FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 8

The world around him was burning, he could see the blurry earth behind the window, ravaged by elements of different kind. Ash and smoke hanged thickly in the air, preventing him from properly seeing his companions and oppressors. But they were there, he could feel them.

He squinted when a powerful bolt of lightning cracked the air and struck something, illuminating the area for a moment white a bright yellow right.

Even through the thick walls of the citadel and many other noises of the ongoing battle he heard that particular sound perfectly. It was a distinctive feminine roar, a roar full of anguish, despair and sadness, the last breath of a dying dragon. He saw her delicate form swirling in the air and falling down, her fluttering wings reminded him of the games they used to play as hatchlings.

They created their own special leafy helmets and with them on their heads they cut through the air, he could hear her wings making the same sound as the leafs fluttering so many years ago in the air. They were the Black Scaled Wind Warriors, fighters of crime and villains, protectors of the world and bringers of justice.

Superdragons.

Now one of the Wind Warriors has fallen, her super powers ebbed away into nothingness with her last dying breath, only a lifeless husk has remained of his sister. He watched her fall down until her black body finally disappeared somewhere within that thick ash. She is unimportant, they are all unimportant now, they are all dead anyway.

The balance had been broken, their demise is nearing and nothing will prevent it.

He moved forward, his claws clicked on the citadel's floors, their sound echoed throughout the whole now empty corridor. The noise bounced off the walls with echoing thuds, it was like the sound of a completely destroyed bell, announcing its final hour in its artificial lifespan before it'll collapse and finally be destroyed.

Destroyed. Like this world will soon be.

His walk through the empty hallway was abruptly ended by a window shattering just next to him. It gave under the empowered artificial gale, many wind breaths were joined together, creating a powerful tornado that was ravaging the landscape in the distance.

He was unmoved by the sight, unmoved by the sound of the wind howling through the corridor that shook every possible door, just like he was unmoved by the shards of the broken glass impaled in his scales, or the crimson blood trickling from the wounds.

He just stared at the battle ahead, he observed the scene in awe and fascination to be precise. But he didn't know that, he didn't know what feelings are. Everything that sat in his mind was an empty emotionless silence.

He observed the thick smoke which was occasionally lightened by all different colors, of all eight elements, he could see them all, many blind fools only discerned five. Painful and angry roars accompanied the light show, green, black, red, white, yellow, blue, brown and orange, all those rays and orbs were constantly mixed with purple and black winged dots disappearing into the misty thick veil. As he stared at the battle through his blood covered eyes only one single thought crossed his mind.

The balance had been broken.

Finally, after so many eons of futile existence it was over. That one single thought was so sweet, so intoxicating that he had to think about it again. Recite the words as if it was a prayer.

The balance had been broken.

There is no stopping now, what was postponed for so many years is now stirring up, so many miles to the north, in the middle of the world, in that wretched volcano where he was ALSO trapped with it. Now they will both walk free, and they'll keep on going until there will be no one left to stop them.

Stop me.

The cycle had begun, it is the perfect moment to keep the wheel of time spinning and by doing it he will reclaim what is his. Even with all this death, the hunger is unseated, it is time to feed.

With another roar and flash of lighting in the distance he turned towards the door on the far end of the corridor. The citadel was timing with life once, he could feel its obsidian walls pulsing with the only true element, HIS element, he could sense it even from such a long distance, after all parts of him were spread across the whole world .

No wonder that wind was his only companion as he traversed through the corridor, many of the citadel's inhabitants were out there, on the battlefield. Not aware of the cancer that spreads through their home, not that it mattered really, they all will be forgotten, it's the little things that decide who goes first.

As he approached the door he passed another window, he slowed down his walk when that happened and looked through the transparent mirror. He could feel himself over there, he didn't see his own, not exactly the same reflection in that thick smoke, but the silhouettes of purple and black dragons who suddenly froze in the air just to be puffed like piles of ashes only confirmed his presence there.

The battle wasn't over but the desperation in its most powerful form spreading through the ranks of the purple oppressors only sped up the inevitable process. With an emotionless gaze he once again turned his attention to the beating door at the end of the hallway. He will add something himself into the fast spinning wheel of time.

He forcefully pushed the door open to counter the pressure he felt on the other side of the door. The moment both wings slammed against the wall, the impact was so powerful that one of the frames couldn't withstand the force and broke off from its hinges.

He watched the wing being lifted in the air and dragged by an invisible force to the opposite side of the currently visited. His eyes followed the flying door until they were shot into the world through a tremendous hole in the citadel's walls. Bits of rocks were laying everywhere, but even those were steadily being stolen by the devastating twisters outside.

No matter how big the hole in the wall was, the empty spot on the ceiling proved that there were parts of the citadel that were in a worse state. The ceiling was mostly rubble, he could see the dark sky above, the moon crying over the fate of the world as it illuminated the hanging blocks of obsidian with lines of green lichen like threads running in between them.

One of the dangling blocks was torn down by the wind and hit the floor with a loud thud before bouncing off the created cracks and falling even lower through the hole in the wall. The sound of the whizzing wind once again overpowered his hearing, add to that the sliding and falling rocks and you have a recipe for making your life worse.

Yet he wasn't bother by such trifles, he had his goal and his own element won't scare him off. The moment he made a single literal bloody step he felt as tremors ran underneath his paws like they were much more heavier than his whole body was. In truth, it was just an illusion, it wasn't him who was strong but the ground which was weak.

A second step confirmed this.

When his other paw touched the ground the black floor creaked, the sound was like the noise of many shrill screams, then a grinding sound reached him, it was getting louder and louder until finally cracks appeared on the floor and the obsidian path crumbled, many black blocks were dragged down below with a tremendous rumbling sound. Everything that remained of the once awe inspiring ground was nothing more than a hole leading to a very long fall, down the ragged mountain below.

With a calm steady steps he moved around the what seemed like an endless hole and pressed onwards, towards the destination the hunger demanded. As he walked down the ordered path another loud rumbling noise reached him, somewhere behind him, most likely near the crumbled ceiling more blocks gave up under the constant pressure of the howling wind, collapsing more floor and blocking even more doors.

The ground shook underneath his paws, cracks began to appear on the obsidian floor he walked upon with the sound of ripping rocks. He was unmoved by the situation, he steadily walked towards the door in front of his nose, cracks already bored with the floor began to cover the surrounding walls.

He clenched his black paw on the silver handle and pushed, the door rattled but didn't move, he tried once more, putting more strength into it this time. The result remained the same, something was blocking them on the other side.

The part of the mountain responsible for holding this part of the citadel was starting to slump, finally having enough of the constant blows it received. The cracks that widened under and around him showed that this particular part of the citadel belonged to that ruined part of the mountain. If the obsidian structure had feelings it would be now shrieking in agony, everything began to shake violently, and with each such shake the part of the fortress he was currently in began to skew to the left.

This trifle inconvenience won't stop him, there isn't anything that can stop him now. Be it either the force of angered nature or the desperate living.

He narrowed his gaze on the door ahead and opened his mouth.

It wasn't the standard way of channeling elemental energy she was used to, in fact it didn't feel like focusing elemental energy at all. She felt her body burning, like a fire would be ignited inside her, the moment the dragon released a powerful gust she felt that part of her own being was puffed out.

We are one.

The door shot off its hinges like they were released from a ballista, with an almost deafening the flying door took care of the blockade of black rocks which prevented it from opening. At the impact the door split in half, one wing slid on the ground with some parts of the embellished obsidian while the other flew straight ahead and struck a wall in the distance with an echoing thud while breaking completely and making a quite sizeable indentation in the wall. Dust instantly shot in the air after the blockade was forcefully parted.

He stepped calmly through the freshly created opening, the moment he touched the more solid part of the fortress the crack behind him grew to immense size and in the mixed cacophony of sounds of grinding stones and rumbling rocks the weakened part of the mountain split from the rest of its surface and dragged the unfortunate segment of the citadel into the mist below, leaving in its place nothing more than a simple hole in the mountain.

Where he was now once was an impressive hall, which intimidated the few lucky guests who had the privilege to be invited within the black walls of the Shade citadel. Now nothing remained of the decor of the once awe inspiring fortress. The columns were cracked barely able to hold the ceiling above, the statues that adorned the halls were mostly crumbled, the paintings were nothing more than torn canvas, even the magic flowing through the walls which gave them an ominous shine withered. Everything that made the fortress impressive was gone.

And soon Shade will join the decadence.

He was one of the black majestic creatures who made the citadel their home, and from the hollow sound of the clicking claws in the distance and the overpowering sense of his own unique essence approaching, he knew that he wasn't the only one still traversing this fading memory of the past.

Moments later the sound of clicking claws intensified, when it was close enough he instantly recognized what part of him is approaching, accompanied by someone else who was unimportant right now.

He turned towards the noise of rocks being moved, he watched the obsidian blocks being raised and hurled to the sides by black paws with a dark blue underside. He had paws like that too, an unique characteristic among his kind. Easy to remember.

He watched the black rocks being moved, he stood still and in complete silence. That changed the moment the path was cleared.

" Hello Mother" he said with an emotionless voice the moment a black snout emerged from the shadows

" Koren, no!" the female cried out as she stepped out from the shadows

She was a beautiful creature, the passing years did not threaten her grace in the slightest. The cornflower blue color of her underbelly, neck and chin perfectly contrasted with the black scales of the rest of her body. He was always fond of the tiny spikes projecting on her nose, that mixed with her slender silhouette and the two magnificent and beautiful dark blue eyes was an image of perfection for him. He loved and adored his mother.

Once.

" No, not you! Just not you!" Why haven't you taken me?" the female sobbed, tears were running down her cheeks in streams

" You were too strong Mother" he replied with the same cold voice

The dragonesses eyes burst with another streams of tears " My son..." she sobbed " my dearest son...."

" I am here Mother"

She looked at him more intently, her dark blue eyes were moist with tears, they shimmered like an ocean under the moonlight. Even if her eyes radiated serenity there was that blindness within them, like they knew that the sight ahead of them isn't true but in their desperation and realization of utter defeat they made that sight real.

" Oh Koren..." the dragoness sobbed through tears and made a slow step towards him

Then from the shadows emerged another black paw which grabbed the other dragonesses' tail.

" This is not your son anymore!" sounded a raspy, angry and very tired feminine voice

The dark blue dragoness yanked her tail away and spun around " Leave me alone!" she growled through tears

From the shadows stepped out another black female, he watched her closely, intrigued to know what remained of the once impenetrable blockade. Not much it seemed.

The newly arrived female was old, but not as old as her scales seemed to tell. She looked like a walking ruin, as if her body was dying together with the fortress, yet he knew better, he knew what caused her scales to wither.

It was him.

Almost every part of black dragonesses body was covered with white markings, once they shone brightly on the scaly canvas of her black scales. Now they were faded, as was her whole black body, it was like her leathery armor was falling apart on its own, not able to contain the thing it supposed to keep in check.

" You need to listen to me" the old dragoness rasped and coughed soon after " K-Koren is no more" she placed her withered paw on the other female's shoulder

The younger dragoness shoved the paw away " Do you think I don't know that?" she blurt out indignantly, her moist dark blue eyed filled a spark of desperation

" We still can-"

" What?!" the dragoness cut off the other one with a sad lough " Our brothers and sisters are dying as we speak, there is only a handful of us left, and let's face it Channeler, you are not able to fight it, look at yourself, it's destroying you"

She looked at Koren again " This world is lost, we failed, and if I'm to go I want to say goodbye to my only alive child, at this point I no longer care if his truly standing there. That dragon looks like my son, and that's enough for me"

The old dragoness lowered her head without a word, she too knew the truth yet her position among her people demanded that she'll always give hope. However now, there is absolutely nothing to say, nothing to do to somehow turn the table. This is the bitter truth.

The younger female focused her watery eyes on the only male in the room, as she walked towards him her body language betrayed her feelings. There was everything that a loved one and an enemy would feel, her totter was a mix of love, worry, hate and disgust, yet above them all was that indescribable and magical motherly instinct that ordered to remain close to her offspring. Be like a family in this last moments.

She gently touched his cheek and sobbed when she delicately brushed it with her paw, every image from her son's childhood flashed before her eyes.

Maybe in the past her touch would trigger some feelings in him, now they meant nothing. However this was his mother once, he had many mothers, but this one had unique characteristic and she was the only one who had the courage to actually show her motherly devotion, she is worth remembering. She is unique.

" I will never forget you Mother"

After hearing her son's emotionless voice more tears caressed her cheeks.

He leaned closer as if preparing to kiss her but stopped in midair, he sensed her terrified gasp and the scared pounding of her heart.

" This will hurt only a little" he whispered

Before she could truly process his words and the whole situation, he made his move. His sharp teeth went for her throat and in a split second his maw shut itself tight. Blood splattered on his snout as he tore the throat of his mother with one fierce and swift bite.

The dragonesses eyes sparkled with last shimmer of life in them when she gurgled and spit more blood. Her eyes became cold and empty moments later, the spark of life had been extinguished.

He instantly bent on his paws, her now lifeless body with his help fell directly on his back. He didn't care about the blood flowing from the mortal wound and down his black scales as he kept getting lower and lower. He then swiftly slipped away while keeping his paws extended, the body gently fell on them, moments later he removed his forelegs and the corpse of his mother was laid respectfully on the floor.

" Goodbye Mother" he closed her still moist eyes

He turned his blood covered snout towards the old dragoness, failure, pain and sadness were woven in every grimace on her snout. He directed himself towards the nearby window where another flash of lightning illuminated the sky.

" So many years you held me back and now nothing remains of that resistance. Tell me Channeler, did you truly believe you could be successful?"

The old black dragoness swallowed " I truly did, and I did everything in my power to preserve the balance"

" Are you certain that there was nothing else you could do?"

" It was you abomination, I don't know what weakling you deceived or where did you find one, it was your tricks that ruined us. My strategy was flawless"

" Ah, still so proud even at the brink of destruction" he spun around to face her " I wonder why? Did you not see yourself in the mirror?"

The female growled offended " I took this burden on me because I had no other option, given more time I would make you submit"

" No Channeler you wouldn't, you aren't the one with the strength, no one from your kind could fully contain me, such being does not exist, at least for now"

" You're a liar"

He looked at her surprised " Am I? Did you not feel stronger when you imprisoned more and more of me?"

" I did because I know how to use you"

" You did not allow me to flourish, and this destruction is a consequence of that, you weren't able to dominate your oppressors and lost the battle for your survival. If you would accept me as one, as we are meant to be, everything would be different, we would have the time before you would expire"

The dragoness wanted to lough mockingly but only ended up coughing painfully " You are losing yourself in your own lies. What would that change? You would dominate my own people as you did now"

" Yes, but then you would lose more of your people instead of the whole world. It was you who said that you could contain me, would not that be a better alternative? Yet for all your pride you did not take the risk"

" Silence!" the female growled " You are a curse and the only way to defeat you is to tame you on our own rules"

" Curse?" he pointed at himself " We are more powerful than ever"

" We? What we? Do you take me for a fool? Koren is dead"

" Koren is alive, I can feel his love for our mother"

The dragoness snorted " The one you murdered? You want to tell me you killed her out of love?"

" Her death was necessary, I showed love by offering respect to her body. One you will not receive"

" You're nothing else than a monster"

" Yet it was not me who doomed the world"

" But you are the one destroying it"

" You know my nature, that is why you kept me imprisoned. Why do you blame me?"

" Silence!" the female roared with her last strength " Do what you came here to do horror and spare me your babbling"

" So eager to die? Without the knowledge of what happened? Is this what you want? You? Who always wanted to know everything?"

He didn't receive any response, but silence spoke louder than words.

" It was not me who started all of this, I did not rick anybody nor did I broke free. I was released"

" Nobody from our city or those on the other part of the continent even would be that stupid. I made sure of that"

" Yes, but the creatures from the Pit were ignorant of your schemes"

" That vermin? Those beasts are barely working together, let alone be of any danger to dragonkind. They are only a nuisance"

" Do you know the saying to put a cat among the pigeons? Your endless provocations towards the Pit had to finally retaliate. Your iron paw led the beasts as you call them to finally reorganize, one can be bullied for so long after all. However they would have been unable to be of any real threat if not for your harsh leadership"

The old dragoness jerked her head back in surprise " You want to tell me it was all my fault?"

He looked at her, there was that evil shimmer of satisfaction in his eyes " It is because of you that the world is being destroyed now"

" You're lying monster!" the female roared and coughed soon after

" Why would I be lying? You are no threat and soon you will be nothing more than a faded memory. Yes Channeler it was you who started all of this"

" I'm not be listening to this nonsense"

" It was your constant control which ignited the fuse of rebellion and curiosity, especially in the young ones"

" No, this is not true!"

" One from here and one from the other camp was enough"

" Not another word!" The female growled, her proud demeanor crumbled

" Those two kept slipping away more often, secretly cursing you and your rules. Their happy dream was ended when they got caught and then executed by the Pit. The rest I am sure you know"

The dragoness wasn't looking at him, she was staring in the distance, connecting the facts and with each second she became more and more pale.

He started to approach the female " This is your grand failure Channeler, and now we will show you what you could achieve if only you would accept me. This was your second failure. Where is your pride now?"

His raised his paw, one of his silvery claws turned yellow, it looked like it decayed in a moment's notice, like it belonged to a very old corpse in an advance state of putrefaction.

However it wasn't fragile, the rotten claw pierced the female's scales easily, it was gone just as quick as it went in. A swift stab, such strike wouldn't put a deer down let alone a dragon, but it wasn't the stab that caused the agony, but the thing that happened later.

Soon the old female's eyes swelled with blood, she then dropped on the floor and began to cough while thrashing violently. She rasped trying to catch breath but ended only coughing even more fiercely than before, spitting blood and what looked like parts of her throat or lungs. Soon blood started to flow from her nose, the round eyes began releasing red tears. Seconds later she let out two long raspy and definitely painful coughs and then her head dropped on the ground with blood still flowing down from her swelled red eyes.

He stared at the withered corpse with an emotionless gaze " Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves"

*

Cynder's eyes snapped open with a gasp, she found herself laying on her back trying to see the ceiling through the thick darkness embracing her room.

She swallowed and winced in pain, her throat was sore, it felt like it turned into a sand paper over the night. Which shouldn't be that surprising since she was wet from sweat and soon started panting, she had to lose lots of energy after nightfall. Pretty understandable reason, if not for that teeny tiny problem.

It all happened to her while she was SLEEPING.

Cynder threw her paw across her forehead and closed her eyes listening only to the sound of her rapid breathing. Everything sooner or later would return to a perfect order, if not for the burning and uncomfortable sensation of being...

...watched.

Cynder dropped her paw and slowed down her breathing while raising her head with her eyes wide open. She scanned the surroundings, only darkness greeted her, she squinted, trying to somehow pierce the thick black veil.

And then she saw something on the opposite side of the room.

With a gasp she swiftly rolled on her belly and flexed her muscles. Blood started to pulse quickly in her veins.

" Who's there?" she let out a muffled shout, trying to hide her shock

Whoever was there didn't respond, yet she knew that something was standing there, she could barely make out the slim protrusion in the darkness where the leg of whoever was here was most likely.

" Spyro is that you?" she whispered with a meager hope in her voice

There was no reaction, whatever was there remained in the same position.

With each silent second the gnawing sensations of danger and fear were getting stronger, something was very wrong with this darkness, it seemed that even the moon dared not to peek inside her room. It was driving her mad very slowly.

" I'm warning you" she let out a wavering growl " I'm about to lose my patience and you won't like it when I do"

Nothing.

Swallowing the gulp of nervousness stuck in her throat Cynder narrowed her eyes a little harder on the protruding shape. That leg, or at least she thought it was a leg didn't resemble any leg she saw before, but in the light of the current events she has to expect that there will be many things she could have not possibly ever imagined.

What if one of the portals just opened in her room and some sort of mute and deadly creature was just passing through it?

That single thought empowered by fear and the feral survival instinct kicked her adrenaline in. Not wanting to rush into the Veil blindly just to end in another bug's maw she decided to try a more safer approach.

Taking advantage of her quick thinking she grabbed the soft pillow lying nearby and hurled it at the presumed portal. Time seemed to slow down, with the eye of her imagination she saw the pillow rotating in the air as it headed for the veil, glowing like some sort of a godly magical projectile, ready to end the portal with a single thunderous rumble.

For a moment Cynder was paralyzed when instead of a deafening rumble she heard a soft smack as the pillow hit something hard, and then another smack when it landed on the floor.

Suddenly every cog in her head started turning, the darkness was no longer hindering her sight, for a moment she was every single piece of furniture in her room.

With the anxiousness being gone she reached for the lamp standing near the bed on the nightstand, not even knowing why she didn't pick it up sooner. With a smile she lit it up, put the handle in her mouth, bounced to the other end of the bed and extended her paw with the lamp in it towards the invader. Seconds later everything was clear.

" It's a wardrobe" she muttered with her smile growing steadily as she examined the wooden door and the wooden handle being revealed in the light. She looked down on the legs, and then up on the door again.

" It's the damn wardrobe" tears instantly filled her eyes as she started laughing heartily. The explosion of joy lasted for quite a while.

When it finally ended Cynder sat on the bed, leaned the lamp on her leg and wiped her tears " Ok keep cool" she mumbled " Let's just say that crazy people don't get freaked up by a wardrobe, normal people do, just like yourself"

She giggled " And don't forget that normal people also talk to themselves and dream about being the opposite sex" the dragoness shook her head in disbelief " Did I seriously dreamt about being a guy?"

I did.

And then her smile vanished and her tears dried up, in a moment's notice she recalled every part of her dream perfectly. Yes, she was dreaming about being a guy, who killed his mother, that old female and probably many more poeple in cold blood, there is nothing funny in that.

But why did she dreamt about that? She has never seen the guy in her life, she has never seen so many black dragons before and never been inside this...Shade citadel or whatever where all the fighting took place.

If she has never been there, then why all those things feel so familiar?

Suddenly she bounced on the bed.

" What the hell?" the dragoness exclaimed while pushing on all fours staring at the sheets underneath her with wide eyes, not even caring that she tripped the lamp.

For a moment nothing happened, just when she was about to blame it all on her imagination the sheets started to punch her again. The dragoness stared at the white material completely paralyzed with shock and fear, not truly comprehending what is happening.

The moment the lamp was thrown off the bed and shattered on the ground she woke up from her trance. She couldn't really decide if it was the sound of the breaking glass or the sudden lack of any light that forced her to move.

It wasn't long before she jumped from the bed, dropped on the ground and with anxiety, adrenaline and fear gripping her heart looked under the bed.

The bed stopped moving.

Cynder found herself staring into pitch black darkness, the room went completely silent. She began to pant through closed mouth, her heart began to race, a sense of complete panic was slowly overwhelming her, she couldn't see anything and it was even more terrifying.

Until now she had already channeled enough of her Wind element to most likely blew every piece of the furniture away, yet she was holding back, she didn't know why, she could swear that there was something in that darkness staring right back at her, but the overpowering feeling of horror just squeezed her throat.

The bed creaked suddenly, as if something just jumped on it.

With her heart ready to break through her chest Cynder was on all fours momentarily. She delicately opened her mouth, wind whizzed through the opening her feminine lips created. Once again there was nothing there.

Something brushed against her tail.

The dragoness momentarily spun around, just as previously there was only darkness. Yet she didn't want to take any chances, with wavering steps she pressed forward, turning her head from side to side constantly, looking for any sign of...something.

To her surprise there was nothing there, however she could swear something touched her tail. She cautiously reached the end of the room where the door to the balcony were nearby and found nothing again. There is something seriously wrong here.

She spun around and made a step towards the bed. She bumped into something. The wardrobe again?

It was when she narrowed her eyes she noticed two brown eyes flashing from the darkness and staring at her.

She jumped back with a horrified scream, powerful gust of wind wreaked havoc in the room soon after.

*

Spyro woke up instantly at the sound of the loud rumbling noise coming just from the room next door.

" Cynder!" he shouted and pulled himself off the bed swiftly

" Dude!" Sparx exclaimed terrified from his sleeping spot near the ceiling " Did you hear what I've heard or was I dreaming?"

" It came from Cynder's room!" the dragon yelled and was momentarily in the corridor

With adrenaline now completely intoxicating his bloodstream he grabbed the handle and pushed the door, to his surprise they didn't budge.

" Cynder are you alright?" Spyro shouted and tried to open the door again, no luck. Something was blocking them from the other side

He retreated a couple of steps and prepared to charge.

" Bro try the balcony door!" his brother yelled from the doorstep of their own room " They're made from glass!"

Following his brother advice Spyro dashed through his own room in seconds. Sparx was right, it will be much quicker to get inside through the balcony than breaking down the front door. Without wasting any more time Spyro climbed on the railings, leapt in the air and landed on his friend's balcony.

Not caring to check if the glassy door were closed he ran directly at them. Luckily they were opened, in seconds he found himself standing in a complete dark room.

" Cynder?" Spyro shouted as he turned his head around

" You found here bro?" Sparx asked when he stopped in front of the opened glassy door

" Cynder?" the dragon shouted again

" I'm over here" he heard his friends voice coming from the darkness somewhere next to him

" Sparx go get our lamp!" Spyro yelled and carefully made his way towards the direction from which her voice came " Are you alright?"

" I'm fine" she mumbled

After three more careful steps he noticed one of her green eyes shimmering in the blackness, staring somewhere in the distance. She was sitting in the corner of her room, quite spooked

" I came as fast as I could"

" Ok"

" Have you found her?" Sparx shouted again as he entered the room, yellow light illuminated the area, the source of this brightness coming from the lamp he was holding

" We're over here"

The dragonfly turned towards the direction from which the sound came. When he did that he noticed both young drakes, it was the female that drew his attention. She was sitting in the corner, still as a board with her tail resting on her front paw, the second one was busy scratching the choker on her tail.

" Boy, being stiff like that makes you a perfect Footloose material"

" Sparx not now" Spyro snapped at his brother while keeping his worried gaze on his friend " What happened?"

Sparx snorted and turned towards the interior of the room while extending his paw so the light could reach farther. The image that the lamp he was holding revealed made his eyes go wide " Whoa" he blurt out

Hearing his brother's surprise Spyro couldn't help himself but to check what was so shocking. His eyes also resembled saucers when he followed the glowing shape of his brother, who revealed more and more of the room thanks to the yellow light.

From the spot where he was currently and almost to the middle the room was completely empty, every painting and other piece of the furniture was crumpled on the opposite side where the front door were. No matter if it was a simple nightstand or a heavy wardrobe, everything was broken and blown away to one side of the room. The only things that remained on the floor were splinters and the bed's white sheets with feathers lying and slowly swaying downwards in the air everywhere.

" What were you doing here?' Sparx muttered amazed

" Redecorating" she replied casually

The dragonfly nodded in faked approval " You got a knack for it" he pointed at the mess ahead " Hey, you missed a painting!" he put the lamp on the floor and darted towards the disorder ahead

Spyro looked at his friend again who was still staring in the distance " Why did you do this?"

" The room needed some feminine touch"

He shook his head " Cynder will you stop with the irony ple-" he was cut off by the sound of tearing canvas. " What the hell are you doing?" he blurt out when he looked at his brother who in one hand held the frame of a painting while his other hand pierced the canvas inside out

" Tying up loose ends"

Spyro just gave him a dumfounded look.

" Every story needs that"

The look didn't change.

Sparx rolled his eyes " Whatever" he hurled the painting behind his shoulder

Spyro frowned at the sound of the frame crushing somewhere on the floor.

The dragonfly covered his mouth " Oh, no" he mumbled in faked fear " Did I just ruin the decor?"

The purple dragon shook his head and turned towards his black friend " What happened?"

" Stuff" she replied automatically

Extremely worried and slightly irritated by her answers and the constant screeching sound he gently grabbed the paw which was busy scratching the choker on her tail.

" Cynder please, I want to help"

The dragoness blinked and looked at their joined paws, just to raise her gaze moments later. She no longer had that scared and distant look in her emerald eyes. She smiled weakly at him.

" I think I'm crazy"

" And you smashed the room just to tell us THAT?" Sparx blurt out

Spyro ignored his brother " Tell me everything" he said kindly

She withdrew her paw from his own just to pat it next " I'll try but first I need a glass of water"

" Done"

*

" Is he dead or something?" Spyro asked when the three of them stood in front of the door leading to Flare's room

Sparx pressed his head to the door and listened intently, he recognized the sound coming from the room immediately " You're not that lucky" he pushed the door open

On the ruined bed that was nothing more than sheets sprawled on the ground lay Flare, he was on his back with his head just beyond the edge of the white material, snoring loudly. VERY loudly.

" He sounds like Terrador after a few drinks" Cynder commented making all three of them chuckle

" At least now we know why he didn't hear a thing" Spyro added

Sparx moved towards the sleeping dragon and hovered just above his orange belly and dribbled his forefinger

Both young dragons winced in slight disgust.

" What are you doing?" Cynder muttered dumbfounded

" Playing as a team" he then pressed his slick finger on the dragon's belly and began to slide it across his orange scales, curling and uncurling it constantly.

It wasn't long before Flare's eyes snapped open and his snoring ended. With wide terrified eyes he screamed at the top of his lungs, rolled on the ground, got up, and began to flap his wings, swing his tail and occasionally jump while slapping his body.

" W-w-wo-r-r-r-r-m-s-s!" he let out a stammered scream

In that very moment Sparx burst out laughing.

Spyro and Cynder just stared with their mouths opened.

That only made the dragon more nervous, the room instantly became hot as the flames covering his body intensified.

" I-I-I c-c-can f-f-f-feel-l-l-l them o-o-o-on me!" Flare screamed again

Cynder snapped out from her trance " Flare calm down! There are no worms here!"

After hearing her shout Flare stopped thrashing and looked at her, panting heavily, she just stood there perfectly calm. He then examined his body, no worm was crawling on him and then he finally heard the almost agonizing laughter. He narrowed his eyes on the dragonfly, everything became clear.

" You!" Flare growled " it was you wasn't it?"

Sparx laughed for a while but eventually managed to calm down. With one hand wiping tears from his eyes, he raised the second one in the air " Guilty" he mumbled in between chuckles

" Why you do this to me? the drake asked sadly

The dragonfly threw his arms aside, as if trying to show that the dragon missed the obvious point " Dude we're a team! We're, you're up" he grinned " And because it's sooooo much fun"

" You're mean"

He raised his hand again " Guilty" he flew towards the doorstep " Now come on crybaby, Princess needs a drink"

And the group was on their way towards the mess hell, as they passed through the corridor that connected the City Hall's main room with the dining area and the kitchen as one, they heard a baritone shout that belonged to only one dragon they knew.

" Friends!" Terrador shouted after spotting them " I'm surprised that you're up so early, but I'm happy to see you. Come over here!"

The group made their way towards the Earth Guardian and stopped in the doorstep when they realized that the Guardians aren't the only one present in the room. In front of Cyril and Volteer was sitting a young blue dragoness. The moment they stepped into the room she pushed up and directed her eyes on them.

" I believe a proper introduction is in order" Terrador commented