FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 35

Ancestors be damned, what a freaking mess, her black paws wobbled like damn cooked noodles on a fork, she ran though, even if bouncing off practically every tree and wall on left and right. The world swirled in front of her eyes, spinning and blurry, image catching up with the direction of her eyes after a short delay.

The world was nothing else, but a damn drunk chaos.

She felt sick.

Luckily the passage was narrow so she wasn't really tossed far, still there were cracks here and there, slits big for a creature of her size to fit through, she nearly fell through some of them already. Thank the Ancestors that adrenaline was still pulsing in her veins and despite the weariness her mind worked almost perfectly, connecting facts and ideas.

The cracks were detours.

They need to head towards the Pit and the long, stretchy narrow passage they are in right now for sure leads towards that hellhole. The temperature was getting higher, the air became thicker with the stench similar to sweat from many clustered together bodies, also delicate trimmers of red light spreading along the air clearly proved that they were making their way towards the birthing ground of the monsters.

They were making their way to the Pit, unfortunately for them some of the Wretched didn't share their enthusiasm.

A clawed paw shot from one of the wall cracks, small, belonging to the smaller specie of the monsters. It latched onto her wing, clenching the spike on the wing thump, wing that was unfortunately brought against the wall during one of her sways.

The hand jerked back fiercely.

With a yelp Cynder smashed against the wall, sending small rocks rolling down from it and down her body. Earth dust splashed against her cheek. The monster growled and snarled, losing the grip on the wing on the moment of impact, unfortunately for it the magenta membrane didn't slide through the hole instead forcing the black bones to bend, in the end making the wing fold.

The result infuriated the monster, it again thrust its paw through the opening, scratching its claws against the membranes, pressing its drooling mouth to the opening, sharp teeth snapping, spitting drool against her wing.

Cynder pushed back the moment she felt a sharp sting shooting through her wing joint, a folded, unprepared natural draconic shield was a poor defense. While when used properly, receiving blows to the solid membrane was painless, eventually followed by some numbing rumble, getting hit into a wing that wasn't ready to serve as a shield hurt.

And it was coming from someone who had her wing ran through already.

The pain was sharp, shocking even, it made her jump back from the wall immediately, the additional, unexpected effort put additional strain on the unprepared legs, making her knees and thighs bend and straight back up like an undecided spring.

Another one of the Wretched popped from ahead, appearing out of nowhere, it was already striking, flying at her, slashing with its claws. Who would have thought that her weak legs would turn out to be a positive aspect.

When the Wretched jumped on her, the limbs were in the moment of giving away under her weight, making the whole black body sink lower than usual. She ducked under the slashing claws automatically, with instinct kicking in just in time she redirected her center of gravity and threw herself at the creature, flying right underside the length of its stretched out forelegs.

She shoved her flank into the creature, weak or no draconic weight is draconic weight and the Wretched being a small creature than her had no chance of resisting such a force. It was kicked off its feat when the scaly body smashed against its chest, its glands spurted streams of thick web at the attacker, but the strike did nothing, it only splashed against the flank that was already glued to it.

In fact the connection empowered the shove, making Cynder slam the creature against the wall with far more strength than she actually put into the move. The impact left the beast stunned, the spider legs pinned against the wall jerked wildly, trying reach below their host and stab the invader yet their movement was limited due to the pressing weight against them.

Instead of trying to pry herself off the creature, she threw her head back, horns on the back of her head struck the creature's snout, crushing its jaw and piercing through flesh, popping one of the bulbous eye.

Blood flowed on top of her in liters, with gore and the slimy substance already on her she didn't feel much difference however.

The creature howled in agony infused by pain it shook off the stun and immediately began striking at the dragoness below, its fierce claw slices though hitting the reddish umbrella of wings the girl formed above herself.

Cynder threw her head back once more, not reaching the head again, but at least forcing the creature to jerk its crippled snout back, which in turn forced its entire body to push back, dragging the slashing paws together with it. She pressed harder against the monster's jest, provoking another tilt which enlarged the opening she was looking for.

Cynder pushed one of her wings back and thrust upwards soon later, the spike on the thump went right in the spot where chin and neck connected with each other. There was barely any sound accompanying the strike, the blade went smoothly up the flesh, stiffening her opponent like a log.

She fought long enough to tell with whole certainty when her enemy is dead.

She pushed the blade back, rope of dark blood started to stream down from the hole, leaking like water from a hole in bucket. The body she pressed against went limp momentarily, her weight the only thing that held it from collapsing.

She started to push away with strenuous grunts, putting all of her strength into it, knowing there was no time to waste.

A tail wrapped itself around her body, the black limb forcing itself between her and the dead creature.

With one sharp jerk she was unglued from the monster, just to be tenderly directed at the ground, the tail disappearing as quick as it arrived.

Danox winked at her, mouth stretched into a proud smile, it was hard to tell if the smile was a result of him patting himself on the back, or she really managed to impress him.

Whatever the case may be she didn't really care for either of those things, for all the interesting aspects Danox possesses , right now he wasn't the most important creature in the world.

"Still deadly" his voice boomed with compliment, for whatever reason finding the time to ignite that spark of motivation even despite the fact that they had hordes of monsters on their tails

"Just move" she retorted coldly, letting out a deep, taxing breath

She felt miserable as if someone would forcefully keep her head underwater, trying to drown her yet when she was about to pass out she was pulled back, gasping for air.

A very uncomfortable feeling to say the least.

Their big black companion recovered quite swiftly, while his moves were still wobbly and sometimes he had to push himself off a wall to get that shock of speed or proper balance, his push towards safety was relatively stable.

How was that possible she had no idea, she was pretty sure that when it comes to magic recovery every dragon is equal. Physical prowess is just an addition that makes you stay standing instead of dropping, but it had nothing to do with the element of the world infusing your veins.

Or he might just play the arrogant card again, which in his case was quite probable. Whatever it was she didn't care, in fact it kinda pissed her off that Danox decides to fool around when they're in such a deep shit.

The irritation forcing her limbs into extra effort, making her run with a more reliable pace.

Besides that single monster that tried to grab her there was no one here, the windy corridor was loosing its sharp edges and turns, becoming wider and more open with time, big enough to let quite a considerable group of enemies to stand in their way. Usually the Wretched popped from even the most surprising of places, appearing and cutting them off when they least expected it and now when the terrain opened up in such a way that allowed for a perfect barricade to be set to cut off their escape route it was empty.

Danox and her were the first ones that started to run, she noticed Spyro returning for some reason, this put some distance between them and yet she still heard the rumbling roars of the mass of monsters that threw themselves after them.

The other Wretched had to hear it to, especially now when they were so close to their origin point, their city so to speak.

It was strange.

The reddish lights they've seen became stronger, the farther they got the more intense the light became to finally reveal its source. It was one of the pillars that Spyro spotted, the tip of it was burning bright with a bloody light. Danox was the first to spot it, momentarily pressing himself against the nearby wall, his tail whipping in her direction and also slamming her against the wall.

The red tip disappeared from their sight, hiding behind the corner.

Obsidian orbs gazed down on her, without a smile supporting them they were cold and lifeless.

"Fold those wings, don't fly or do any other flight related moves or we're going to have to switch the y with an i in your name. These spikes are dangerous from so close, we're safe on the ground" he propped his head, listening to the roars

The noise was getting stronger.

Emotion appeared on his black snout, wrinkles wincing his nose, this was not mere irritation present on his snout, but sheer anger *Let's go"

Danox moved along the wall, scratching his scales against the rocks, slowly and steadily his predatory grace was returning.

She moved right behind him, her eyes darting up towards the fierce light. Just next to them towered a rocky spike with a glowing red tip. It was huge and she had no doubt that Danox was telling the truth about its power. It looked scary, like a dragon tip or claw, but larger than even that of an adult drake.

It again gave credit to her worry, this construction clearly stated that the main base of the Wretched is close and yet there was no one here. There was another thing that intensified the anxiousness, it was her memory, she was slowly beginning to recognize the place, they were moving against the wall where Spyro unleashed his Fire Fury.

Back then there were hordes of monsters waiting for them at the bottom, hell an unaccountable number of these creatures patrolled their base, forming legion after legion of hungry mouths.

If back then they managed to find and almost trample them, how is it possible that they didn't do it now? Especially when by setting that forest on fire they quite clearly showed they current position. It would be just a matter of cutting their path, the Wretched had the numbers and now when she judged the distance between their home and the place where the action was taking place she also realized that they also had the time.

Perhaps the burning forest was too distracting? Maybe there was something about it, making it more valuable for the Wretched than their blood was? After all, deal or no deal, Cloudas was sauntering around the creatures almost freely.

Or did the Chimera that was leading the monsters made a mistake? He never did before though, always being where they were, always ready with unknown tricks up his sleeve. Is it even possible that a leader like that wouldn't have an alternative for their escape? Especially so close to the city?

There was also another option, something that Diazen and Boven taught her. Power struggle. Perhaps the Chimera had limited supplies and whatever is leading him had enough of his incompetence.

Nevertheless it was working in their favor, as fishy as it seemed it allowed them to escape and in her current condition she'll take that with a courteous bow. Sweet Ancestors, they needed some luck finally.

They have reached the point where all this mess with the Wretched began, they were here where for the first time Flare spotted the Chimera, where Spyro unleashed his Fury. The path however up towards the mountains was blocked, the magic causing not only devastation to the living, but also nature.

One of the burning rocks that fell from the sky didn't explode for some reason, smashing right where the passage to the mountains should be. In the distance some of the Wretched chipped at the rock, clearly ordered to remove the obstacle.

"Shit" Cynder mumbled, having that boulder on the way ruined everything, that path there not only led to the exit and tested ground, but also provided a perfect choke point for a defense

It was gone now.

If they had their elemental energy they could blast through that rock with ease, right now though forcing their way through it was too risky. Their combined forces probably would get the obstacle out of the way, but it would again tire them out while also draw more attention to them.

"This way" Danox whispered, moving forward

Using the gathered remnants of her elemental magic Cynder called a drop of shadow to herself, she dipped her claw into it and momentarily drew an arrow on the ground and the nearby wall. The infused with dark magic drawing looked like tar, Spyro won't have troubles recognizing to whom it belonged to.

While the two of them can afford a bit of delay, the rest of the group has to give their best to avoid being crushed by the mass of monsters.

After another turn the gallery opened up, in front of them appeared the construction they have seen from far away. The glowing pillars dotted the landscape all around, accompanied by the watchtowers. Ahead the ground sunk, devouring parts of earth, the hole glowed bright red, it was massive.

It was the crater from which the Wretched came from, they were currently on the topmost ring, the one which connected the Pit with the rest of the world, some distance away they could see the ground tilting down, it was the ramp that led to the burning chambers below.

The area around the Pit was hollow and barren, filled with nothing but rocks and coal the air heavy and choking, like that of a mine shaft.

Their admiration of this place was suddenly broke by a combination of roars, a group of the Wretched threw themselves at them, four small and one big monster. Two smaller Wretched and the burning head advanced towards Danox, while the other two charged at Cynder.

Tired or not Danox was still an adult dragon, even if his moves lacked the typical dexterity, the creatures attacking him weren't the best tacticians, they had no intention to dodge or prepare a coordinated strike.

One of the Wretched fell immediately, sliced into pieces by the swinging draconic claws.

Cynder didn't have the posture to tear the creatures in half, she was a little bigger than them after all. She kept her wings at the ready, using them as shields, prepared to repel the hindering attack of the web, which as she expected came practically immediately, the web though didn't serve its purpose though when splattering against the draconic shields.

She threw her body into a spin, swinging her tail tip, the blade cut through the air, uneasily and chaotically, her weak paws didn't have the strength to flex properly and keep their owner in place. The attack was a miss, still it proved useful nevertheless, making one of the creatures jump back, avoiding the sharp scythe.

The other Wretched jumped at her, stingers and claws at the ready, she dropped on the ground immediately, using the momentum she momentarily rolled on her back and kicked up with her hind legs, the paws kicking against the flying monsters belly, propping it up, her body away from the striking distance of the slashing claws and whipping stingers.

Taking advantage of the momentum she jerked her body and pushed with her legs, kicking the monster behind her as she made a backwards roll.

She lifted herself on shaking legs, the world danced in front of her eyes, among the blur she noticed the shape of the approaching claws, she knew there was one creature striking at her, yet she saw minimum eight shapes of blurry claws coming at her. She instinctively pushed her wings forward, blocking as many of them as she could, she managed to deflect one paw, but the other found its mark, cutting her right across the snout.

The pain brought clarity with itself, empowered only by another jolt of agony when the three stingers bit at her opened flank and shoulder. The pain forced her body to spasm, jerking the right side of her form into a counterattack, she threw a clawed uppercut, the claws slicing through the creature's chest and neck, propping its chin, the blow making it stumble backwards.

The other spider legs attacked, taking advantage of the opening they thrust into her other flank, cracking scales. She roared in agony and jumped forward, biting fiercely into the exposed throat, not before though the stingers made another strike, hitting both of her flanks and back at the same time.

It was a brutal exchange of blows, with nothing in play but raw strength and endurance, while the stingers would probably drop any other creature, she was a dragon and managed to push through the pain and blood, in the end proving to be victorious when she crushed the beast's throat in her teeth.

The remaining two creatures reached Danox, while the small one was nothing more than a nuisance as it latched onto his shoulder, biting and clawing into it, stinging like a bee, the big one was far worse. Not only he felt as if it drained life out of him, stripping him of energy, it also had a big fucking axe that it put into a swing.

He had no idea from what this thing was made of, but it cut into his flesh easily, hitting his single placed on the ground foreleg, the blade cut a nerve, numbing the leg and making it bend, already depleted he was unable to keep his weight and dropped down, smashing his chin against the ground.

Fury boiled his blood, such a bug knocked him out, with ferocious energy put into his neck muscles he lunged forward with his snout, tilting and parting his massive maw. He completely ignored the whipping at him stingers and snake arm of the monster, which bit into his snout and neck, focusing only on the fact of removing this piece of shit from his way.

His teeth clenched over the monster's body before it managed to threw its axe into another swing, the powerful bite cut the beast in half, guts and blood splattered against his nose, the huge axe dropped onto the earth with a sharp clang.

In the meantime Cynder was engaged into a duel with the last attacker this time though with all the tactical aspects in play. Looking for an opening she kept deflecting the attacks of the monster, with her natural agility weakened she had to rely on the more crude forms of fighting.

Everything changed though when the creature spurted another web at her, right in the moment when she rose to deflect another strike. It gave her an idea just how long it takes for the creature to recharge its special strike while also, unfortunately, finding an opening in her defense.

The web struck her in her extended foreleg, which was stretched out as she rose on her hind paws to throw a counterattack. The thick pile of goo threw her back, with nothing behind her to which she could be slammed into, she was thrown onto the ground.

This is where her covered in web leg got stuck. The position however freed her tail, which she automatically swung and caught the also surprised Wretched, her blade sliced through the front paws, right at the wrists, the scale and bone there were thin allowing the blade to sever right through the flesh, cutting it off.

The creature dropped down, head slamming against the floor. It turned out perfect for her, she pushed her tail back when the stingers of the monster bit into her thighs and underside of the tail. She jerked her blade back and then forcefully thrust with it forward, the sharp end sunk right into the creature's temple, silencing its struggles immediately.

With her opponents dead she exhaled a deep, pained breath and immediately began clawing, bitting and spitting as she tore through the web holding her.

Danox pushed himself up eventually, reaching for the creature stabbing him all the time, he grabbed it into his paw and pulled it away from his flesh in a show of flying red blood. With the wiggling monster in his palm he clenched his paw tightly into a fist, blood poured from between his toes when he crushed the monster inside, dropping its tormented carcass moments later on the floor like a discarded trash.

"These creatures really seem to like you" he wrapped his tail around Cynder once more, giving a tug and freeing her from the sticky trap, he smirked at the dragoness "If you get tired of the binding I propose to start a diet focused on sweets only"

She wiggled away from his touch with a disgusted wince, slinking away as if she was squeezing through some bars. She didn't have the mood and the time for his jokes, of all the things however she couldn't stand his touch, she could feel bacteria spreading through her body with every graze the tail made against her body.

She could still see the bulge in the shape of one of the Wretched sliding down his throat.

"Go, there's no time" she rasped, pushing ahead of the drake

One might have expected that soon they will be overrun, the noise these monsters created left a hanging echo in the air that undoubtedly reached the Pit, this should be the moment when masses of bodies start pouring from the ramp and dart straight at them.

Yet this small patrol was everything that appeared on their path.

Maybe the Pit was empty, the numbers the double Fury devoured were probably far greater than any of them could imagine, add to that their breaths and the skirmish in the forest and you have a genocide on your paws.

Maybe the Wretched had enough?

But then again, if they valued their life, why would they just throw it away? All these attacks were just mindless charges, like this recent fight with the patrol for example, there was no chance that a group so small can take on two dragons.

Lots of it didn't make sense, right now though she had no intention to dwell on it further, when they get out of here Cloudas better have some explanation for all of this.

Cynder made another arrow, they pressed onwards against the wall, staying as far away from the Pit as possible, even Danox, usually cocky and arrogant kept his pose hunched. Both doubted that the Wretched had any intention on jumping at them, but it was still better to minimize the risk.

They were running around the mountain from which they descended not so long ago, right now they arrived on the first steep pathway that the monsters used to cut them off on the top of the hill. They were backtracking, this time however from the perspective of the Wretched and this wasn't a good position.

They won't be climbing.

Which was as terrible as it was good, there was no time and strength to scale mountains right now, but it also meant that they will have to push through the passage echoing with chimes, a path that was filled with holes and creatures living inside them.

They will strike now, there was no denying that.

As they were getting closer to the narrowing once more mountainside, this time though from both sides, cutting off any escape route and basically a chance for hesitation or detour, Cynder was slowing down her pace, cogs in her head starting to turn faster and faster.

The wind started to howl with stronger force.

Chimes filled the air, every now and then embroidered with a clicking cacophony.

"Wait" she snapped sharply, stopping in her tracks

Danox' run came to a halt, his black eyes turned towards her bleeding form.

"Tired?"

"We can't run through there, we won't make it, not the two of us" tired paw reached for the throat, scratching at the choker as she mumbled thoughtfully, turning her head to glance behind her shoulder

He recoiled back, momentarily jumping into a fit of cough, averting his gaze from the dragoness as if she was a mirror holding a reflection of his hatchling's nightmares.

"We need numbers" she stepped back, bending on her legs she adapted a defensive posture, ignoring the fact that she reached the position by swaying on her legs instead of going straight down. Muscles screamed at her, threatening to tear themselves from the bones

"We are making a stand here" she said sternly, one paw making small circles, slowly digging into the earth

"While I really applaud your enthusiasm, a little bloodshed never hurt anyone, but shouldn't we be opening a path for our friends?" Danox inquired, eyeing the bent dragoness curiously

"There are creatures living in these mountains, if we don't want to end on their table we need to give them more dishes to choose from"

He smiled, blackened fangs gleaming mischievously, self-loving pride blossoming like the colorful tail of a peacock.

"Intelligence is such a delicious treat" he bent on his paws, mimicking the posture of his feminine commander

They stood like that, ready for anything, she didn't know about Danox, but her heart pounded louder and louder with every stronger note coming to them from the quickly approaching horde. Her black companion might not be aware of this, but the closer the confrontation approached, the bigger the realization that formed itself in her mind.

If this idiotic plan will fail, there will be no turning back, this stupid idea forced them in a situation where there is no retreat. Either they win or they end as dinner on the table of whoever wields the fork best.

She started to have seconds thoughts about all of this, every limb on her body demanded that she moves and shakes off the idea somehow.

It was too late for that though.

Spyro appeared from behind the corner, tongue hanging low from his lower lip, the pants he was letting out clearly audible, like the rustling of leaves in a forest.

He balked at the sight of them, the shock was short lived however, momentarily making him spring into movement once more, an echoing blare all the motivation he needed.

Hunter and Cloudas showed up right after Spyro, as they approached them the ground started to shake gently, great many paws sending vibrations throughout the earth. If the noise wasn't enough to convince anyone that soon they will have a big problem on their heads, the shaking of the world quickly changed that.

After him there was nothing, empty space and what seemed to be a never-ending break. Cynder swallowed hard, Spyro followed soon after, their gulps so loud that everyone around them heard their saliva settling in their stomachs. They both immediately became nervous, tails freezing in place, their minds empty though, with only sheer fear rattling inside their skulls.

A gurgle echoed and soon a single body of one of the Wretched shot from behind the corner.

This was the most terrifying sight Spyro and Cynder could imagine. It meant that the monsters caught up with the rest of their team.

Iris popped into sight moments later, her form covered with fresh whips of black bile.

Cynder would never admit it loudly, but she felt a spark or relief when she saw the dragoness.

"Move your assess! They're right behind us!" the ice dragoness blared out, sprinting in the group's direction

Once again the young mates acted simultaneously, craning and twisting their necks to explore the area behind the dragoness.

Two of the Wretched jumped into view, almost immediately skewered by arrows.

"Go you dumb fucks!" Iris commanded, tantrum creeping into her voice, she stomped the ground in front of the two drakes, the gentle trails of frost shooting from underneath her paws touching the legs of Tat and Goldie

They didn't even flinch.

"Where is Flare?" Cynder mumbled, stretching out her neckline so far that it started to hurt

Spyro glared at Iris, he didn't know why really, his brain just seemed to stop functioning, all he knew was that he just couldn't look anywhere else right now.FC

The scar that was so silent on his heart for quite some time started to burn insufferably.

The dragoness seemed to shrink under his stern gaze. Dirty wings twitching, jerking back and forth as if she would be struggling against some drug withdrawal.

Three more Wretched popped out, their bodies didn't carry the slightest wound or scorch mark.

"Iris?!" Cynder howled, dread thumping in her heart, speeding it up to an unhealthy rhythm

Danox stopped the cheetah from firing his arrows, noticing the limited supply left in the quiver. He casually moved Iris out of the way, pushing her to the side as if she was a piece of a furniture.

The dragoness completely ignored the fact that she was touched without permission, or the fact that her paws remained stuck to the ground as she was pushed, the rough land scratching the scales, the burning sensation would make anyone flinch at least, anyone that isn't Danox naturally.

The black dragon made a short work of the creatures, this time putting effort into the ask, clearing the invading force with one swipe of a forepaw. Claws leaving a fading trail of blackness in the air behind them.

More monsters poured into the area, this time a whole lot of them, clearly part of the main group of the horde.

"We must go right now" Danox urged, usually arrogant tone gave a tiny room for worry

"Where is Flare?!" Cynder cried out, striding towards Iris, eyes burning with fierce tears that were a combination of held back depression and fury

The usual cocky and irritating aura around Iris evaporated, giving space to the form that Spyro found so charming in the Training Grounds in Warfang.

This time though he didn't notice it, nor did anyone else for that matter, in this very moment, for the whole group, the ice dragoness meant less than a speck of dust.

"He's-" Iris stammered

"I'm here" a familiar, cheerful voice cut her off, coming from behind her

"hereeeeee" she exhaled deeply, heart jumping into her throat and lodging itself there, she felt as if the earth would part from under her paws, head automatically moving to look back

From behind Iris stepped out a figure, the size and form of it perfectly matching Flare's body size. It just appeared out of nowhere, as if growing from the ground itself, there was no way nobody would spot it, Iris' body was too small to be able to cover it entirely.

Even Danox, who usually remained indifferent to situations happening around him widened his eyes, which was no wonder since he stepped in front of Iris and if there would be anything hiding behind her he would easily spot it.

If not for the voice there wouldn't be anyone in the group who would be able to state with whole certainty that this is truly Flare.

The silhouette was nothing more than fire, the normally joke nickname of a walking torch that Flare was sometimes called by, here took a literal meaning. There was no shred of scale on him, his whole figure looked like liquid fire, while some of them got the chance to see Flare sometimes splitting into his fiery shape, it still didn't make the experience any less bewildering.

He was bright like the sun, there was more gold in him than actual red, he looked like a recently started fire and if fire could age, right now it would be in its youth. The flames were strong, sharp and bright, as if they recently arrived on this world by whatever magical means that made it possible. Not even his wings reached such intensity when wore proudly on his red back, no matter the stress or excitement, the level was never high enough to allow achieving such intensity.

For all the breathtaking sight, there was one thing that made them uneasy, Flare basically had no eyes, while they were clearly black slits there they mostly got obscured by the dancing, lively flames. When he spoke, the feeling of creepiness intensified, there were no lips, but whenever he spoke the flames parted, stretching out into a black maw that led to complete darkness, the pitch black made it impossible to see anything inside his mouth, it was just a big hole in a spot where it shouldn't exist in the first place.

While the whole group was surprised by the unexpected appearance, or at least the form of it, it was Iris who was entirely paralyzed, staring at the burning figure with wide eyes and opened mouth, lower lip twitching nervously. Her heart throbbed inside her chest so strongly, that the sounds of the world faded away, letting her hear only the creaking noise of her stretched out ribcage.

How the hell he got here?

He should be torn to pieces by now!

And yet here he was, appearing so quietly and so close that it made her think that if she wasn't storing him in her ass the whole time.

She couldn't move, the last time something like that happened was when she saw her mother killed.

She was absolutely terrified, just like she was back then. Not only there was this weird feeling that seemed to choke her, something that she didn't feel for a very long time and just couldn't find the name for it. It circled though around betrayal, something she despised so greatly and yet did the same thing in the end.

She could also sense something else, it became especially prominent with the growing noise of the approaching monsters.

She was afraid of death, like any other living creature, no matter how cocky, there was always fright when facing the unknown and unconquerable, especially when she could hear her own demise approaching while staring at the her executor.

Betrayal ends only in one way.

"Shit Flare" Cynder exhaled in relief, for the time being ignoring her friend's appearance and just being happy that he is here.

"Where have you been? I was worried sick"

"Helping my friends" Flare announced, his voice as young as the flames from which he was made of, the barely visible eyes shifted at Iris, lingering there for the longest time.

"I will not let them harm you"

The horde was near, pouring onto them, the roars deafening, the group of friends momentarily forgetting about everything, but what mattered the most.

Escape.

"You will have the opportunity to prove that!" Danox yelled out and darted into a stride, the rest of the team did the same, sprinting into the corridor that they considered a death trap.

The shrill howl that soon whizzed from the surrounding holes quickly proved that it was not just a mere superstition, the shaking earth empowered that notion even further .

Loud rumble filled the air, the mess of a noise making things hard to discern, the group no longer able to tell what was what anymore. Whether it was their own screams, or the roars of the Wretched, or something else entirely stopped mattering rather quickly, all of them thinking momentarily about the prospect of how wonderful it would feel to be out of here.

They ran inside the narrow passage, their attention startled by a bright light, the whole group was immediately enveloped in a protective casing of a burning barrier. They had to turn their eyes away from Flare who was burning so brightly that he could be easily mistaken for the sun.

The cracks in the walls started to drip with dust.

Seconds later the reason behind all this dust showed up.

Worms popped from the holes, long, brown creatures with round maws, with strange fins at the end of their abdomens that flapped through the air like fins belonging to fish. They were huge, perfectly fitting the holes on both sides of the canyon.

One of these massive worms flew right in front of their eyes, at the sides of its rough body the creature had long, twirling antennas similar to that of a snail, there were four of them to be precise. One tendril whipped in their direction, the moment it touched the flaming barrier though it jumped back, the heat making a gentle scorch mark on its flesh.

Momentarily after it another tendril shot forward, this one however had no limitations, piercing through the barrier despite the fact that it for sure burned it, the stench that filled the air was unmistakable.

The antenna slapped against Spyro's shoulder, he felt a suckle and a tug on his body, the tentacle pulled him slightly and then immediately unglued itself, recoiling back and balking. It twitched in the air as if about to puke and then swiftly swatted the slither)y body, gluing itself to it as if in defeat.

The worm clearly didn't like the taste.

The creature disappeared into the hole on the other side.

Spyro glanced at his shoulder, something small protruded from his scales, it looked like needles, saliva dripped over his body, body that was covered in old, black blood.

It seemed like he scared off a monster after all, making it sacrifice its own teeth no less.

A roar of agony rumbled from behind them, by the time they glanced behind the whole area was full of flying worms, they were like fish in a pond, making jumps and dives over and over again.

They noticed one of the worms snatching a single Wretched. Two of the tentacles glued itself to the body and with one sharp jerk pulled the beast right in front of the round maw. Blood immediately started to shoot as the worm touched the chest, the worm's weight shoving the Wretched against the wall, covering the hole.

Blood kept on pouring as the slithery creature protruded and dangled from the chest like a spear, sinking lower and lower as the Wretched was ravaged by spasms. The worm disappeared into the hole in the wall seconds later, biting its was right through the chest of the monster that chased them, eating away a perfectly round opening right through the whole flesh.

Before the molested body managed to drop down another worm shot at the same hole, catching the flopping corpse, integrity of which was already in shambles. The maw connected right in the neck, the pressure of the pounce broke the body right where the hole in the chest was, allowing a slice of the carcass to be dragged inside the opening in the wall together with the worm, while the rest flopped on the ground like a pile of severed wood.

The worms invaded them also, one such bug flew right behind Hunter's back and smacked into Danox' leg. The black drake hissed, jerking his leg away, instead of drilling through, the round maw unglued itself from the paw, leaving a round, bloody mark with thousands of teeth all around in a circle.

The creature obviously wasn't too happy with the taste.

The worm flopped down, its antennas pushed down, lifting the long, big body, but then immediately dropping down as well, the worm momentarily becoming stiff, its body sizzling.

It was dead, blackening in eyesight.

While the creatures seemed only bothered by the initial touch of the heat, they weren't impervious to it, burning quickly like anything else would in this situation.

"Get close to Hunter! Cover him!" Spyro blared out, dragging Cloudas with his tail towards the cheetah, he obeyed without hesitation

Hunter being the archer that he is didn't participate in the bloodbath, if the worms catch him they will for sure find him to be a tasty snack, he had no idea why they were so picky now, but it was clear that the creatures weren't really interested in devouring dirt.

Same rule applied to the wind dragon.

The group immediately pushed the scout in the middle, Spyro took the front, Cynder the left flank, Danox the right one near the wall, Iris the back, just in time it turned out since she felt a tentacle slapping against the back of her neck, pulling her head back slightly before it let go.

While there were still worms flying all around them, most of the creatures focused on the horde behind, horde that screamed and got thinner by the second, slowing down, painting the walls with their dark blood. The creatures obviously communicated with each other, telling themselves that it was not worth going after them when much easier and tastier food is just some meters away, there was no other reason why their numbers would shrink around them otherwise.

There was also Flare's barrier of course, it was not just some repelling bubble, it was a deadly trap with it around them there was no reason for the creatures to sacrifice their lives since they won't really get the chance to enjoy their meal.

Speaking of the barrier, Spyro caught himself wondering why it was still intact in the first place, there were worms all around them, big ones, Flare's trauma was barely prepared to deal with small ones, when they met some normal bugs drove him up a tree after all.

Yet here he kept on running, whether he was quenching his fright just to maintain the protection around his friends, or he merely pushed forward with his eyes closed, it was impossible to tell. His burning features not only obscured his black slits, but made him an emotionless husk, if someone would look at them now they would for sure take him for a summoned creature like a grublin.

Flare's presence was as unnerving as this whole situation.

Another bug tried its luck, this catching Cynder by her kicked in the air hock, the tentacle jerked at the limb, releasing it in disgust, but the force was enough to kick the dragoness out of balance. Cynder's legs lost their track, twisting around like strings of a puppet, she collapsed, slamming the chin into the earth, butt flew up into the air, dragged by the flung up tail.

Spyro halted forcefully at the sound of the rattling teeth, Hunter slammed into him and if not for the gold fins on his back which the cheetah latched onto, he would make a flip all over him. The three other members of the group thrust their claws into the earth, scratching the rocky soil, sending sparks flying into the air.

Only from underneath Flare's paws were jumping true cinders of flame.

Before the group managed to stop though, the barrier flew past Cynder, exposing her to the open air. The bug that dropped on the ground after attacking her had to sense the change in the atmosphere since its round maw started to bite at the air more hungrily, its antennas wiggling anxiously.

It attacked the lying dragoness, whipping with its tendrils, whether it was out of curiosity or boredom nobody knew.

It never got the chance to test how really unprotected by heat draconic flesh tastes like since Flare immediately swung his burning tail, at the same time retracing his steps. While the bug was away from his reach, it clearly didn't expect Flare's tail enlarging itself, stretching out like the whip he sometimes made out of his fiery breath.

The flaming scythe ran over the worm, right through the middle, the creature immediately stiffened, its biting maw becoming stuck while wide open, tentacles smacking to the ground like wet socks. It remained like that, as if paralyzed, there was no blood or shriek of pain, nothing.

Only after a second a black dash appeared on both sides of the long body, right where the scythe went through. The strike burning, melting and cauterizing the worm in a single strike.

Immediate, painless death as if someone would turn off the light that was the creature's life with a flick of a finger.

Another worm decided to have a taste of draconic flesh, it had the unfortunate luck of meeting Flare on its way, when he backed the dragon passed through the hole from which the bug decided to make its jump from. The round maw flew directly into the burning body, disappearing like the one drilling through one of the pinned Wretched.

It never appeared on the other side though, at least not in flesh, everything that wafted from the opposite side of Flare's body, right in the spot where the worm would normally drill through, was ash, long, black streams of it.

Cynder scrambled from the ground, giving her companions an reassuring nod, line of blood dangled from her wounded chin in her renewed attempt at running.

They picked up the pace momentarily, distancing themselves further from the horde, horde that got decimated in the tight corridor. For every worm the Wretched killed thirty of them died, numbers that shifted even higher in their disadvantage as more worms realized that there was no point in attacking the draconic, fire shielded group.

By the time they left the passage the walls of the canyon were painted in black, cut off paws of the Wretched littered the ground, the dying shrieks became nothing more than faint gasps. Stillness of death wafted over the canyon, despite the fact that the monsters chasing them were after their heads, the atmosphere of the recent event still sent a chill down their spines.

Snow crunched under their legs.

When before this cold place was a nuisance and a threat, this time it caused nothing else but great relief, almost as if they had just finished a long trek through a desert and finally landed in an oasis.

They didn't stop, not wanting to provoke their good fortune, the group continued forward, towards the portal where in the frozen sea a short flight was all that separated them from home. After a while the chilly ground not only brought relief, but also clarity.

At some point Spyro shook his head, releasing a deep breath, the cold, long mist that wafted from his nostrils looked like a thick cloud of pressure that kept on squeezing his brain for the past hours with the strength of a golem's fist.

He had enough of leadership and time traveling for a lifetime.

These things bring nothing but chaos. On one side there are his companions, with only Hunter and Cynder being the ones he would without hesitation put his life in their hands and paws. The rest? He didn't know anything about Cloudas, but not participating in a fight seemed fishy to him. There were not enough words in his mind that could describe Iris, a storm on the ocean is more stable than her. Danox had shown some true emotions during this adventure, the problem with the dragon was that it didn't make him any less creepy. There is finally Flare, a dude who is sweet and dumb as the first child you find, but then when you see him in action, like for example now when he is burning like a walking pool of magma, you can't really tell if he is innocently naïve or a sociopath without emotions.

The funny thing about all this and it was probably the most brain melting thing despite all the worries and doubts the group stirred. Every one of them helped, in their own way cared, whatever their motivations are, they have fought together, bled together and there was nothing that could change that.

Add to that mix the world itself, a world where everything was a mess in itself. Destroyer, end of the world, portals to other dimensions, prophecy, Boven, Brill, this world, colonies of black and purple dragons and probably much more.

All the things they were taught about in the true Realms, all the lore, stories and beliefs, how can you believe in all of that and consider it the sacred truth when almost everything they found basically excluded everything.

One dragon was supposed to change the world for the better, why when there was a time that purple dragons populated the world in greater numbers? Why create a prophecy about a single purple drake? Why there is no more of them?

Black dragons, believed to be a side effect of Corruption, they've seen a whole castle of them, even one of them got here from the Future.

Was there any point on starting to think about the Destroyer? The creature they met in Flare's world wasn't really keen on destroying the universe.

It all made no sense, everything was a big mess that just didn't have any logical explanation.

Or perhaps it did but they didn't see it yet.

Whatever happens, whatever comes next, one thing was for certain.

It won't get any easier.

Portals or not, all of the Realms have one thing in common, something that didn't change throughout the eons.

The world is just one...big...

Land of Confusion.

End of Book VIII