FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 31

The group moved through the forest slowly, walking away from the mountain just to be safe from the overwhelming numbers when they finally decide to face their stalker, who was still following them, Hunter's scout senses keeping a close track on their tail.

The dragon following them wasn't a talented stalker, yet it was oblivious he had practice, he placed the paws gently and mostly avoided making any audible, crunching sounds. He however ignored the touch of leafs, if the drake ever sneaked around these monsters, than perhaps it was enough to slip past.

It made him careless.

Also obliviousness played a big role here, the dragon didn't seem to be aware of the a cheetah's natural traits. Thanks to that Hunter had no troubles pinpointing the dragon's exact location, his feline ears, tuned to the sounds of Nature recognized easily the brush of leaves against a scale.

For all his faults, their stalker wasn't reckless, keeping a proper distance and even enlarging it, with the way Spyro smelled it was an understandable idea. It proved intelligence, demanded respect for their potential enemy.

Allowing Spyro to recover from the draining ordeal the tram decided against using his Time powers to surprise the unknown observer. In his current, unfortunate state Spyro served as the perfect bait, perfect point of focus.

The team kept close to him, walking in such a way that pushed the currently most crucial member as far to the side as possible. With dark shadows all around the forest there was only one dragon among the group who could teleport without drawing any attention.

Cynder waited for the right moment, her elemental energy pulsing, shadows rippling around her, green eyes scanning the trees and their main scout alternately. Looking for ideal latching point for shadow walking and the signal that would commence the trap.

They moved a little deeper into the forest.

Left pointy ear flickered quickly, dancing to the gust of wind that wasn't there.

She cleared her throat.

Flare sneezed, bursting with brighter flames, jerking his wings open, who would have thought that their size with increased glow would be a perfect size.

She smiled to herself at the sarcastic thought when she made a step to the left, disappearing behind the nearby tree. Blob of shadow danced on the ground, inviting her inside with its wriggles.

She took the offer, vanishing into its depth.

As she traveled across the veil of the world she saw and heard the uneven sound of walking paws, gently being put on the ground. She slid a little farther, leaving the noise behind her, making sure to appear behind the stalker. Surprising the jester.

She delicately climbed out of the ominous teleporting device, reappearing right behind the draconic figure obscured in the darkness of the woods. She could see its paw on a nearby tree trunk, tips of claws scratching the bark nervously.

The tension hanging in the air could be sliced with the blade tip on her tail.

She clenched her paws on the earth, the dark tendrils rising from her silvery blades scratched the scale on the forelegs.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now" Cynder hissed, her menacing tone in the darkness was like a snarl of a monster come alive from the worst nightmares

The figure gasped, the low exhale betraying it as a male, it balked, the claws that so tenderly scratched the tree before, now sunk deeply into the bark that sap pushed through, bleeding onto the leg.

Nothing was happening, the dragon didn't even there to turn his head, he just stood there, paralyzed.

All she could hear was the rapid beating of his heart that despite her change of nature from a murderous, brainwashed slave to a rather normal, with certain twists girl, gave her an immense sense of satisfaction. There was power in fear, especially on the battlefield and as a black dragon, she knew the benefits of dread better than anyone.

Time seemed to slow down to the point that even the wind couldn't be felt, the effect however didn't influence her mind which worked perfectly. One could say that in this certain situation it even sped up towards the future, processing the possible ways how this situation can unfold.

She quickly came to one conclusion, as an expert in Fear magic and its consequences there was only one thing that could happen here, something that was also proven by the stern flex of the male's muscles.

He's going to run.

Just as she concluded her thought, the dragon sprang from the tree, with the intention to sprint away from her. He didn't know though that her paw was already on the move, reaching towards him, she grabbed the starting base of the tail, right near the butt.

Helping herself with the other paw she pulled with all her might, the jerk unexpected, making the eyes nearly shoot out from the dragon's eyelids as an unknown force dragged him forcefully backwards.

The pull made the male rise on his hind paws tilting him over his center of balance, back slammed against the earth, head landing in between the two front legs, terrified eyes looking up at the black snout of a dragoness who evaluated him with a intense, green glare.

A paw landed on his throat, making him choke, he could feel claws irritating the vulnerable scales there.

"Bad reason" Cynder noted callously, for good measure putting more pressure on the scales below , just enough to make them bend, at the edge of breaking and releasing blood

There was too much danger already, there's no room to be soft.

"Please don't kill me!" the dragon underneath her howled, his paw clenching over her foreleg, grasping it tightly with the intention to pull it away

Yet the moment Cynder felt pressure on her leg she pushed her paw deeper into the neck scales.

The dragon below shut his eyes and squealed.

"I'm not one of the Wretched!"

"Cynder?" Spyro's worried shout came from nearby, the quick noise of crunching leaves announced that her companions were getting close

"I'm good. I've got him right where I want him" she replied, her eyes never leaving the dark figure below, watching for some stupid tricks

A few seconds later the team was near her already, Flare pushed into the front row instantly, approaching the fallen stalker, giving more intensity to the light of his burning body parts, illuminating the area around.

Cynder's eyes widened when the light fell on the dragon.

He didn't look like a Wretch at all.

He was a dragon in their age range, having a frame similar to Spyro's, yet lacking the well formed muscles of someone who spent most of his life fighting or sweating in a hard, physical work. He was a male, with a normal body, as common as they get.

That was however everything that was familiar about the dragon.

His scales were pure white, like that of a freshly fallen snow or the most pristine of pearls. His secondary color was a mint green shade which perfectly shifted from and completed the main hue of his body.

The green colored his underbelly and chest like in the rest of the dragons, the only difference was that his claws were also light green. The green covered also the top of his thighs, mixing itself with white there deeply, until the latter won and stretched farther down the legs, his front legs were a result of the same battle.

Underside of the tail was green, top white, scales however didn't cover the whole length of it. As soon as the tail stretched out from the rump it started to sprout a plume of white feathers with mint green tips, small at the beginning until forming quite a sizeable tuft at the tip, similar to Flare's, yet stretching through almost the whole length of the tail and not burning.

His wings were also made of feathers, even if they already were familiar with Iris' majestic wings, these ones also managed to steal gasps of awe from the throats. The wings were massive, feathers healthy, pure white with glowing green tips, breathtaking in every regard. They were far more bigger for a dragon of this size.

He had shoulder pads made of the same feathers, several small strands also stood up from the top of his head like a thriving, small mane. Two more tufts covered the edges of his cheeks like the beginning of a small beard.

Thanks to the wiggles the dragon was making they could see parts of the back of his body, he had big, light green fins running from the top of his head towards the nape of the neck where they eventually became thinner.

Gentle plumes of feathers dotted the sides of his neck.

His body was covered with birthmarks that looked like small, green stars which the main hue of the scale seemed to not be able to digests completely, some where brighter than others, some more faded than others.

The stars definitely ran along the top of his back, just where it shifted to the flanks, they could only see one side, but they suspected the other side shared the same coloration. The same stars could be visible below the knees and elbows, a little smaller yet definitely there.

He had two white horns sprouting from the top of his head, trapping the gentle mane and fins between them. Additional two horns protruded just a little lower of each main one, the size of a claw, entirely green like the underside of his body.

Even if scared and terrified there was no denying that the dragon had pretty, bright, honest green eyes.

A medallion dangled from his neck, it was a little blue star made of some plastic material that was more suitable for kids than a dragon of such age.

What was the most surprising though was the fact that the dragon was wearing goggles, they weren't on his eyes currently, pressed against the forehead instead, straps secured around the small, green horns. The delicate frame of the goggles colored in mint green like the underbelly.

He didn't look like a wretch that's for sure.

Iris approached the pinned dragon, lowering her head she sniffed his scent, crunching her nose as she eventually pulled back.

"Wind dragon"

The long time trio of friends exchanged surprised glances, on the ground there was a wind dragon, in the flesh, a specie that they heard only legends about, a specie that Malefor drove to extinction. A creature that many considered to be a history, while others who had the pleasure of working together with some, considered them a good memory.

Hope glimmered in the six eyes, a silent plea that the dragon is friendly, truly friendly and not like Diazen. Hope for avoiding more bloodshed, hope for the dragons, the race in general, having the wind dragons walk the earth again, it would mean rebirth.

They realized in this very moment that the Veils aren't necessary a tragedy, while unnatural, yes, they gave the opportunity to make everything right, a chance to repair every horror, or at least most of it. Someone might argue that you shouldn't change history, shouldn't mess with Fate, what happened, happened, it was destiny and nothing could be done about it.

The three friends however had a specific approach to Destiny, neither truly believed in its power and control over the lives, all three of them turned away from their prophesized paths in bigger or smaller degree after all.

Besides.

Fuck it.

If the world can cheat by throwing at them all of the crap like evil purple dragons, murderous bugs or golems, they deserve to take something for themselves as well to even the odds. In all of the span of the generations dragons didn't have an easy life, one slice of good luck in centuries isn't too much too ask for.

Cynder's paw automatically eased on a pressure.

"Don't let him go!" Flare shouted, throwing his legs on the black paw, pushing it deeper into the throat making the drake below choke "Followers are bad! They plot!"

White forelegs kicked at the black paw, body starting to writhe uneasily.

"Flare! Let go! I'm going to strangle him!" Cynder protested, trying to break her leg free

"They are bad! They are always bad!"

Spyro nodded towards the red dragon, Hunter understood the hint immediately, they grabbed the dragon and lifted him, pulling him back with great effort, all his weight was pulling towards the black paw.

"We'll be careful Flare, promise" Spyro grunted "Everyone deserves a chance, clean slate"

The fire drake gave up with pained hesitation, every muscle in his body telling them that it was a bad idea.

Cynder pulled her paw back.

The wind dragon gasped an coughed alternately, the roughness in the voice reminded them of tearing paper. He pressed his paws against his tormented throat, body swaying from side to side as he struggled to gain breath.

Iris observed the particularly dramatic dragon with callous interest.

"For a wind dragon, the guy doesn't seem to be good friends with air. Another fraud most likely, you must be proud of yourself Goldie, no one else gathers so much worthlessness around himself"

She kicked the wiggling dragon in the ribs.

The white dragon groaned loudly, his grunt interrupted by fierce coughing, throat and lungs struggling fiercely to gain control over the air.

"Why did you do that for?" Cynder's eyes widened, her surprise coming out from her throat in the form of a whine

"Because I can" Iris snarled "I hate creeps"

"You hate everything, maybe start from cutting yourself first, see how it goes from there"

"All right!" Spyro jumped in between the girls, pushing them away with his wings, making himself as the last obstacle before the fallen dragon "No more kicking and strangling, be civil"

"I deserved that" the wind dragon groaned, sharp teeth pushing from behind the lips, paw massaging the aching rib "You pack a punch lady"

"Who are you and why you are following us?" the purple drake asked, despite the hope stirring his heart he kept his voice low and strong, intimidating

Hope or not, this might be a potential enemy right here, a clever one in fact if he tries to buy himself in their grace.

"My name is Cloudas, just Cloud for friends" he forced a smile, paw massaging the hurt rib unendingly "I don't understand the other question, you gave me no other choice"

Spyro frowned, deep down already feeling that the wind dragon got them confused for someone, measuring what he sees with the perspective given to him by the current era he lives in. Still, they were in an advantage here, the dragon has no idea they traveled through a time portal, in his vulnerable state there was a chance to get more information out of him than he would normally let go.

"Elaborate on that" the purple drake demanded

"Are you serious?" the drake cocked his head "A purple and a black dragon? Together? I mean I know that for someone like you seeing someone like me is just a sneeze, but for guys like me? It's a dream come true to see one of you guys at least once, but two? At the same time? How can you call that?"

"An admirer" Iris groaned, slamming her butt into the earth, tongue rolling out from her mouth in disgust as if she just ate something really bad

"And the ones you're traveling with? You had to find them in the Pit! Look!" he pointed at Flare "That guy is burning like a torch" claw moved to Iris "She has my wings but it's not a wind dragon" finally it landed on Hunter "I don't even know what to say about this guy! Nobody been to the Pit or close to it, it's too dangerous. Now you two are here with all the rest of them, only you could pull off something like this. Everyone knew that black and purple dragons are awesome, but when working together? Of course the awesomeness is doubled! The Wretched can finally burrow themselves under the ground where they belong!"

"If it's too dangerous to be around the Pit as you said" Hunter slid some of his fingers below the belt, feeling the handles of the daggers there "Then what are you doing here?"

The enthusiasm faded from Cloudas' eyes, the bright shimmer of his grass orbs darkened, paws that so lively gesticulated fell down, flattening on the ground, feathers on the wings crunched down in shame. Eyes darted away, staring down at the feathery tail.

"Nothing" he mumbled shyly

Iris snorted.

"Another cretin. Well done Dynamite, you have a rival after all"

"Rival?" Flare leaned closer "Where and in what?"

"In smarts"

"But I'm not very smart"

"Exactly"

Flare cocked his head, confused eyes looking for help in his companions.

"Ignore her Flare" Cynder commented, sparring the unworthy explanation that it was just Iris' dumb sense of mockery, she won't give her the satisfaction

"Look Cloudas, we don't want to hurt you and are not your enemies if you don't make us" Spyro explained the situation calmly "But you were following us in a territory where these creatures tried to kill us. _Nothing_is not a good answer in a moment like this"

"It has nothing to do with you, I swear" the wind drake whined, nervously scratching the tuft of feathers on his shoulder

"Not enough. Understand that we just fought for our lives, for some reason those creatures that attacked us stopped giving chase, why when we are still so very close to their territory? And then we find you. Do you see the pattern and the reason why we cannot accept a simple excuse?"

Cloudas gulped, the noise of his flowing down saliva echoed in the air in this moment of silence, even the surrounding birds cocked their heads, thinking that this was some kind of song. The dragon's green eyes darted between every companion of this strange group, fear shimmering in his eyes stronger and stronger with each jump.

This really looked bad.

"I have nothing to do with it" he rubbed his chest, wincing at the loud noise his beating heart created "I don't know why the Wretched stopped chasing you, they usually aren't so careful, maybe you scared them or something. It has nothing to do with me, I'm just a normal dragon, they would kill me, I don't stand a chance against them"

"But they didn't kill you" Hunter sent another precise, inquisitive stab "If the Wretched aren't usually so careful, how then a single dragon like yourself is still alive and breathing?"

"I'm... careful too?"

"Enough of this bullshit" Iris growled, springing up, her piercing glare burning holes in the drake's soul, making him cringe under her strong stare and intimidating stride

"The fuck is hiding something, it's obvious as Dynamite's cretinism, he's our worm to stomp so let's do that finally and squeeze the truth out of him. When we will be done he will wish that he landed in the dirty claws of those monstrosities instead"

A trail of ice wafted from her nostrils, curling at the sides of her nose, becoming as sharp as daggers.

"I volunteer, I know how to get males to whine" icy flames danced in the white eyes

Iris didn't do anything and yet the wind dragon already whined, cringing and slithering away from the scary dragoness.

"It won't be necessary" Spyro raised his paw in front of the blue girl "Cloudas learned his lesson" kind, purple eyes shifted at the defenseless drake "I hope"

The wind dragon stared back at Spyro, silently begging him to let this all go and just trust him. No matter how much good radiated from the amethyst eyes, their commanding look was unyielding, there was only one way to get out of this and the purple drake was making sure that he understands that perfectly.

He sighed deeply through his nose, feathers standing up hungrily at the taste of the sudden gust.

"Look, this was supposed to be a secret, they made me swear I won't tell anyone" the drake fidgeted with his medallion nervously "The Wretched don't attack me because we got one of their own, not one of the brainless thralls, but a Chimera, they're the leader caste, very rare since these guys are being born, instead of spawned. I don't have to explain that they have a really hard time finding a mate right?"

Flare's eyes widened in sudden excitement.

"I've seen a Supervisor, very strange creature, not like the rest of the monsters. Armor and all that, is that the Chimera?"

Cloudas nodded.

"Sounds like it"

The fire drake grinned and puffed out his chest, clearly proud of his intellectual connection and confirmation of his idea.

"Anyway, the Wretched aren't very friendly so it's obvious they can't be trusted, that's why we demanded to have a constant watch on them, to which they agreed. As long as I don't cross the line, nothing happens, so, well, here I am. Not doing a very good job it seems since I missed you guys" he shrugged

"Who are we?" Cynder inquired

The wind dragon looked at the black dragoness as if she was some sort of a ghost.

"Wind dragons naturally, we got one of the Chimera's trapped in our city"

Once again the three long time friends exchanged knowing, excited glances, the revelation about holding prisoner some otherworldly, unknown beast wasn't as interesting as the fact that somewhere out there is a city, a whole city of wind dragons.

Dragons that the Realms consider extinct.

This was unimaginable.

"You're lying you little shit" Iris snarled, her tail making an irritated tap against the earth, sparks of ice shot from the tip of the tail

Horror filled the wind dragon's features.

"I-I'm not!"

"This sounds like an important mission, these monsters have numbers that cannot be ignored, they have to be monitored. You want me to believe that for such an important mission they sent someone like you? I know your race, you don't have anything in you that would make your kind proud, you're worthless, a disgrace and waste of time not worth of spit"

Despite the poison in her words, Iris had a point, neither of them had any contact with wind dragons so they didn't have samples to compare to be found in their heads. The spite was obvious, there was a high chance that it silenced all rational thinking and Iris just insults the poor dragon to make herself feel better.

It was ugly, but neither of them spoke up to silence her, the wind dragon saw definitely that Iris lacks patience and is rather volatile. It was an ugly tactic to scare him into submission, but right now they didn't have anything else.

It was quite clear that Iris' accusation struck a sensitive spot, colors faded from the dragon's snout, he was already white to begin with, but now the colors of his scales turned grey, almost like the skin of a corpse.

"They sent me" Cloudas mumbled gloomily "Because if anything goes wrong, I won't be missed all right?" he glared back at the ice dragoness, pain pulsing in his eyes "Does this satisfy your curiosity or you need to hear my complete life story? Just a warning though, it's very depressing and long"

"Convenient excuse" Iris stated coldly, her eyes landed on Spyro, burning disappointment and irritation into his skull "Perfect for a mercy addicted fool with no sense of rationality"

Spyro winced, feeling as if he was slapped across the cheek, Iris knew him already, realizing just well that his heart won't condemn anyone without evidence, even with proof nothing was certain. Cynder saw that as a perk, he did too considering that it was that heart that tied his life with Cynder's.

Iris had a peculiar ability of turning your traits against you though, making him doubt that if his good will isn't a burden. The wind dragon's story seemed believable, with nothing else to prove differently, they didn't have much of a choice, but to believe him.

Was it really mercy?

Maybe.

But it also seemed rational to him, despite Iris' statement, he just saw no point in making enemies based on some circumstance.

Besides there was too much to win, Iris cannot possibly fathom what the return of wind dragons means for the Realms, she is so blinded by loss and hate that she hardly sees anything good in life anymore. This hope was what made him accept the ice girl's disappointment.

Hopefully one day Iris will also appreciate a chance to change something in her own life for the better.

"All right Cloudas, let's say we believe you" Spyro extended his paw towards the dragon

Iris snorted, rolling her eyes in displeasure.

"Typical. Idiots will be idiots"

The wind dragon accepted the paw eagerly, using its support to lift himself up. He shook his entire body, trembling all around, throwing bits of earth, grass and leaves off of his body. His wings jerked open, only in this position the group could admire their true majesty. Fluffy, angelic wings opened swiftly, big and awe inspiring like that of the most beautiful of birds. If Ancestors ever would decide to descend on the earth from the stars, wings like that would have to guide them.

The sight of those white wings made Iris fold her own in front of her snout, white eyes examining the colorful, currently matted due to recent fighting, feathers. A growl rumbled in her throat, she felt like a fucking joke and disgrace, her wings looked like a chicken's ass in comparison to the wings of that shit eating cock.

She hated wind dragons.

"Thanks" the white dragon smiled "I usually get beat up when I'm on the ground" he rubbed the back of his neck with an innocent shrug "It's a nice change"

"The pleasure is ours" Cynder shrugged with a soft giggle "I guess"

"May I ask you guys a question now that we're friends?"

"We're friends?" Flare pushed forward curiously, he craned his towards the wind drake, giving him a proper look over and a sniff

His body flared up excitedly as he pushed his head back, mouth stretched into a wide grin.

"Muse" tail wagged excitedly "A good friend"

Cloudas frowned, looking at the fire dragon as if he was deathly ill, the bewildered glance jumped then on the rest of the group who could only offer him the same look in return.

"Right...thanks?"

"You're welcome friend! My name is Flare!" he presented a courteous bow, something he learned from one of his other friends, Hunter

"P-Pleasure to meet you" the wind dragon cleared his throat, the paw that was busy rubbing the neck returned to the ground "The question...umm...of course if it isn't a big secret naturally, I don't want to get between a black and purple dragon. I know that how important you are, together even more so, something that a dragon like me will surely not understand, or shouldn't really care about. There is no place for a small guy like me to get involved in the adventures of you important figures. We get books and stories, which perfectly suffice when it comes to filling the thirst for knowledge of someone like myself, there is no way in the world that I could fathom your brilliance. This-"

"Dfane!" Iris growled in irritation, slamming her clenched into a fist paw into the ground, kicking strands of grass into the air "Stop drooling you dumb shit and answer the fucking question! You can jerk off to them later!"

Cloudas balked, blush filling his cheeks, something that was as visible as a stain on an expensive dress due to his pure scales. Feathers on his wings flopped down in shame, being reminded of a mistake is one thing, but being smacked with it across the snout just to have it shoved up his ass is another.

He felt so stupid and embarrassed right now, he is making a fool of himself in front of the Shapers. How many times those a guy like him meet dragons like that to be relaxed, knowing that he has room for mistakes?

The answer was zero.

This was just some cruel joke of Fate, he lost everything, there was no turning back now, basically he was in deep shit.

And then they show up, something to light up his dark life and he fucks it up.

"How did you get past me?" the question jumped from his throat without him realizing, the desire to do everything right was still there

No matter how it ended last time.

"There is only one way to the Pit, the Wretched block every other or Nature does. There Is no avoiding them, if somehow they wouldn't see you, then I would. Yet here you are, surprising me and the creatures, either you know how to turn invisible or teleport or I dazed off somewhere without knowing it. Which never happened by the way"

The group exchanged looks, Spyro and Cynder locking eyes for the longest time since they were already on a time traveling quest. Diazen learned everything about them back then, or almost everything, and they both know how it turned out.

Only fools repeat the same mistake.

That's good though, since they never considered themselves as the most intelligent creatures in the world.

The chance rekindle something awesome in dragonkind, bring back something that was stolen by the horrors of war was too great to ignore.

Yet in the way stood the wind dragon's excitement, he clearly saw black and purple dragons as nearly godlike individuals, which was shocking in itself, they both knew how friendly the last group of purple dragons was.

Hope is hope, but they still knew too little to come clean, having one portal leading to purple dragons is scary enough, having two...they would never have to invite the Destroyer again to end the world.

"Shadow magic" Cynder spoke up, confidently aiming her green eyes at the same colored one's stuck in a male's skull ahead

To keep up the shock of revelation and to prevent any more uncomfortable questions she dragged a shadow in front of her, immediately sinking her right paw into it almost half way.

Cloudas' eyes grew wide in awe, feathers bristling.

"You can sneak through the whole Pit like that?" his eyes glimmered with some hard to describe hope

"Only short distances" she withdrew her paw, black magic dribbled from her claws like venom from a snake's fangs "Enough to avoid a single pair of eyes, not enough to avoid a whole colony of creatures"

"Whoa!" the wind dragon titled his goggles up with a claw "I knew you guys were amazing, but never like this" he rubbed the back of his neck, looking away and blushing slightly "You two are also a lot cooler than I thought"

"How so?" Spyro pressed for information immediately, momentarily snatching the opportunity to learn more about the dragons inhabiting this world while what is important, keeping the pretense on

"People say" Cloudas mumbled, avoiding eye contact "That you guys don't really like each other, or anyone else for that matter and yet here we are" he smiled weakly, rubbing his chest "Not only you act like best friends,, but you also treat me as if I was one of you" he chuckled, the blush making the cheeks red "It's breathtaking"

Okay, this didn't sound too bad, judging from the drake's reaction seeing purple or black dragons is a rare opportunity. It also seemed that purple and black dragons are important figures in this world, perhaps they even fought amongst each other, yet it could be nothing more than a fight pride against pride, egocentrism that is very popular among dragonkind.

They weren't naïve enough to believe that everything would be perfect, however these scratches on the perspective weren't deep enough to ruin the possibility that eventually all of this has a chance to work out in the end.

"People are wrong!" Flare stomped his paw triumphantly "Spyro and Cynder are very good friends!"

"Spyro and Cynder?" the white drake looked up at the burning dragon and then switched the attention to the two majestic dragons

"Oh yeah" the purple drake chuckled, rubbing the back of his head "We didn't introduce ourselves" he pressed a paw to his gold chest

"Spyro"

He pointed at his black companion.

"Cynder" the dragoness announced happily

Purple paw aimed at the burning frame of a dragon.

"Flare!" the red drake blurted out joyfully, sparks shooting from his body

Then came the time for the cheetah.

"Hunter" the scout bowed deeply as he introduced himself

And finally paw pointed at the blue dragoness.

"Fuck you" Iris stated, busy with examining her claws

Spyro sighed, shaking his head.

"That's Iris. She takes some time to get used to"

Green eyes were bulging from the white sockets.

"And you all are friends with the Shapers?"

This was a simple question, yet all of them sensed a trap here, they had no idea who the Shapers are, something they sensed that a purple or a black dragon should know.

Exactly.

Hunter's ears perked up.

A purple and black dragon should know.

"I must say that I'm sadly not familiar with the term"

"Oh yeah" Cloudas giggled, waving his paw dismissively "You guys are friends, who would remember or even bother learning the weird names. Shapers are the black and purple dragons naturally, it's how us simple folk call them... I mean you" he cringed in embarrassment

"Oh boy" the wind dragon scratched his chest nervously "I have so many questions, but I think it's too dangerous to stay so close to the Pit and I don't want to be a thorn in the side"

"Finally" Iris rolled her eyes

The obvious exhale of relief made him wince.

"D-don't let me keep you, I bet you have very important stuff to do" the depression in his voice was heartbreaking

"Why you are so sad?" Flare cocked his head

Cloudas tried to smile, yet his lips only twitched in confusion.

"It's nothing, I'm old enough to finally learn that every dream has to end sooner or later"

"Huh?"

"It's not important, good luck. Goodbye"

"Goodbye? You're not coming with us?" now it was the time for Flare to sound sad

Something changed in the white dragon, it was hard to describe what it was exactly, his feathers seemed to grow all of a sudden, eyes became brighter and even the scales became far more thicker. He was like a prisoner that got locked in dark dungeon and after years of solitude and darkness someone opened the bars of his cell and let the sunlight in.

He looked like someone who waited for something for a very long time, already convinced that it will never happen and then unexpectedly the wish came true and he doesn't know what to do with it.

"C-Come with you?" Cloudas stammered, his voice barely a whisper

"Yeah! We're friends remember? And friends stick together when they can"

Iris rubbed here forehead with a groan.

"Why idiots can speak"

The bright green eyes turned at the two best friends, mint orbs glimmered with unspoken plea.

Spyro and Cynder exchanged knowing glances, brief moment of silent commune, luckily soulmates don't need long to understand each other.

The black dragoness smiled, the purple one nodded.

"Sure you can, if you want to that is"

"Want to?" Cloudas laughed, it was an honest, sweet sound, a kin to his eyes "I need to. I'll try not to be much of a pain and I swear I'll stop drooling" he winked at Iris

The dragoness snorted.

"I won't be a burden, look, I'll prove it all right?" green eyes scanned the surroundings "I will lead you out of this forest, it's easy to get lost in here, not to mention that if you put your paw in the wrong place you might lose it. Very scary stuff, you're lucky that you went in the wrong direction, the closer to the exit, the more traps are there"

Cloudas strode forward, beckoning for his team to follow with his tail.

"Let's go before the Wretched change their minds and renew their pursuit"

"Would you take us to your city?" Spyro joined with the dragon walking by his flank "We're looking for someone"

The wind dragon grinned, eyes glowing lively, there was an unexpected glimmer of triumph.

"Sure I can, the city is going to flip when you guys pay us a visit. Black dragons descend only during and before the Harvest, I guess it has some thing to do without looking around and deciding if we small folk aren't making a fool out of you guys right? If we really are giving our best?"

The question hung in the air, nobody spoke in fear that they say a thing they shouldn't.

"Cynder?" Cloudas glanced over his shoulder

"Oh sorry!" she smiled innocently "I got lost in my thoughts there for a moment. Naturally you are right, we need to see if the best are truly the best. Harvest right? The name speaks for itself"

The wind dragon nodded, Harvest speaks for itself. He jumped over a fallen log, his step light and jump soft. After everything that happened, he walks not only in the company of a black dragon, but a purple one as well! The city condemned him, what was worse, he condemned himself, all of it for good reason though. Yet now the Shapers are right here with him, not stomping and spitting at him like he and the whole city believed they would do.

It could only mean one thing.

A chance to return everything back to normal.

He clenched the childish star amulet.

Or at least to something very close to it.

Log after log, bush after bush and they were closer to the exit, he remembered the path now, he could walk with his eyes closed, something that he tried to do every now and then just for the sake of it. Today seemed like the best moment of them all to test his orientation skills.

Due to that little test he didn't notice a long shadow slithering along the ground and towards the exit.

The forest ended quicker than usual, funny thing how time flows by when you are happy and enjoying every minute of it. It was time to leave it all behind and open yourself to a new beginning.

He opened his eyes, gasping momentarily.

A pitch black figure towered in front of him, appearing out of nowhere.

One swift thought crossed his mind.

This wasn't the beginning.

This was the end of everything.

"Hello there" a dark, breathy voice boomed, black lips stretching into a predatory smile

The group behind stopped, all surprised by the sudden appearance of their companion.

"Danox?" Cynder blabbered "What are you doing out here?"

The smile kept stretching the lips, black veins around the eyes pulsed and slithered as if worms would be undulating the scales.

"Making sure that the chance to enjoy life won't slip away" the black orbs landed on the wind dragon

Cloudas was paralyzed, not by the intimidating figure of the massive black dragon, but because of his dark like coal eyes and especially by the thing he saw in them.

His sister was there, beating against the inside of eyes as if they were a cell made of glass, she was screaming at him, her snout contracted in pain and pity.

It's impossible.

He blinked, he must be seeing things.

When he opened his eyes again nothing has changed though, she was still there, thrashing in the black cage.

His dead sister was screaming at him.