FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 28

"I must admit that you are taking it very lightly. Your fortitude is praise worthy Cynder" Hunter noted between the sounds of crunching snow his boots made, their steps becoming lighter with each stride, the snowy terrain getting more and more traversable

They were soon about to see a change of scenery, temperature visibly increasing.

The black dragoness shook her head.

"It's not that difficult, Creep mostly keeps silent and leaves me alone that I sometimes forget that he is still even there"

"Nevertheless, even if seemingly docile, a predator skulking about familiar land is still a dreadful perspective. Especially when it wasn't there before and now for some reason decided to make a lair in known territory. According to Nature's laws, this means a challenge"

Spyro who was walking a little in front of them together with Flare strained his neck, throwing his head back to hear better. Heart visibly speeding up when Hunter added a little scientific theory to his bias towards Creep.

"Describe what you mean by challenge please" the black dragoness inquired, slowing down to allow the scout to level up with her, she automatically huddled closer, walking side by side with her furry companion, honestly interested in what he has to say.

Hunter scratched his brow in thought.

"Predators are entering the territory of another predator in three cases" he extended three fingers, poking the first one with his claw "To pass through" now the touch moved to the second one "To win territory" the claw grazed the last finger "And to claim a female if the predator turns to be male, the female being the current owner of the land, or any other creature that is just happen to be there"

The third finger dropped down.

"We can exclude the last option since the creature that accompanies you clearly is not interested in procreation" blue eyes landed on the two remaining fingers, an uneasy gulp stretching the throat "That gives us only two options, sadly in my opinion leaving the second one more probable"

"The Beast isn't bad" Flare added, throwing himself between the trio immediately, eyes scanning around, making sure that every friend is looking at him "It doesn't know what good or bad is. Beasts just don't want to die, that's all, there are different ways to get there, yeah, that's why there are different Beast's" he pointed a claw at the blue dragoness at the end of the group, making her balk "Iris has a different one, but in the end they all want to survive"

"This shit again?" Iris sneered as she stopped in front of the group, scrutinizing every pair of eyes that looked up at her

All were given the same sentence.

Worthless.

"Who cares if that thing mentally rapes Tat" she snorted "At least then someone will touch her ugly hide that's not a retarded, spineless dick. It will make her stop whining like a worthless bitch"

Spyro growled, claws clenching on the ground in anger, this was a very bad moment for Iris to stick her rude nose in.

fame "Nobody asked for your opinion Iris, that's one" white, piercing eyes glared at him, he withstood their challenge, narrowing his own in turn "Secondly, this spineless dick you're talking about is the only one who can get you out of here, I would stay on his good side if I were you or he might leave you here"

She didn't say anything, giving him nothing but a cold glare, he had a feeling that she was about to burst in mocking laughter, wiping the floor with his threat.

No matter how serious he might sound, she didn't believe him, he could see it in her snout. For her his angry threat sounded like a war cry from a thin guy that never lifted a sword in his life.

She didn't even seem to be angry.

"Pathetic" Iris concluded, continuing on her way

Naturally though she saw him as garbage.

Flare grinned, his teeth shinning brilliantly as they arrogantly mocked the purple drake. Spine straightened and chest puffed put proudly.

"I think she didn't believe you" his voice rang with unhidden satisfaction

"It's not that funny Flare" Spyro grumbled, he was more irritated by the fact than actually angry, aware that the about his golden heart will have its issues, even more so when Iris got the chance to experience it first paw in their relative private time

He had to face the truth, no matter how much it hurt his male ego.

A flower is more intimidating than him.

Flare chuckled, twisting a strand of his fiery mane around his claw.

"It's a little funny"

Cynder giggled softly.

"Only a little though, threats don't work in your case, you're too cute"

Every eye turned in her direction, yellow and blue surprised while the purple ones scared.

She could feel the silence wrapping its invisible gauntlets around her throat, squeezing, forcing her eyes to grow in steady rhythm as the realization of her words slowly sunk in.

She's such a fool.

"Anyway!" she cleared her throat into her paw "Ummmm....I hear you guys, Creep wants to live, can't blame him for that, but I never seen him reaching that goal by sacrificing me. Okay, he crossed the line some times, but he always acted in my defense, if he wanted to take my turf as you said Hunter, wouldn't he take the opportunity already when he could?"

"A cunning predator doesn't strike when he is absolutely certain of victory, especially when challenging a stronger opponent. Rushing in just because your enemy seems weaker doesn't mean victory. A cunning predator learns patterns" the cheetah folded his arms on his chest, rubbing his chin against the arms in thoughtful scratch "In this case your own power would have to be taken into consideration and also the protective aura of your Guardian"

He smiled at the purple drake.

"Spyro's power is unmatched, he already did the impossible, while he might not know how to free you of this influence today, Spyro already proved that he can make wonders when pressured. A risk no smart predator would be willing to take"

"The amount of sense you make Hunter terrifies me" Spyro admitted, pale on the snout

He raised a hand in calming gesture.

"This is merely speculation my friend. Considering what Flare suggested, survival has many forms. Force is one thing, but union is another. It might be possible that this creature has no vile intentions and the only way to experience life and survive is through Cynder. I do not know much about magic, but if I were an energy of the world suddenly gaining sentience, I would feed myself on the knowledge of life from the people. I can't breathe, so my only solution is to live through someone else"

Spyro shook his head.

"Neither of these options sound good. Having an uninvited passenger that steals your privacy doesn't sound too appealing either"

"We must also consider the option that Cynder might be a temporary stop" he pulled at the hems of his coat "In truth my friends we are clueless, magic from definition is something extraordinary. Our understanding of it might be wrong no matter what we suggest here, all we can do now is to sow more worry. It was very unwise of me to speak up, you as dragons know much more about magic than a simple feline like me"

Cynder had her head lowered during the explanation, snout crunched into a thoughtful frown all along, processing the information and emotion. As logical as it all may sound it didn't make her any smarter than before, everything was a big unknown as always. However, Hunter's insight was making sense, ignoring it would be stupidity.

This went for too long.

Spyro was going insane already, after today he we will be so much more nervous while she ignored the danger really, all because of her stupid trauma. It was enough.

Creep hates Danox, was scared of showing himself to Spyro, eavesdropped, knows that damn burning creature from the past in Boven, he possessed her, sent her the weird dreams.

Shit.

He was here from the beginning of the universe.

"You didn't make a mistake by mentioning this Hunter" she raised her gaze, eyes apologizing and assuring her friends of her intentions "When this is over, I will call Creep and we will have a chat, from heart. All of us, I want you guys to be there, we're going to find out what all of this is about"

Her emerald eyes traveled over every boy.

"Deal?"

The boys exchanged glances, nodding in an instant.

"Sounds like a plan!" Flare exclaimed triumphantly, time what he could spend with his friends was always a win

Spyro and Hunter exchanged nods.

"Let's go then" the purple drake spun around, a small smile stretching his lips "We wouldn't want to lose Iris"

"That's news to me" Cynder mumbled grudgingly

The rest of the journey they had through this snowy land was uneventful considering the events that occurred the moment they got here. While the walk wasn't comfortable, or short for that matter, each step brought them closer to their destination.

The ground around them started to raise, no longer becoming a barren, snowy wasteland the terrain started to take on shape, turning into a canyon. There were some holes in the walls every now and then, when they approached them close enough Hunter jumped in front of the group, spinning around to face them he thrust his arms to the side, stopping them in their tracks.

His coat fluttered wildly, the wind was impossibly strong, here on the ground already. Up in the air it was much worse.

One hand moved to his mouth, a forefinger pressing against the lips.

Feline ears kept twitching uneasily, bouncing to the rhythm of an unheard song.

After a moments even the dragons started to hear the notes.

What they took previously for the blowing wind in the growing mountains turned out to be far more than just a force of Nature. It was an echo, clawing, clicking sound, with the wind the noise reminded a chime.

There were creatures living in the mountains, lots of them. Looking past the cheetah they noticed a narrow, jagged path leading in between the canyon, an inviting road, a treasure basically after having to deal with all of the surprises they found in the snowy land.

The chest containing the gems however was trapped.

Alongside the road, in the cliffs that embraced it, there were little holes like slits in a castle wall, if the mountainous beasts are small, than they would have no troubles bursting from those openings. The group believed however that this is not the case, the holes dotted the canyon were much bigger.

Those slits were probably for scent catching, in the road so tightly embraced by rock the most popular scent is dust. In such a narrow passage the wind would have no troubles directing their smell where it mattered. Guessing from the noise the creatures had the numbers to flood them and bury them underneath their bodies.

The finger moved from the lips to the side of the body, the whole hand housing it making small, quick pumping motions. Giving a clear signal.

It was climbing time.

Hunter immediately vaulted over an ledge and found himself on top of the slowly growing in high canyon. The ground as rough as it was slippery, obviously built by the combined forces of the two atmospheres meeting in natural border separating them.

The rest of the group joined the cheetah, every head titled up, eyes trailing the surface of the wall of the mountain they are meant to scale. Seeing nothing but the most nearby shelf protruding from the hill.

The good news was that this outcropping provided a place to rest, bad news was that nothing could be seen behind it. There was a chance that they would never reach farther than this.

As to confirm their worries the mountain spat out a tongue of dust which unfortunately landed on Spyro's forehead.

He groaned, pawing at his snout.

"I'm not a big fan of climbing" Spyro groaned, shaking his head, strands of rock dust dispersing in the air

Hunter ran his hand on the rocks, they bled dust into his palm, dust that he applied to the purple body, patting it in several places.

"What are you doing?" purple brow raised in surprise

"I would advise against using wings" the cheetah whispered, stepping back to admire his work "The wind will carry our scent. The closer we are to the rocks, the safer we are, better to mask our smell"

He scrambled another pile of dust, approaching Cynder, asking for her confirmation with a knowing look and applying gently the dust to her body with a smile after receiving one.

Flare was given the same treatment.

"You won't be touching me you filthy cat" Iris snarled

The cacophony of noises vibrating throughout the mountain died down suddenly. Hunter pushed his hand back, balking, ears standing on end.

They all knew what it meant, they were being tracked, even the wind seemed to went silent, blowing soundlessly through the canyon.

One feline ear dropped down, eyes of the owner narrowed, the standing furry tracker listening to the wind, the other waiting for this one, specific sound his scouting senses were trained for.

The wind howled, its touch flowing through the openings in the canyon with a stronger gust than usual, the chimes reaching a higher tone.

It was then when Hunter scooped more dust with his other hand, pressed them together, open palms directed up and blew, sending the dust flying. The noise his mouth made deafened by the additional, higher tone of the gale, wind carrying the dust straight into the blue dragoness, it smashed against her snout and body.

Iris shut her eyes with a muffled yelp, fangs pushing past the wavering in fury lips. She managed to open only one eye, some of the waste got stuck in the other, if they won't die anytime soon, she swore to herself that there will be a day when she will make a rug from the stinker's pelt.

The single glaring eye towards the cheetah made sure he will be aware of that.

All Hunter could do was to blink apologetically.

They stood there in total silence, neither making a move, eyes were the only things that moved, finding motivation in the determination of their companions, allowing them to ignore the aching desire of their legs to lie down and rest. As usual, mind playing tricks on the body, in the time of pressure pretending that the stress is far worse than it is in reality.

They stood like this for what felt like an eternity, feeling like statues, all they needed now to complete the image was a bird guano falling on their heads.

Wind blew mercilessly, stirring shivers in their unmoving bodies.

The clicking sounds started to echo throughout the canyon again, shy at the beginning, but gaining on confidence with each passing minute until eventually they reached the same level of chorus which could be described as safe.

They were forgotten.

Pointing upwards finger returned to its previous position, pumping more urgently than before, giving a clear sign that there was no time to waste and, what's more important, there was no other way around.

The group of companions as quietly as possible approached the wall, placing their paws tenderly and in such a way to allow the scale to touch the earth first instead of claws, controlling the drop of the latter to the best of their abilities.

It was an awkward walk, but the sacrifice of dignity caught Hunter's attention, adding another value to his already rich library of draconic charms. It was fascinating to see such proud creatures discarding their natural grace and willingly committing to discomfort that clearly puts flaws on their perfect image. Proud creatures like that are aware of the danger and know how to work together.

It was a fantastic sight.

They stretched along the wall, creating for everyone enough climbing space, all dragons sat down just a meter or three from the wall of rock and looked up, scanning for perfect pawholds.

Spyro was the first one who rose pressing his wings tightly against his back he bent on his haunches, eyes aiming constantly at the point of his interest. He sprung upwards, extending his forelegs and straightening to the best of his ability.

Claws found an Indentation, latching into the openings, dust puffing out from the wall, splashing against the purple body. More waste shot from the rocks when his lower body smacked against the rough surface, rocks rolled down from the wall, the gentle earthquake they created silenced the painful hiss from his mouth.

Muscles bulged from underneath the scales on the forelegs as he held his weight by front paws alone while the back ones kicked, feeling around the wall for the spots he noticed earlier. It took him a little longer than he planned, but eventually everything worked out and Spyro latched himself to the wall like a spider.

He looked down at his group, eyes full of concern, putting emphasis on honesty rather than comfort, stating quite clearly that this won't be an easy climb.

Cynder and Hunter joined their leader almost in the same time on the wall, the cheetah having it much easier to find a foothold with the range of motion available for his limbs. Of course there was also experience which allowed him to find the perfect spot, the same experience played a big role in Cynder's climbing initiation. The ledge she caught on gave away partially under her right forepaw, it was the practiced quick thinking that told to shift the weight to her other leg and grip the broken holding point just so, using it as support than actual pressure point. Months of adventuring paid off, she immediately gained a few more centimeters up as she swiftly rearranged her position, before she tired her body too much.

Not wanting to stay behind and give the freaks the satisfaction of thinking that they are better than her, Iris jumped at the wall, reaching for the ledge between Tat and Kit, she however lacked the technique, knowledge and, what's more important, the patience of the trio on the wall already.

As a daughter of a queen of the whole nation she didn't get much chance to hone her physical skills, mother always believed she was too precious for hard labor, she agreed with her in that regard. Not even the time she spent on the run could compensate for the lack of any true training.

She smacked her body against the rocks roughly, feeling some of them cracking the scales on her underbelly. All paws kicked at the wall, none finding any ledge at first, claws striking against the raw surface, sending jolts of pain through the toes and waves of dust in the air, matting the blue body brown in a second.

She slid down, claws raking against the rocks, shrilling noise echoing in the, it was an alarm signal for the two climbers above, triggering their instincts automatically. Cynder and Hunter fortified their positions, one momentarily offering her tail while the other his leg to the dragoness below.

Iris driven by intuition and survival fright immediately discarded her attempts at grabbing onto the wall and latched her pained forelegs against the tail and leg, making Cynder and Hunter grit their teeth as they tensed to support the dead weight tugging at their limbs.

For a second the blue dragoness merely hanged, held in the air only due to the tail and leg she was holding. Instinct however pushed her body into action, making her curl her lower body and forcing the hind paws to poke at the wall.

While being supported and relatively safe from falling, finding a proper pawhold wasn't that difficult anymore, aching toes found ledges to sink into, sparing her forelegs and the supporting her limbs of her companions more stress of holding her dead weight.

She released the tail first, with legs secured she had an easy time to locate another proper Indentation for her left paw, moments later right one did the same. The loud exhales of relief coming above from her partners were like a smack to the snout for her.

Embarrassing.

She drilled her eyes into the rock, not daring to look up and give the fuckers above the chance to swim in their pride. They were staring at her, she could feel their eyes burning holes in her scales, now when she is in control she no longer needs them, neither she needs their concern.

She had it all under control, but of course the motherfuckers won't believe her, they did what true servants would do, offered themselves to their better and she used them, that's what highborn do. Nothing else, nothing more.

She will rip tongues out if someone dares to demand thanks from her.

Cynder and Hunter glanced at each other, the first commenting the stubbornness of the dragoness below with a roll of her eyes while the second with a defenseless shrug. They weren't expecting gratitude, but they hoped at least for a confirmation from Iris that she has it under control.

The stubborn girl was not even capable of that.

Flare was the last one to take on the rocky wall, taking his time observing his companions and looking for the best of the best places where he can grab a hold of it. He wasn't much of a climber, he wasn't much of a physical laborer in general, the wall was high and he doubted he had the strength to scale it all.

Whatever climbing he did back in the prison couldn't be really called climbing, it was desperation, reaching for barred windows or scaling corpses had nothing to do with a real climb.

Still, if he will chicken out now he would put his friends in danger, too bad that the wall was made of rock, this was one of the minerals his element hated the most, it didn't succumb to his ministrations the way he wanted to. Yet the wall already had some indentations carved in its surface, he could really get a solid grip there if he turns that particular surface to magma, at least partially.

This was his only hope, if the wall turns out stronger than he anticipates, he will never keep up with his friends and especially he won't be able to advance without putting their lives at risk.

Fire was his strength, he has to stay loyal to it if he wants to survive.

Not too much though, too much was always bad.

Flare jumped, while the rest of his team opted for a more natural approach, putting their physical skills to the test, Flare using his magic, turning into a spark of flame that shot from his mane as if it would suck him in like a straw.

The magic jump immediately placed him farther than even Spyro, he reappeared on the wall above him. Heated and glowing red claws gripped onto the ledge he aimed from below, all four finding pawholds immediately.

For some time he relied on strength alone, as expected the heat was unable to eat through mountain. He clenched his claws even harder, channeling more magic, it was then when the stone finally gave in, bleeding out magma, enough to let his claws sink.

It hurt, not even his natural resistances could withstand the touch of something so destructive as magma, as long however as his claws were dipped in the magic, it didn't eat through his flesh.

Spyro noted Flare's ascent on the opposite side of the wall with great interest, that was definitely one of the most original ways of beating obstacles he seen in his life. Teleportation wasn't something that was special to him in any way, Cynder can pull that trick off any time, yet when she does that he doesn't hear the song.

In contrary to Flare's case.

The group started to climb, besides obviously cheating, if talking about fairness in this moment in the first place of course, Flare did something else without even knowing it.

He made the ascent up the mountain far more tolerable.

Whenever his red paws were touching another ledge, explosion of cracking sparks shot into the air as if dynamite after small dynamite would detonate with each his reach. Whatever can be said about Flare, he gave the group he was traveling with one great advantage, he made everyone forget about stress.

No matter how old and mature one might be, or believe to be, fireworks were something magical that always wakes up a child in you. No matter how much you might hate life, fireworks always meant that something nice is happening.

Even Iris' eyes glowed at the sight.

The beginnings were rough, but the climb in general, thanks to Flare's distraction, was far more pleasant and despite the difference in experience in the group when it came to typical athletic skills, all challenged the wall with relative ease.

Only when Flare's tail finally disappeared from their sight, slithering onto the outcropping that was their goal, soreness in the muscles began to wake up.

Spyro reached the destination right after Flare, clambering on top of the rocky plate with a grunt of exertion he immediately spun around, thrusting his paws down the ledge, offering them for anyone who will reach them first.

As he turned he noticed that Flare was in no shape to help, lying on his back with sprawled out wings, he panted heavily, cradling his paws to his chest. Jerky movements of his limbs were a clear indication that his muscles blamed him for the effort, when the magic faded, the pain pushed through, hard, there was nothing else cushioning it any longer.

His burning body pulsed with rhythmic, uneven light.

Spyro scooped up Hunter, combining their forces they reached out towards Cynder who was not far behind. Grabbing her by each paw they had no troubles pulling her over the edge and onto flat ground.

Iris was still quite a distance behind and it was quite clear that she was making careful steps as to not fall down, lack of experience and no way to cheat like in Flare's case didn't help her at all.

"Grab my legs" Spyro asked his friends who immediately listened to him while he himself slithered forward, throwing the upper body over the ledge

He stretched out his forelegs as far as they could go, hanging upside down, with half of his body over the edge.

"Come on Iris, you can do it!" he encouraged her

The way her feathers ruffled though told him quite clearly that she wasn't happy about it at all. She was avoiding eye contact, practically reaching out blindly for the next openings in the wall. Obviously not happy that to end this without issue she has to rely on assistance.

He would tell her that this is not a competition, that it is perfectly normal to be worse at something, that it is perfectly natural that all of them had more experience than her when it came to climbing, not counting magic of course. Yet after seeing how his words affected her, he decided to be silent, it was a very sad sight that she can't forget about pride even for a second.

Or at least when there are people around her.

Last night when no one was looking she could open up and ask for help, whether it was an honest request or not was hard to decide seeing as she acted most of the time. She didn't seem to care much about help, even now when he is willingly offering it to her.

"Spyro?" Cynder's worried shout came from above, he felt more pressure of paws being applied to his hind legs "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, yes!" he exclaimed, stretching out his forelegs a little bit farther "Just keep holding for a little while longer!"

He shook his head when he noticed Iris slowing down, not only that but she also was redirecting her climb, trying to stay away from him even if it meant reaching a painful and dangerous distance. Such a waste of strength and if things will turn drastic, it might even cost her life

Stupid girl.

He won't let her hurt herself, he didn't care about her personal space or her no touching policy. He examined the wall and no matter how hard she would try avoiding him, she has to reach a ledge near his legs if she wants to climb up and dodge him, the other way was going down, but he doubted that Iris is so reckless to do that, seeing as going up is already a chore for her.

He will reach for her there and no matter how deeply she will thrust her claws into his legs he will, with the assistance of his friends, pull her up. He could tell that a part of her sensed his intentions, making her stop for a while, she clung to the wall like a fly.

If it didn't mean provocation to her, he would plead her to start climbing, knowing however that it would cause more harm than good he had to suffer through the painful beating of his heart and let her make the decision on her own.

Either she accepts his help or she falls.

It was obvious she wasn't happy with decision she made, the paw that was rising up trembled, undecided if to continue or back down. Claws touched the rock eventually.

Spyro reached out, grasping her paw in both of his, clenching so tightly that he felt veins crushing as he cut off the blood flow. He immediately began to pull, Iris in the meantime smacked her other paw against one of his extended legs, as he was expecting she sunk her claws into his flesh.

"Pull us up!" he exclaimed, hissing through the pain as he put his muscles to work he drilled his eyes into Iris' skull

She felt it, meeting his gaze, as much as she tried to mask her true feelings behind her typical demeanor of defiance he could see the sparks of shame in there.

"Help us here a little guys!" Cynder groaned from above

With their eyes left in silent commune, he shook his head in disappointment.

The bristled feathers that stood on end in anger dropped flat unexpectedly, smoothing the surface of the feathery wings. To say that it surprised him wouldn't give it much credit, especially in the face of the fact that Iris curled her lower body, putting her hind paws against the rocks she started working with him.

Walk the wall as they pulled her up, despite the stretching pain in his pierced leg, her cooperation spared the tension from his stressed enough body.

They pulled up the dust covered dragoness over the ledge, all four dropped on the ground to catch their breaths.

"Are you feeling well my lady?" Hunter inquired, wiping off the dust from his pants

Iris got up immediately, as if the question was a startling explosion, she stormed away from the group, avoiding eye contact, leaving bloody splotches behind, coming both from her red claws and the cuts on her underbelly.

"You're welcome" sitting on her haunches Cynder mumbled sarcastically, her taunting eyes following the dragoness

"Flare?" Spyro licked his dry lips, tongue working in between soft panting "You okay?"

"I'm dying" Flare mumbled, voice weak and breathy, words unable to form appropriately due to the labored heaving of the chest

He had one of his paws on his heart, the other stretched out on the ground, unmoving as if the nervous system was severed. Sometimes his breaths seemed to be louder than the wind

"Keep breathing and try to control it, deep inhales. I know it's tough, but that way you'll recover faster"

"No more..." the fire drake coughed roughly, rolling onto his belly he began to retch, the ugly noise making everyone wince "...climbing. Please"

The three long time friends exchanged glances before looking up, if nothing will change they have at least one more wall to scale. Sadly though this next climbing spot didn't seem to be any easier than the last one.

"Let me see if we can get past it somehow" Hunter raised on his feet with a groan, putting much pressure on the supporting arm to help himself rise, the raw reminder of the muscles telling him that they still remembered what he put them through

The noise irritated Cynder, it forced Hunter to abandon his rest period for nothing really because where he was about to go Iris was already there, sitting at the edge of the outcropping all she needed to do was to turn her head and tell them what she sees, but no, the offended princess preferred to swim in her own selfish bile like always.

"Maybe-"

"Leave her alone Cynder" Spyro cut her out before she could say anything more, reading her intentions thoroughly

Her heart skipped a beat after the fact, she wasn't irritated by the fact that he knows her so well, it irritated her that he stood in defense of that blue troublemaker. She made sure that he could read the dissatisfaction from the glare she gave him.

"You know just as well that there is no point in trying to reform Iris" he met her gaze calmly "She either does it herself or not. She has her own troubles and there is no point in trying to make her forget that" he shrugged "It is what it is, we have to accept that to some regard, if we don't we will end up fighting between each other sooner or later"

Cynder snorted, the argument worthless to her, changeable or not, to her it didn't matter. Iris has to be reminded that this is a team work, you accept it or not, that's it. She didn't like the perspective of her friends being in danger just because they need to stroke their pet princess in worry that she will do something crazy.

To her the solution is simple, you are either good or bad, there is no middle ground and especially no shedding of colors during some unknown time span. She switched from being a murderous asshole in day one, you can change if you only want it strong enough.

A shallow understanding of the problem, maybe, but Iris didn't do anything to help in changing the fact.

Hunter pressed his hand against the wall, using it as support as he walked to the edge of it, hoping that they will find a way to bypass this wall somehow, even if every instinct he possessed told him that there will be no easy way through. That trap below wasn't for nothing, it is highly probable that it is impossible to scale this mountain from the opposite side of it.

He reached the end of the wall, taking a deep breath he made another turn, eyes widening momentarily as they flew across the landscape, stopping way before they reached their destination, finding a way around the wall no longer so important.

"You have to come here and see this" full of awe whisper flew out of Hunter's mouth

Spyro and Cynder exchanged surprised glances before automatically rising and making their way to the cheetah, even Iris turned her head in interest. Both mouths parted open in the same time as the dragons gazed at the horizon, they didn't need Hunter's help in pointing out what was so interesting.

In the distance stretched out a massive spire of a mountain, the earth from which it stood out barely seen due to all the landscapes, bigger and small on the way of the sight. On top of that spire was a castle, black as obsidian. It wasn't built on it, it was more like it grew out of it, the hill becoming black near the top, as if the castle had roots and they wrapped around itself the mountain.

They were far away from it and yet even from here it looked like the citadel was a big building, probably Warfang's size if not bigger. From up close it must be massive.

There was one huge pillar protruding from the middle of the citadel, almost like a lighthouse if not for a dark orb swiveling inside, two rays of shadow were shooting out of it spinning around the castle and covering the terrain around in shade. An unending shadow falling over the land in constant rhythm.

Around the castle many, many floating figures could be seen, from this distance they were like small bats, but the creatures observing them belonged to the very same species.

Dragons circled the citadel and all of them were black. Their numbers dwindling and increasing whenever the black ray ran over them.

"Do you see this?" Spyro mumbled a rhetorical question "They are all black. Black dragons everywhere"

Flare stuck his head in between the two drakes, gasping loudly.

"Cynder! You have friends!"

Cynder was speechless, heart racing in her chest, all this time she believed that she was alone, probably an after effect of Corruption. Danox came from the future, his scales weren't that much surprising, if there was a black dragon in their era, big chances were that in the future time a black dragon would be there too.

But this.

This might be where black dragons came from and perhaps Corruption has nothing to do with this, Malefor wasn't born yet, the Corruption didn't have the chance to spread its influence.

Black dragons might be a normal dragon specie, if it turns out to be true, this would change everything.

"What is this place?" Flare inquired further, breathy voice now the consequence of excitement

She felt her essence stirring, becoming still and cold, magic pulsing in the veins. She could feel Creep crawling deep into her consciousness, to the darkest places where nobody would find him, hiding.

"Shade" hollow whisper echoed in her head

"Shade" her mouth copied the word automatically, coming out as a gasp of an elder on a deathbed

Every head turned in her direction, the tone making every heart skip a beat.

"How do you know?" Spyro mumbled, his throat suddenly sore with fear

"I...I've dreamt about it" she replied emotionlessly, green eyes locked on the fortress in the distance, she didn't even hear her own words

Every head turned in her direction, only Flare seemed to be confused.

"Wait a second" he twirled a strand of his fiery mane around his claw, scraping fangs against lips thoughtfully "You're from the future, this Shade is from the past. How could you dream about something that happened in a different world?"

"Wild, right?" Cynder smiled, mouth taking a mollifying shape "I think it was one of Creep's memories, dunno what it meant, I don't remember it all, still this place looks much different than the one in my dream. It's peaceful, mine looked like it was torn by war"

"it just gets better and better" Spyro sighed, the idea to interrogate Creep before they finish here became so much more appealing all of a sudden

He didn't like these secrets, these question marks over and over again and what he disliked the most was the fact that all of this centers around Cynder. Or so it seems at least.

"Knowing our luck this Shade fortress is where we need to go and we will be the ones that somehow provoke this war" he whined

Cynder grinned, elbowing friendly her purple companion.

"You're starting to sound like Sparx"

"Our goal lies elsewhere, citadel is not our destination on this mission" Creep's whisper resounded within Cynder's consciousness

Black brow raised in surprise to this revelation.

"Creep says that we don't have to go there to complete our mission here"

"Boy" Flare cocked his head "It's so weird listening to you talk openly about the voice in your head and you know, be cool about it and all. Everyone I knew with voices in their heads was crazy"

The black dragoness winked at the fire drake.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence"

"Perfect" Spyro grumbled, claws raking against the rocky ground "Not only that thing knows where to go and it's telling about it just now, it also, like usual, tries to control you and tells you were we shouldn't go. Just like Boven"

"No, Sugar" Creep whimpered, his echo sounded like a cry of a baby "Dangerous like Boven, but..." the voice ended abruptly

Doubt.

This was the first time she sensed Creep's doubt.

Despite everything it made her gulp in fear, Creep is what he is, motivations unknown, but his guidance always had her best interest in mind, at least it seemed that way. She felt like a captain of a ship that lost its guiding star, leaving her alone and clueless on an open, black sea

She didn't knew where the star led, but it was at least something. This doubt made her feel lonely and abandoned.

"But what?"

Silence.

Another bulge of saliva stretched her throat.

"Creep?"

"Knot Sugar, so tight, so confused. Shade dangerous, Boven dangerous, Abomination dangerous, but life Sugar, life. Abomination is taking risk? Manipulating? Helping? Where is life?" another break

Cynder looked up at Spyro, shaking her head, giving a clear signal that she didn't understand much from this tirade.

Another moment of silence, which Creep didn't seem to want to shatter without direction.

"What is wrong with Shade?" she inquired "Should we go there or not? What is there? Why I've dreamt of it? What we will find there?"

"Everything" Creep's voice rumbled loudly, it sounded like a wail of a tortured person clutching his head and not able to take it anymore

She winced, rubbing her forehead that began to sting annoyingly.

"What means everything?"

She felt Creep withdrawing deeper into the corner, it made her shiver as if someone would grab her by the throat and stop the breath building up in her neck. Moment after moment passed, a tear forming in the corner of her eye, she slowly felt as if she was being strangled squeezed like a fruit for juice.

"I do not know" the clench was gone, a final release of someone who betrayed a shameful secret

Creep's presence was gone, wherever he retreated she could no longer sense him, admitting what seemed like a defeat for him he ran away, ready to accept whatever happens.

She hacked, pulling away the choker from her throat that suddenly started to feel like a chain around a post she was tied to.

"He doesn't know" Cynder wiped the tear from her eye, she moved the claw in front of her eyes, observing the glistening blob thoughtfully

She could swear she could smell the tear, it didn't feel like hers at all.

It was a male tear.

She aimed her troubled eyes at Spyro

"He didn't seem to be happy about it"

Spyro's heart skipped a beat, this confusion Creep seemed to go through was hard to understand, he had no idea from where it came from, but he would lie if he said that it bothered him.

He was happy, feeling triumphant.

He heard thump at the back of his mind, the King touched the field on the chessboard. Ringing of dangling keys chimed all around.

There was an unexpected click.

A lock had been cracked open.