruding from her chest, after removing the weapon and applying the necessary treatments we discovered that she suffered from a major internal bleeding. To save her life I had to operate. While I examined her I've noticed a very peculiar thing, there was a bluish gem inserted into her chest scales..."

Spyro and Cynder exchanged meaningful looks. They both realized why that gem Hunter brought seemed familiar.

"...At first I thought it was another foreign object and I wanted to remove it, but it seemed to be molded with some major arteries. The removal of the gem would most likely kill the poor girl so I left it alone. What else? Oh yes, I believe she fancies trinkets, like some women do " she poked the earring on her left ear meaningfully " From what I could tell she likes gold, I've found three gold bracelets and a single medallion. All of her personal possession are left in her room"

" What about the bones?" Terrador inclined

" I didn't have the time to examine them properly, but from what I've seen, they don't belong to any specie I know"

" Ok this is going too far!" Cyril growled indignantly " We need to examine her belongings, especially the medallion sounds suspicious."

" It's a memento"

" What makes you so sure?"

" The three bracelets are still shiny, new. The medallion on the other hand lost its glimmer a long time ago, also the chain holding it is worn out. It's a memento, believe me, I can tell"

" We still need to see it"

Amela shook her head firmly " I won't allow to rummage through her personal belongings. Whatever that medallion hides, it's for her eyes only"

Cyril snorted, an icy mist shot from his nostrils " I can't believe what I'm hearing"

" The belongings will remain with our new guest" Terrador's official tone left no room for argument " We can always ask about it later"

Seeing that the conversation is over Cynder jumped towards the table, grabbed the dark green gem and raised it so the cheetah could easily see it " Did that bluish gem looked like this?"

Amela frowned and approached the black dragoness. She gingerly took the crystal and examined it from up close. The cheetah nodded " Yes, I think it looks just like this, but more bright"

" Flare has a similar one"

Terrador nodded " So if our two new friends have similar crystals inserted in their bodies, we can assume-"

" That this green crystal belonged to a different dragon" Hunter finished for the Guardian " It would make sense. When I've found the gem, it had dried blood stains on it, also it was carried by the hero orc, who most likely performed the ritual"

" If this thing somehow strengthened the portals..." Spyro took the gem from Amela hands and brought it close to his right eye"...then I suppose we found our battery"

" But..." the Earth Guardian pushed the created train of thought "...if these crystals need to be cut out to fuel the Veils, then what do they do when they are still embedded within draconic bodies?"

That particular question remained unanswered.

Terrador took the gem " I better take this to Volteer, maybe he will make some sense out of it"

Then suddenly the front door once more swung open, letting two more people joint the already big group.

" Flare!" Cynder dashed towards the door, with startled Spyro and Amela following her

Sparx rolled his eyes when the small group surrounded the fiery drake " I'm fine, thanks"

" What happened?"

" I-"

" How bad are you hurt?" Amela cut the young drake off

Flare looked at his dirty body " This is not my blood...I think"

The female cheetah grabbed one of the dragon's horn and pulled him behind her " We need to clean and check you out, you poor thing. There will be time for questions later" before anyone knew it, both of them were already gone.

When that happened both young dragons turned their attention towards the whistling dragonfly.

Sparx perfectly understood their meaningful stares " Oh I get it, a bleeding guy shows up, you all cuddle around him and when he's gone I'm suddenly the most important one here? Am I the only one who thinks that something is wrong here?"

" Sparx it's not the time for games!" Spyro admonished his brother " Tell us what happened!"

" I don't know ok? You need to ask Crouton when he gets back. I just pulled him away from a mob before it chewed him up"

The purple dragon growled " Not again! I swear when I'm going to find Brill I will..."

" It all could be avoided if you would listen to me and ditched the guy when we had the chance"

" It's not Flare's fault!" Cynder shouted

" I know that"

" Then what the hell are you talking about?"

Sparx shrugged " I'm just messing with you"

" I don't know what stupid game are you playing, but if you wanted to make me angry, it's working"

The dragonfly grinned proudly " I don't need games for that"

" Sparx will you stop this already?" Spyro admonished him a second time

" Two versus one? That ain't fair, if you want me gone just say it" he pointed a finger on the purple dragon " And bro listen to me sometimes, one day you will need to be a bastard" he dashed towards the nearby window

" Where are you going?" Spyro shouted after him

" Somewhere" with that Sparx suddenly froze " But first" he made his way back and began to circle around the black dragoness, examining her closely.

Cynder's eyes followed his every move " What?" when he didn't answer, she decided to play a game of her own " See anything you like?" she asked annoyed

Sparx snickered " Cyn, that was uncalled for, I've just ate" with that he dashed towards the window again "See ya!" and disappeared

" What was that all about?" Spyro asked dumbfounded

She shrugged " Your brother is an idiot"