FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 26

"I decisively advise against a confrontation with the constructs" Diazen blurted out as he led the group through another set of halls and corridors

By now nobody paid any attention to the architecture and their surroundings in general, when it came to décor, everyone's attention was searching for trouble.

Maybe except one.

"Guys" Sparx intoned, his voice in the midst of anxiousness and anticipation was like a whisper

"Shortest way Diazen, we won't-" Spyro spat when blood flowing along his slashed cheek got inside his mouth "No arguments"

"Guys"

"We need to make a short break" Cynder said painfully, with a wince observing her mate's injured cheek, her own ache became unimportant as she stared at the ugly injury "That wound is awful Spyro"

"I'm fine"

"Those dragons weren't a match for you, living rock doesn't fall so easily" Diazen protested modestly yet his pace didn't lose its impact, he still rushed through the complex with quick moving paws

The group followed him closely, even if both dragons were wounded and battle fatigued they kept up with his pace perfectly.

"Exactly. Living rock" Spyro spat again, practically his whole chin was overflowing with blood right now

"A break. Now" Cynder commanded

"Guys"

She looked behind her shoulder, watching the splatters of blood on the floor mostly Spyro left behind. Predators like dragons, even those very dumb ones, won't have troubles following their trail.

"We're leaving blood all over the place, we won't lose anyone this way"

Their guide threw merely a brief, uninterested glance behind himself, he shrugged Cynder's worry off.

"Not relevant. They know where we're heading"

"What? How?" Spyro licked his bloodied lips

He hated the taste of his own blood, he hated the reminder even more though. There is no place for true happiness and peace in his life when he recognizes and remembers the taste of his own blood more than the aroma and feeling of the dinners mother made in their home in the Swamps when he was young.

It was a gruesome perspective and thought, especially when he now has a mate he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

"Land of opportunity" the orange eyed drake cut the conversation short with his popular sentence

"Guys"

"Doesn't matter, we must stop, now" Cynder added again, this time far more irritated than previously, stepping over her partner's splotches of blood wasn't the most favorite thing in her life

"I'm fine Cynder" Spyro reassured her, ignoring the drop of blood that touched his lip, sensing her irritation "We can't waste time, they're right behind our tails"

"I don't care. Your eye is full of blood as we speak, cheek painted red so thickly that I doubt you see anything. When we're going to face the golems with you in your state our tails we'll be the last thing to worry about. Break Diazen. I'm not repeating myself again"

Their guide sighed deeply, shaking his head.

"If only you two were as good opportunists as you are fighters" he muttered in disappointment under his breath

"What was that?"

"Nothing" the guide snapped back, looking around their surroundings, for a suitable place to make a short pause.

In truth there was no such room, the only scarce touch of privacy you could find here was in your own quarters and even that sometimes was betraying.

It was all about finding the closest, not the safest.

He made a sudden turn, leaving the main, big hall and entered a corridor, instead of following it he touched the black carving on the wall.

None of them care how it looked like, even Diazen, for them all it was just a disgusting, annoying obstacle in the way.

They couldn't however ignore the sudden, cold breeze that wafted from the newly opened passage.

"G-G-Guys" Sparx teeth rattled impulsively

Spyro jerked his head back at the unexpected freezing lash.

"What's inside there?"

"It's just the air from the freezer" Diazen stepped into the passage without a pinch of hesitation "We'll be passing by the kitchen on our way to the dinning hall. It will be empty at the time of the Trials and...recent events. Nevertheless we must not linger. Wait for me there, I'll fetch some medical supplies from the kitchen, we patch you up and we move immediately"

Despite his assurances and ideas Diazen took a minute for a short stop near the end of the dark passage he planned to open, trying to be entirely certain that his assumptions about the lack of any sentient presence inside the dinning hall is accurate.

Moments later he ordered the secret door to open, whether he risked it or acted on confidence, the trio of friends never found out.

"Wait here" he left them in the hall while he himself stormed through the nearby door.

"Guys"

"Not now Sparx" Cynder cut him short, putting and pressing her paw against her partner's rump "Sit"

Spyro groaned in defeat, knowing well that there is no escape from this. When Cynder sets her mind on something its better not to get in her way.

"Guys, this is very important" Sparx dashed to the girl's side, accidently looking at his brother's cut cheek "Ugh!" he gagged, covering his mouth as he recoiled back

"Dude! You were never the king of candies but damn! Nobody has to fear nightmares with you around"

"Thanks Sparx, your words are always uplifting my spirit" Spyro responded sarcastically

"Anyway!" Sparx rose up, highly in the air so he would be impossible to r, he announced his presence with a clap of hands "You need to hear this guys! This is HUGE!"

"What is it?" Cynder grumbled, her irritation growing the longer she stared at the bleeding wound, it was clearly taunting her with each pulse, pushing more blood as a result

Getting rid of Sparx' nagging was one less headache to worry about.

"You shouldn't have done that" Spyro let out a prolonged, sad sigh.

"Listen! Listen! "Sparx exclaimed, with his mouth open he made a pause, eyes jumping between two dragons as tension raised up,

It didn't bother him at all that both dragons weren't even looking his way.

"I. Scared. A. Dragon"

There was silence.

Spyro rolled his eyes.

"Let it sink guys" he tapped his chest "I scared a dragon! A dragon!"

"Seriously Sparx?" growled in frustration "This is all you got to say? Really? Right now?"

Maybe if the circumstances would be different he would be flattered by Cynder's growing fury, triggered by nothing, but his sorry state. Right now he pitied her, she is being drawn into Sparx' trap without even truly realizing it.

This is how his brother works, whether for good or bad that depends on the perspective, carefree approach and humor in the face of danger is Sparx specialty

This honorable traits however in the wrong situation can be infuriating.

As always in such situations he was stuck in the middle, unable to support one side in fear of hurting the other. He preferred it that way however, if things escalate beyond tolerable it is better that all of this bad energy bites his tail.

If you're not with me you're against me after all.

"Of course that's not everything. I've said it's important right? Scaring a dragon away is nothing" Sparx folded his arms, huffing as if the question was the most horrible of insults

"Impossible" Cynder retorted bitterly, wiping the droll of blood from her friend's cheek "Did you just started making sense?"

"Yeees" he crooked like some old witch found in an ancient grove, nodding his head in approval of his own words

"I'm going to tell everyone!" he shouted unexpectedly, his whole form bursting with a bright light "They will sing songs about Sparx the Magnificent, God of the Atlawa, Scourge of all Dragons! They're never going to believe me at home when I tell them I scared a purple dragon away. Not some stinky, black one, but purple! PURPLE!"

In his excitement his whole body pulsed with far more brighter light than usual. The illumination was so thick and strong that it left a visible trail as he flew around and in between both young drakes.

"They will tell stories about me for generations to come! Everyone will hear of the dragonfly that put dragons in their place! Dragons will have nightmares-" his eyes glimmered menacingly when they landed on his brother with the triumphant thoughts still rattling in his skull

He made a wide, quick arch in the air, in a blink of the eye dashing in front of his brother's nose and throwing his arms in the air, fingers curled like hooks.

"Boo!" he rumbled

"Oh no" Spyro muttered, staring back at his brother with a bored and emotionless expression "My heart, oh ah"

Sparx frowned with a snort, corpses sometimes are more lively.

"Dude, you are supposed to tuck your tail and sprint away"

"I'm sorry, is my fear not good enough for you?"

"I've heard you are not good enough in many things"

"Yeah? And who told you that?"

"Your mom" with that exclamation he poked his brother's wounded cheek right near one of the cuts and quickly dashed away

Spyro hissed painfully, swiping with his paw out of reflex to push away his assailant.

"Sparx, you dick!" Cynder growled and threw herself in front of her partner, gently spreading her wings as if preparing to form a protective cocoon around her mate if necessary

"Behold!" the dragonfly raised above the dragons, with hands on his hips he stared down at the drakes as if they were ants

"The Great Glowing One has ascended! Bow down maggots or you'll find out what it means to face the Scourge of dragons!"

The door to the kitchen finally opened.

"I've found-"

"Bow down!" he yelled, pointing a finger at the purple dragon who just entered the room

Diazen jumped back, startled by the noise he looked up, with wide eyes staring at the hovering dragonfly above.

"What?"

"Don't listen to him, he has one of his moments" Cynder commented, this is where her interest ended regarding Sparx, her whole focus directed itself at the pouch hanging from Diazen's flank

"Moment of overwhelming energy!" Sparx blurted out triumphantly, making circles and rounds around each dragon "I kept a horde of dragons at bay with my magnificent powers! I feel like I can tear this place apart" he once more pulled up into the air, glowing brightly he extended his forefinger and moved it slowly in an arch, running through every dragon present in the room

"Beware! Sometimes my magnificence grows too strong, it just demands to be seen! I can't stand against it's wish! Bow down! Show your respect and be spared!"

Out of the three dragons only Diazen was looking at the dragonfly, nervousness visible in every crunch of toe, flex of muscle and shift of the eye. Obviously searching for some kind of sign from the other two, obviously searching for a clue on how to behave.

"Cynder" Spyro whispered her name in a prolonged, knowing manner

"Absolutely not" she hissed back

"I know it sucks, but we need to play this stupid game"

"I'm not going to bow and make a fool of myself, I'm too pissed and anxious for that right now. I'm not going to give him the satisfaction"

"I know it's not the most perfect of ideas, but you know how this place looks, we could use all kind of distraction. The longer we are out of the spotlight, the better"

Cynder growled, the scales around her mouth twitched and quivered to the rhythm of her throaty rumble.

"He's taking advantage of us"

Spyro shrugged, turning around, it was better to get this show going on. If by submitting to Sparx' stupid whims would spare some confrontations in the future the one minute of humiliation was worth it.

"This is Sparx" this was all he needed to say, the indifferent tone of his voice was all the explanation that was necessary

He bowed gently, stretching one fore forward and raising his rump.

With a roll of the eyes and a deep sigh Cynder did the same, every muscle in her body contracting irregularly, mind stretching its will to great lengths to convince them to move.

Noticing this, Diazen followed in their wake unhesitatingly.

Sparx grinned, hardly believing his own eyes.

"This is so cool"

"Can we take care of Spyro right now o'Highness?" Cynder grunted bitterly "Before he bleeds to death? Only if you care that is, it's not like you are close after all"

He balked, his proud, bright aura flickering, the sarcastic remark hit the spot. His eyes landed on his brother's wounded snout, even if reality there was no real danger, seeing his brother's cheek covered by a fountain of blood was not the most encouraging of sights.

He waved his paw without a single word.

Diazen understood the signal and approached the pair of dragons, rummaging in the pouch only for a second.

Cynder's eyes widened, for some strange reason she expected a gem to be there, not some... twig.

Because what Diazen was holding in his paw looked like a thick twig from some very old tree. It had absolutely no smell.

"What is that?"

At the sound of the surprised yelp of their friend, both brothers got closer and craned their necks forward.

After a few short seconds they exchanged confused glances before focusing back on the thing in Diazen's paw.

For them it didn't look like a twig at all, the dark brown, cracked surface reminded them of something else. Especially when it looked very dry and had no smell.

Diazen's eyebrow raised as he observed both boys, they were staring at the medicament as if it was some kind of a magic mirror showing their future.

"Is that poo?" both brothers broke the prolonged silence with an absurd question

"Ancestors!" Cynder basically howled as she smacked her paw into her forehead, shaking her head, simplicity of the male brain sometimes was outrageous

"What?" Diazen blurted out "What kind of question is that? Have you ever heard of a healing shit before?"

Spyro frowned in irritation, their question might have been stupid, but not that immature and uncalled for, especially considering the things he already saw in this world.

"To be fair I've never heard of mind manipulating dragons either before"

"This is a root, I won't even bother explaining its origins, all you need to know is that under certain circumstances the root develops healing properties. I have one such circumstance on my disposal"

He moved his nose directly above the root while opening his mouth, a small, continuous, pointy flame wafted from his. It touched the peculiar medicament and went into reaction with it immediately.

The root began to change shape in the dragon's paw, from a solid, dry structure it became more elastic and gelatinous, almost slithery. It also started to emit a smell, a faint scent bark.

Spyro and Sparx stared at the root with a rather shaken winces on their faces, their first idea about the root was still present in their minds and the shift of the root's form only reassured them that their comparison was the correct one.

Even without touching it they were certain that their finger/claw would go right through the warm structure, on the way scraping against some undigested scraps of food and maybe finding a worm or two.

"Here, it's ready" Diazen moved his forward, offering the root to the wounded dragon

Sparx gasped, eyes widening in terror as he pushed back, looking at his brother with a painful wince.

"Yeeeeah" Spyro mumbled, with a deep, troubled frown jerking his head back "I think I'll pass"

"What now?" Diazen growled

"Nothing" he pointed at his injured cheek with a nervous smile "I feel it's healing already, besides we don't have time to play with this thing now so-"

"Oh by the love of Ancestors!" Cynder groaned in agitation and without hesitation she rose on her hind paws, one fore sweeping the medicine, the other clamping shut on the purple snout and twisting it to the side strongly, opening the wounded side of his snout.

She smacked the medicine into his cheek, smearing it all over his snout.

She instinctively gagged at some point, there was nothing disgusting about it, the smell of bark wasn't bad and the medicine itself seemed to perfectly fill the cuts and clog the bleeding. Yet she couldn't help herself, but to picture herself actually smearing poo all over Spyro's draconic face, all in all the root did really have the consistency of one.

Damn boys and their influential ideas.

As she pulled her paw away she took an inconspicuous sniff of it.

Bark and blood, not the best combination but far better than smelling feces.

Damn boys.

"Thank you" Spyro mumbled callously, wiping the smudge of medicine from his eyes

"It's not that bad man" Sparx commented bitterly, the troubled wince never disappearing from his face "At least now we know the literal meaning of shitface"

"Now that we have this pitiful show over can we finally get a move on?" Diazen hissed in annoyance "we have more serious troubles on our way"

"You know what Diazen?" Cynder turned to face the purple drake, she was quite certain that she lost all manner of interest in him

He was never Spyro and never will be one. He might have the same color of the scales, but he is no purple dragon.

"Fuck you" she pointed a claw directly at his nose "There is nothing more important than the well- being of my friends. You are a douche, bossing us around and pretending the problems that we're going to face are our problems. You may correct me at any moment, but somehow I don't remember you participating in the last fight very much, so please stop pissing me off with your annoying hauteur when we all know you were far from keeping up with the pretenses you so meticulously formed. Whatever we're going to face, it will be on the three of us, only we will need to check if the obstacle will be problematic or not. You lead us, but we are calling the shots here so stop with all this arrogant bullshit right now, because we might stop wanting to bleed for you"

Diazen didn't look away, all he wanted to do right now was to smack the bitch across her snout so hard that all of her teeth would fall out. If he wouldn't see minimal chances of success he would probably do that and finally be over with all of this fucking nonsense.

It lasted too long and he is losing patience.

To the point that he slowly begins to stop caring if the odds will shift in his favor or not.

He crunched his claws against the floor so fiercely that his toes began to sting.

"If you would stop to think instead of spewing bile at me then perhaps you would understand, or at least suspect that perhaps I couldn't add much to that fight?"

"Everyone can say something like this"

"Everyone can, true, but sometimes those words might be honest. I don't care if you believe me, you haven't grown up in this place, you don't know how it is to live here, lately for me it was disaster after disaster, forgive me if I won't cry my soul out to complete strangers. Not only I'm living my life on constant edge, now I'm also angry about my current situation. Spare me your fucking condescending tone, because I don't care about your ignorant opinion, look back at the dragons and then look at me, use your brain instead of that poison spewing tongue. Can you come to a conclusion or are you too daft for it?"

"Stop talking to Cynder like that!" Spyro growled, suddenly he felt no pain and somehow completely forgot about the discomfort of wearing a medicine so similar to shit on his snout

The black dragoness narrowed her eyes on the orange eyed drake, a growl rumbling within her throat.

"Insulting and arguing with me is not the best way to force your argument"

"Fight fire with fire, otherwise you're dead here"

"You're normal" Sparx voice echoed in the room

Even if his voice was soft and calm in the midst of anger it was like a pacifying thunder, silencing every hostile hiss and growl.

Diazen looked up at the dragonfly, nodding his head slowly, impressed by the quick, brilliant deduction.

"The dragons that so politely got in our way had all sorts of freakish...they were kinda freaky. Diazen is a normal dragon"

Cynder and Spyro frowned, their heads immediately snapped in the direction of their guide, looking him up and down with great intensity. He was missing the sorts of augmentations, mutations or whatever one could call them that the dragons they fought with possessed.

Fight fire with fire.

Spyro's eyes widened in sudden realization. It seems that the dragons here are capable of only breathing fire, at least some of them, the rest of their abilities comes from the special properties on their bodies which added to their repertoire of battle prowess.

It was fire and that specific ability they had.

Nothing else.

Only two skills and all of them were purple dragons.

Something was not right here, it seemed like they couldn't evolve on their own, or perhaps they haven't found the perfect Source yet.

A normal purple dragon meant only one thing.

"You don't have any other powers besides your basic fire breath"

Diazen winced with a nod, it seemed the conclusion was accurate and yet it was still painful and irritating for him to hear it. No wonder since it renders all of his previous proud stance a little on the laughing side.

"Why you are different?" Cynder inquired, she wasn't sure if she felt more suspicious towards the drake now, or her interest was triggered by honest pity

"Doesn't matter" judging from the anger and pain in his voice that wasn't actually true

None of the trio of friends pushed the matter further, whatever his motivations may be, Diazen was on their side as for now and that alone demanded to show some kind of respect towards their teammate, even if he might turn out to be only a temporary member.

"I'm planning to change my life, you are the opportunity I've been waiting for so excuse me if I come out as heartless, but this world has a way of washing sentiments away from you. I want this to be over just like you do and I simply cannot wait any longer, not when I'm so close"

"What role the Constructor plays in all of this?" Spyro inquired

Diazen visibly quaked, without meeting their gaze he turned around, ready to come back the way they came.

"The final one. Let's get out of here, we cannot afford to waste more time" he stepped into the tunnel

"I don't like all this secrecy" Sparx approached his companions, folding his arms as he stared into the tunnel and the disappearing purple tail in the darkness within

"Neither do I" Spyro confirmed, placing his paw on the edge of the tunnel "But we have no choice, Diazen will lead us where we need to go. It's still better to go with him than on our own, we might lose our way in here, besides let's face it, everything will play out in the Core and when we're going to find the Constructor. When we get there I want you to keep your guard up and eyes opened, widely and preferably grow another pair at the back of your skulls. We don't know what that thing is and since it controls the golems I believe it's very powerful, that and Diazen is a cornered animal from what he said. You both know what that means"

"Fun and happy ending for once?" Sparx asked with a defeated shrug

Cynder smirked.

"As usual"

They made their way after their guide, even if there was a very huge chance that they weren't followed and whatever pursuers are still behind them Diazen still didn't take any unnecessary risks. He popped his head from the tunnel just by a centimeter or two and immediately began to sniff at the air.

If his nose didn't fool them they still had a distance advantage.

Or more likely they weren't being chased, but stalked. This thought alone made him gulp, not only they are going to have to face the golems, but to minimize the risk of someone else taking advantage of the opportunity they don't have any other choice now but to force their way through by using the rough path.

Usually that means this can play out in two ways, either they all are going to die under the powerful blows of the living rocks, or they will bleed themselves for their pursuers to finish them off.

He knew this world better however, definitely the big fishes out there already heard about their exploits and it goes without saying that they rose to that position following different rules than simple bloodlust and the chance to quench danger when it arises.

They could just kill the two of them and turn the dragonfly and the girl into Source material, no matter how powerful these three can be there is no chance they can take the whole population, with the bosses leading the charge on top of that.

This is however a land of opportunity.

And there is no opportunity of greater allure than someone else's willingness to face the Constructor.

One way ticket, this is for sure, either he rips the spoils for himself or someone else does it in his name while maybe wearing his eyeballs as lucky charm after that.

Who is he kidding.

Nobody would take his pieces as trophy.

Motherfuckers.

"Diazen?" Spyro's anxious voice echoed from behind him in a quiet whisper "What's up?"

"Nothing" he blurted out with a shake of his head "It's clear"

He stepped out from the hidden entrance, taking another and final look around his surroundings, in theory everything was in the right order.

"There are still two rooms we need to go through, they should also be empty. We go through the garden, it's a place of relaxation so the golems there are hollow rocks, could be taken by anybody in truth if someone desired it, but that would only bring the Constructor's attention to us. Even our own Keepers carry its essence, I'm sure the Constructor is connected by some way with all of his creations"

"After that we enter the main hall, with the Trails on the way there will be no dragons there, unfortunately I would expect resistance there from the Constructor entities, they serve as the Guardians when the dragons are absent. Luckily for us it takes some time to warp new models and the ones that are already created have tasks of their own so there should be no reinforcements arriving. The Guardians usually are not hostile, but the Constructor knows we're coming and there are only a handful of us that are granted an audience"

"We're seeking the Keymaster, it's a sentient carving like the one you see decorating the walls here, it is the Constructor's subordinate, only it opens the passage to the lift and the Core, there is no other way. We must force it to open the door for us and this is the hardest part, at least from your stories I can say that it is possible to win against the golems, there is no way of killing or destroying the Keymaster. Don't even try, it will end badly for you"

"Then how we should force it to do anything when we can't hurt it?" Spyro asked worriedly

"It grants passage to those worthy, nobody knows how exactly it judges the importance of each individual. However proving your value is not everything, it still sets a task for you, a sacrifice for the Constructor, you are forbidden to tell what it was so nobody knows what it can be for certain. There is another way of forcing it to open the door I heard, which in every other circumstance would be a better solution judging from our standing"

"What is it?"

Diazen looked into the empty corridor from which they came, their pursuers had to be there somewhere.

"Blood sacrifice, this place operates on blood, it is said that if you spill enough of it on the eyes of the Keymaster it will open the passage. Nobody ever tried it before since nobody was strong enough to fight of a group of dragons, but you guys..."

"I've said that we won't be killing anyone"

"Then I hope you are ready to accept the possibility that maybe one of your friends might not make it. The golems out there are no trifle and far more dangerous than most of the dragons here"

"Bullshit" Cynder interrupted the boys when she stepped out of the corridor "If this Constructor would be so powerful then why he, it, didn't take over this place already? How come you command some of its constructions?"

"It's complicated and I don't have the will nor the time to explain the rules of this place to you. None of you would understand"

"Bullshit number two. It doesn't take over because it's afraid, it knows it can be overwhelmed, which means it can be destroyed or forced into submission. Believe me, I once knew a type that had no fear and was confident he could destroy the world. We kicked his ass when only a handful believed it was possible, if we defeated an enemy like that we can also defeat an enemy who approaches its opponents with reserved fear. This means it has glaring weaknesses somewhere and its aware of their existence, which might make the Constructor a much powerful foe, but for sure not an indestructible one"

Diazen looked down, clearly contemplating her words and since no words of protest or insults left his mouth in the first second after she finished talking, he must have come to a conclusion that she might be right.

Especially when they proved already that they can take care of themselves.

"I hope you are right" he admitted with usually reserved words, yet none of them heard doubt in his voice

They carried on with Diazen's plan, walking slowly and carefully they made their way through the previously mentioned rooms, none really paid much attention what they were exactly, or thought about their purpose. All what they did was to look around for any signs of danger, luckily it was exactly as Diazen envisioned, there was no living soul here either made of flesh or rock.

The crossed the rooms as quickly as they could, without stopping, the first pause they made was when they started to feel the warm and soft breeze of the outside world seeping through the cracks in the walls. It was not the pleasant smell of grass they were used to sensing, the scents were a combination of burnt wood and flowers. Not entirely nose caressing, but also not unpleasant, the smell was exactly like this place, cautious and intimidating.

Diazen opened the door and it was in that moment they realized that these people and the ones in the Realms probably have a different definition of a garden.

This particular spot of this complex was a big balcony, of course there were pathways, some trees, flowers and even grass and an open sky above, All of this ground flora wasn't completely blossomed however, some of the branches of the trees were devoid of leaves, some burnt in places, the grass also trimmed by heat, just like the flowers.

All due to the fact that the surroundings were not the typical environment for nature to thrive.

Down below stretched a sea of lava.

All three of them immediately approached the railing, dragons rising on their hind paws and putting their fores on top of the railing, all looked down. Before them stretched a black, red sea of dry and hot magma. With the burning, almost bloody twister in the distance that lead to the Core, only from here they could see that this wasn't just a simple hole in the ground, but rather a neck of an unformed volcano.

From here the occasional burps of the magma sea looked like as if a dragonfly would bounce into the air. The balls of lava jumping in the air were glowing brightly with an intense yellow light, watching those tears bounce up in the air was pretty mesmerizing.

Never before they saw something like this, an open lava combined with nature, forming a rather beautiful in its decadency scenery.

"Something is wrong"

The trio didn't respond to his unnerving mutter, completely enchanted by the sight before them.

"Will you stop sightseeing and focus?!" Diazen roared impatiently

They all jerked back, the drakes jumping from the railings so fiercely as if someone would just tug at the chain that was wrapped around their necks. They wiggled on their hind legs for a while, at the risk of falling over until they finally regained their balance and dropped on all fours.

"What's your problem man?!" Sparx exclaimed, throwing his arms widely to the sides

"There is no one here besides us!"

"So? That's good, right?"

"is it good for a jailor to leave a cell with the most dangerous beast the world has ever known unguarded and alone?"

Sparx eyebrow raised in bewilderment.

"What?"

"Where are the golems? Didn't you say there should be some here?" Spyro asked, looking around the balcony

Diazen nodded with a bitter gulp.

"Precisely. Where are the golems?"

They all looked around, they didn't know this lace, never before have seen it with their own eyes, they didn't recognize even the slightest thing here and yet, somehow, they felt the absence of the golems.

This place was unnaturally empty, they fought in enough battles to grow enough sensitivity to be able to feel such things.

Empty space in a hostile territory always smelled like trap.

Even more so when they noticed the door at the end of the garden opened widely.

Invitation to a trap.

The Constructor knew they were here, either it was the creature living in the Core, or someone completely else. Whoever it might be was aware of their presence in the garden, and, from what they could already guess, their destination.

They are being invited into most likely their enemy's territory, open challenge like that is far more dangerous than an unexpected trap. A trap is basing its success on a surprise, a confident, direct challenge base its strength on other traits.

Like confidence.

Like advantage.

Like knowledge.

Everything was on their foe's side.

As well like the most probable battleground.

Cynder looked back at Diazen, she threw him a meaningful glance that everyone would be capable of reading if focused on it. Diazen however was too surprised, too shocked to be able to read the most obvious silent signals. His orange eyes were wide and staring at the open door at the end of the garden, Cynder wasn't quite certain if he noticed the three of them at this point.

His eyes lost the proud glimmer of determination and arrogance, they were radiating nothing but total fear, despair and hopelessness. It was quite clear to understand that he didn't lie about them being his opportunity to achieve his goal. Right now however he noticed that opportunity slipping away, it was quite obvious from his nearly drugged expression that he placed everything on that opportunity to bear fruition and simply didn't expect it to fail so soon.

Things didn't went according to plan and Diazen simply didn't know right now how to approach the sudden, unexpected change.

She wasn't sure if his bewilderment was a good sign or not, after all he is a cornered animal in this world from what they could tell, if such an animal realizes that all hope is lost, there is only one thing to do.

Rash, reckless aggression.

"We're heading into a trap" Spyro stated the obvious, his voice nervous as the uneasy swings of his tail "Any idea what we should be expecting?"

There was silence.

"Diazen?" he looked back and frowned when he looked at the nearly pale drake

"Nothing good from the looks of it" Sparx commented bluntly

"Diazen!" Cynder shouted "Snap out of it!"

The orange eyed drake threw his head back, he came back to his senses yet the veil of fear and despair didn't vanish from his expression.

"I...I don't know"

"Nothing good from the looks of it" Sparx shook his head, repeating sadly his own words in quiet tone

"Alright then, we're gonna have to improvise" Spyro turned his attention at the door, flexing his muscles and forcing snaps in the bones to relieve them of the stress "We're going in, stay together"

Those words made Diazen's heart skip a beat.

"Maybe-"

"No" he cut off the scared drake firmly "There is no turning back now, there are no other options. I know things can be scary, but retreat is not a choice, we didn't come all this way for nothing. Trust me I know what I'm talking about, if I allowed fear to dictate my life I would never have...I would miss many things. Get in there with us Diazen and we're going to make sure that all of us will make through this, whatever it is. It isn't our first time"

He observed Spyro with great intensity, once again feeling the strange power radiating from him.

"You aren't like any of the purple dragons I know"

Cynder smiled when she looked at her partner, not only he wasn't like any of the purple dragons she met, he wasn't like any other dragon in general. She could agree with that statement wholeheartedly and that alone made her to follow him as if she would still be chained to his neck.

She stopped right by his side, winking at him and with great difficulty holding back the urge to lick lovingly his nose.

"Then come on" Spyro nodded at the opened door "Maybe I'll show you a thing or two you didn't know purple dragons are capable of doing. Something tells me that time of holding back is over"

They entered the room, Spyro leading the group.

It was the main hall without any doubt, a massive, high room with a big staircase in the middle and many other pillars and decorations of similar size scattered all around the place.

All of this was unimportant.

Because they were certain that the décor that drew their attention wasn't the usual part of this scenery.

Two rows of golems stood at both sides of the hall, forming a corridor for them that led to a black carving at the opposite wall on the end. It was nothing special, just some crude mosaic like many they have already seen here.

It also depicted nothing spectacular, just some randomly placed gems in different colors that formed absolutely nothing of significant interest. It was just a colorful piece of wall.

A very common colorful piece of wall.

Until it started shifting and moving as if there was some kind of creature slithering behind the stones.

In a moment's notice the random colors formed the image of an opened door, in an even quicker moment this door changed shape, no longer widely spread, the gems created the picture of a tightly sealed door.

It was then when all of them gasped and jumped, spinning around.

The door behind them shut themselves tight.

The golems began to shift, unnerving noise of scraping stone filled the hall, sounding like snapping tendons.

Something resembling a moan came from the wall ahead.

They looked ahead, just to notice the gems forming two big orbs.

Eyes.

Suddenly the part of the stone that formed the eyes was sucked into nothingness and flames burst from the holes.

Intelligent and narrowed on them.

Sentient.

Exactly the same Spyro noticed several times in the golems, this was the same entity that took possession of some of the constructs before.

"T-This is no longer the Keymaster" Diazen stammered "T-this i-is-"

The black tendrils of shadow on Cynder's horns and tail burst with sinister energy.

A shadow stretched along the ground, shifting on its own.

"Wanderer" Creep's hollow voice filled the hall, usually emotionless this time even he seemed to betray emotions

One to be precise.

Hate.