FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 32

They didn't even realize when dreamless slumber embraced them.

Excitement or hostility, the environment didn't matter much when the body demands recovery, discarding the comforts of your own safe heaven it will force the eyes of anyone who tries to push it beyond the limit. Of course self-preservation is no stranger to the organism, especially that of a seasoned fighter, while the muscles demanded recovery they would not allow themselves to be attacked while doing so.

The time traveling trio slept, their pupils were unmoving however behind the closed eyelids, occasionally those eyes opened to take a brief glance at the darkened surroundings before closing back again.

It was as dark and quiet as ever.

Moments after one set of eyes closed another two opened, scanned the area like the pair before them and just its predecessors have shut soon after. The third set repeated the same process, the trio of friends working in unison even through barely active neurons in their minds.

This proved two things.

One, that their sleep was shallow and two, that the bond their share was as strong as that of a true family where words are not needed to understand each other, everyone knows everyone so well that their life orbits around one another and can't sustain itself without the other.

A dreamlike symbiosis.

A tail grazed over the sand, spitting its rough petals against Spyro's thigh.

He opened his eyes immediately, realizing in an instant his position in relevance to his friends and especially Cynder, coming to a quick understanding that it couldn't be her tail that scraped the ground.

He lifted his head without any hesitation and numbing gravity of tiredness as if he would be awake all along. It might sound weird, considering the fact that the magical leeches of the channeled ground kept feeding on their magical energy, but he had to admit that the black cell illuminated by the feint, green light of the bars was somewhat pleasant.

Nostalgic even.

Many would call him crazy for even thinking about his chains from the past, let alone when he reaches down the memory lane with a somewhat longing desire. Despite the bad circumstances it wasn't horrible, of course having your freedom limited isn't fun, but then again that lack of privacy allowed him to get to know Cynder, and since she was a dragoness he thinks he had a crush on even in her corrupted form, all that discomfort was worth it in the end.

If luck will have it maybe they will make the best out of a bad situation even in this place.

To begin this trek of fate however, they need everyone on board first.

The tail he felt earlier did not move again and it was simply too dark to tell where it marked the ground after its slide. It did not matter to him, one of the girls was waking and he somehow felt that it was his responsibility to check on them. He lifted himself with barely any sound, a nod to his inherited by fighting skills that demanded from the limbs to be as silent as possible in hostile territory.

Buzzing too loud mosquitos meet their end only in one way.

He skilled toes moved so quietly over the sand that one could say that he was floating above it, he focused his attention on Cellsa first, leaning in and observing her from up close, moving his eyes first from the snout and lastly to the chest, watching for any sign of breathing like an overprotective father of his own child.

He could hardly see anything due to the darkness, not even the faint light coming from the bars was helpful here, however combined with his stern focus the pairing allowed his senses to adjust enough to catch more detailed glimpses of the silhouette he observed.

And he could say that with whole certainty that she was breathing, while it might have been her tail that made the first signs of being awake, he kept himself away from committing to this idea though, feeling that the girl's body seemed much too still for someone that supposed to be putting her consciousness back together.

He decided to move on to Iris, leaning over her as he did over the previous girl, he got close to her chest, her white, feathery wings made it easier for him to spot her and perhaps this comfort was the thing responsible for drawing his attention to her chest first.

To his relief, he could see it rising and falling in steady, calm tempo, almost of predatory enthusiasm as if waiting patiently for prey to come into view. Even when recovering from a near death experience Iris was still giving away hateful vibes.

That was her own inherited skill.

His eyes climbed up to her draconic face nevertheless, he had to squint harder and harder the farther he moved away from the wings. Her slowly covered in shadow body seemed wildly familiar, he immediately felt as if he would be shifting his attention from two types of Iris' personality.

One bright and cold, the other dark and threatening. Two souls locked in the same body.

Just like Dark Spyro and him.

A familiar plight.

His sight moved slowly across her mask, due to general darkness and the shadows falling on her face from the contraption that was obscuring her snout from the beginning. In this light her draconic face turned to an unidentifiable brick.

And just as brick, the full palette of the mask she was wearing shrouded the head effectively. He felt illogical fear because of that, even though her chest was raising and he saw that, there was still that irrational drill poking the back of his mind, reminding him that Iris was almost beheaded and that the magic he used to heal that ugly wound was as unknown to him as mercy was for Malefor.

And he couldn't see that head.

Maybe because it was no longer there? Fell off like a rotten apple? And the masks he sees is the only thing left behind?

The illogical fear sped up the pace of his heart.

He couldn't help himself, he leaned in even closer, practically pressing the tips of his nostrils to the brick like head. He scanned from bottom to top, dread stabbing his heart vigorously.

A white, cold eye flashed at him unexpectedly from underneath the shadows.

Dread clenched his heart with all its might, popping the blood from the veins like juices from a squeezed fruit.

"Shit!" he squealed, jumping back, tripping over Cellsa, just as he fell it turned out that the dragoness wasn't that much unconscious anymore, she swiped with her paws out of instinct than sheer menace, still remembering the moments from her fight from earlier

Spyro was so scared that he didn't even feel the hit, not that they matter much anyway, weak slash like that was nothing compared to the jolts his racing heart was stirring.

"What's going on?!" Sparx exclaimed, his body flashing bright, like a recently ignited dynamite

"What the hell Iris?!" Spyro swiftly sprang up on all fours, clenching his chest "Why didn't you say anything instead of staring at me? You knew I was checking on you. Damn" he snorted, massaging his hurting chest "Ancestors, I think I had a small heart attack" his breath came with a startled whizz of disbelief

Cynder sat down alarmed, single toe momentarily springing up to catch the swollen lip she could feel healing through her sleep, instinctively pressing it down to keep it from cracking open. Her startled eyes shone brightly and fully awake in the darkness, a pair of gems shinning through the shadows that enveloped her black body, like two orbs of a demonic fiend awoken from its hellish slumber.

The glimmering green pupils sprang between each draconic silhouette, she couldn't tell who was who exactly at first glance but it didn't matter much anyway, her quickly thinking mind counted the visible bodies, swiftly judged their positions and instantly realized that the number as well as posture didn't betray anyone else here with them in this cage.

The moment this realization struck awareness faded from the green orbs, their color dimming, slinking back into the shadows. Cynder's mouth parted in a long yawn in return, allowing her white fangs to get touch of the thick air of this place more personally.

"No biggie guys, it's not like we are trapped in a hostile pit, scream all you like, we've been relaxing maybe for an hour tops, we can't have that. Healing can wait, who needs it anyway, right?"

"Where am I?" Cellsa exhaled tiredly, her head jerking from side to side, heart racing in panic, forcing each word from her throat with a heavy hack

"In a trashcan full of sand! Almost like a beach but with no water! But they keep us here long enough and we can fix that ourselves" Sparx announced with fake enthusiasm

"Yuck" Cynder snapped

The girl didn't catch his mocking tone, he was close enough to her to have his light illuminate her draconic face that allowed him to catch the glimpse of her growing in sheer terror eyes.

He immediately felt bad for the girl, he didn't even realize when his hands thrust forward in a calming gesture.

"Pits. We are in the Pits. Your home. Skyward"

Cellsa's mouth parted open, tongue flicking, ready to form words, yet all that left her throat was a pitiful whine. Her pupils kept dilating, hectically, like rusted gears trying to break through the cobwebs of negligence.

"Pits" she gasped deeply, wavering breath popping a blood vessel in the left eye, turning the citrus hue into bloody wine

Her eyelids flapped, when they opened her pupils contracted in clear, absolute focus.

"Pits. Not the pits" she swiped the sand away, revealing veins of bright green canals underneath which hissed barely noticeable steams from which stretched small tentacles that hungrily cupped her scales like small leeches

"It's true" she gulped "Fuck! I'm not staying here!" her paws quickly got a proper grip onto the rough soil "I'm outta-AAH!" she screamed when she jerked her body up, she could feel herself being split open by a cold knife like some worthless fish

The pure pain this jerk caused brought her back straight to the ground, her flanks burned like hot iron.

"What is this?!" she yelled, examining the scorched lines across her sides "What have you done to me?!"

"I've cauterized your wounds, you were bleeding out. The cuts were deep and it looks like the wound didn't heal itself properly yet. Avoid any sharp movements or you'll risk it opening up again" Spyro explained the situation

Cellsa's hair strands stood on end.

"She did this to me, is she here? I'm going to kill her" her murderous sight located Iris who still laid in the same position Spyro saw her in

"There you are" with a snarl her mouth parted open, electricity started to crack in the corners of her mouth

"No!" purple legs clamped the mouth shut by putting pressure to the top of the nose "No more fighting, we need to work together here. Save that energy because you're not getting it back, not with this draining stuff all around us. Be smart about it Cellsa, please"

Her murderous gaze kept drilling into the obscured shape of the dragoness laying in front of her, she didn't have to see her properly to know it was her, wind dragons, half breeds or not, they all stink the same.

The only thing that bothered her more besides that was the fact that the feathery slut seemed totally unfazed by her aggression. She must have been expecting it, only waiting for her to drain her powers so she would be an easy target later on, knowing well that all three of her new companions will come in her defense.

She wanted to tear her to pieces, not because of some revenge nonsense, if she go after everyone that handed her ass to her there wouldn't be much of a population left on this plane. She wanted to tear the chick apart cause she was unstable, this group was too small for two crazies, she would ease the tension and protect her own tail in the meantime. One irresponsible kid was cute, two? A menace you want to get rid off.

Logical.

The shadows shrouded Iris' eyes, however that didn't change nothing, she could still feel her staring at her, KNOWING what she was thinking and expecting her to act on it.

You won't get the satisfaction Birdie.

Also Spyro was right, putting some sense into that head would be only a waste of essential energy, something they desperately need right now.

"Fine" she grumbled "Just let go off my nose already"

"Thank you" purple legs retreated obediently

"Now that the lovely, murderous fever is behind us" Sparx clapped his hands together, smiling politely "How about you elaborate on your state of panic just a moment ago?" he batted his eyelashes "Pretty please?"

"Panic? I don't panic. I'm an oasis of serenity"

The eyelashes flapped again, the smile growing in wider with supportive warmth, Spyro and Cynder both had to admit that the mask Sparx was wearing was quite an impressive one. You could hardly tell that he was making fun of you.

"Of course you are. Now, why the zealous reaction? You've been here before?"

"In the Pits?" she scoffed "You crazy? Degenerates land here, like the wind dragons and all sorts of other weirdos we don't like"

"You're in war Cellsa, with everyone it seems. You don't seem to like anyone" Cynder pointed out

"Yeah, and what did I just say?"

"Where is the rest of the world then? How come we are the only ones here? Where are the rest of the degenerates? According to you there should be cheek rubbing against cheek here"

"Scraped if the stories are true" she gazed down on the glowing floor, swallowing a thick lump of saliva "Rumors have it that folks get sucked dry here, with this binding energy leeching at us I suppose the rest of the tale is not that much of a fantasy either"

"Huh? That expression could mean anything, smells like an easy way to justify your fears. It won't work on me though. I've been around Cynder's breath long enough and let me tell you Peach that you don't know what horrible means" Sparx added his own insight,

He and his brother faced Cynder in her corrupted form and dealt with Malefor's hellish creatures, both of which were on the top of the chain when it came to blood freezing monsters. The difference being that the tales that were spun around them both were real, based on facts and corpses and greatly more detailed than only "it's evil and scary". The argument Cellsa brought up could be twisted however you want and imagination when set loose can overestimate just about anything to the point of extreme to get the brain sweating.

"I don't know, maybe" she jerked her eyes away from the sucking ground "What I know for sure is that the guy watching over this place is nuts! He lives in this place! Imagine that! Being locked in Skyward is not enough for the dude, he needs more shadow choking him, there's no way someone can be normal if he wants to live in a coffin!"

"But you said you never been to the Pits so if the guy lives here how come you vouch that what you say is the truth?"

"Am I telling the story or you are?" the dragoness snapped at the pestering dragonfly

Sparx sighed, with a wave of his hand he urged her to continue, the motion as skeptical as his thoughts about Cellsa's believability.

"So as I was saying, that guy, Bones they call him is one hell of a freak, the guy has no spine. Literally and metaphorically speaking, you sure saw how he wiggles like a worm, each piece of him wanting to move on its own and there's no guarantee they'll go in the same direction. Rumor has it that when the guy tied himself into a knot more than once because of it and each time he snapped another bone to free himself. The dude supposedly has his own skeleton here somewhere with only several pieces missing. Might be true, might be not, but the rumor is enough to say that the guys is a creep, nobody normal has rumors like that to his name and that's not all of it!"

"Every prisoner that comes here disappears, nobody knows how nobody knows when, they are just gone, not even a feather is left. They say that Bones picks them apart, plucking an eye there and a scale here while keeping the guys conscious. They say his paws are all over you and when he finds something exciting then you better like spoons because he will use one to get your eyes. Who knows" she kicked the sand "We might be walking on those sods right now, Bones could potentially dust them. And did I say that he eats people?"

"You eat people too" Sparx noticed

"But not when they're alive! Besides I don't do it for fun, I eat because I'm hungry and juicy meat is always better than those ugly mushrooms, bleh" tongue flopped down onto the orange lips in disgust

Sparx looked at Spyro and Cynder, judging if they are as skeptical as he was. Cynder seemed to have his side, yet his brother betrayed frowns of contemplation, he really seemed to look for sense in the girl's spat out nonsense.

"The dragon was really into touching"

"See?!" Cellsa yelled triumphantly, unaware of the idiocy of her victory which if true would only confirm her worst fears "He was groping for that juicy meat to harvest, I bet he drooled when his paws were all over us. You'll see, he'll drain us into worthless sacks and then will scrap us like junk. Save your breaths for screaming boys and girls"

"Then you'll be glad to know that he only groped us, he didn't even graze you"

"What?" she hacked in disbelief, it was hard to decide if this was relief or indignation

Spyro's eyebrows rose in surprise, he didn't expect such excitement.

"He didn't touch you"

"So what? You want to tell me that they brought all of us sweet creatures and the guy only pet you?"

"Pretty much"

"That motherfucker!" the girl roared in anger, her flanks pulsing with pain, pain that was only fuel for her fury

The faces of the trio of friends froze in a mask of bewilderment, jaws dropping shakily as if there would be someone tugging at a chain to pry them open.

"I'm worse than you or something?! I don't have Cynder's slender muscles or Iris big ass, yeah, but I've got flexibility!" she slapped her flanks supportively, the pulse of ache that burned her sides after the slap made her groan, the stirred blood flushing the cheeks "These proportions are worthy of declaring a war! I bend and twist the way you can't even imagine, slap me good and I'll coil around you like a snake, true words! Get over here Spyro and I'll show you! Let's show that dick what it means to fuck, I'll show him what it means to ignore me, what the cocksucker misses! If we need to waste energy we'll do it proper!"

"You hear me you dipshit?!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, kicking nearby strands of sand into the air "You won't get another chance!"

Sparx leveled himself with Cynder's winced in bewilderment draconic face.

"I would ask if she was mad but I think it would be a waste of time" he whispered, conspicuously shielding his mouth behind the hand

Cynder shook her head, clearing her head.

"Are you seriously pissed that you didn't get fondled by a creep who according to you would be glad to slice us into atoms?"

"Of course I'm pissed! I'm a GIRL! I like to be pampered and feel attractive and that cretin stares me down like some worthless piece of shit?! How dares he-"

Spyro sighed tiredly, the prolonged exhale shut off the surrounding world, echoes of Cellsa's bickering and Cynder and Sparx voices of reason whizzed inside his brain but he kept them away from becoming the dominant focus. He didn't really have the head to deal with it this time, Cellsa was okay and that's what mattered to him the most for the time being.

As for her theory about Bones and the Pits? There might be something to it but first Sparx and Cynder need to bring the girl back from her frenzied tantrum Despite how crazy the whole conversation was, it at least calmed his heart, none of them acted out of place, all were fine.

All besides one.

Iris was still in the same position, due to the shadows it was hard to say if she was asleep or still watching, he couldn't decide which of the two was a better alternative, probably neither since both showed her ignorance to the noise.

The Iris he knows wouldn't stand by listening to opinions slandering her mother's rule, after all the assistants you surround yourself with represent your point of view to the world.

Torture and abuse wouldn't be the things Iris wanted to be connected with her mother, to who she practically begged to return to after her own unspoken period of terror.

Trauma does not work that way. He knew, he had a mate with a difficult past

He approached the girl, sitting in front of her, besides the bright hue of her white wings and scales there was hardly anything to see due to the thick shadows enveloping her body. He didn't want to lean over her again to check if she was awake, not after this talk about physical abuse, he had no evidence of course but the way Iris reacted to touch was a rather clear indication what kind of bad could have happened in her life in the past.

He instead channeled a tiny speck of energy into his claws to make them glow with aura of cold that gave away a faint light. He was aware that they should be saving their energy, but to him the well being of his team was more important than his own comfort.

He tenderly moved the glowing claw above her head, letting just a tiny veil of it reach the head as to not blind his companion. It was enough to reveal the mask and the sockets for the eyes, sockets through which two diamond eyes looked at him.

They were wide and innocent, glimmering with a faint light, light that he wasn't sure if it was not made by tears reflecting the illumination from his enchanted claw or that he himself caught some surface accidently that caused this strange shimmer.

Because if it wouldn't be for those two things he would with all certainty say that Iris' eyes were sparkling with fascination, similar to the one Hunter showed towards dragons.

In Iris' case there was also that mix of terror and reverence there, same reserved worship some of the Atlawa gave him back in the day when they declared him their God.

But Iris never displayed such emotions, she was on the opposite side of the spectrum where she despised everyone and the only choice she had when it came to people was to decide whom she despised the most.

The only moments where she uncovered her true self were like spasms, you could never be certain if what you saw was real or merely a fickle moment of uncontrollable culmination that needed to be vented out.

Not to mention that those spasms happened only when they had some privacy.

This time the wide eyes of a lost and fascinated child were there for anyone to see and while he himself had a weird attraction to wild, bad and strong girls he couldn't deny the fact this display of basic morality made Iris impossibly charming.

His heart started to beat faster with concern, he wasn't sure if she was toying with him or not, but the visible submissiveness was working perfectly. Stabbing his vulnerable heart in all the right places.

"How are you feeling?" he whispered warmly, his voice vibrating low, silencing the surrounding world entirely, not even the echo of his bickering friends was able to slip past

Iris did not respond, she kept looking at him with those enchanting eyes of hers.

The sight was breaking his heart.

Ancestors, he was such a weakling.

He was letting pity take control of him, pity for a girl that almost killed his mate, hurt who knows how many other souls in between and after, acted abusively towards him to put it mildly and yet despite it all he couldn't simply turn away, he didn't have the heart to do the most logical of actions.

Allow Iris to choke on her own poison.

It was stupid, no matter how many times he tells himself that it won't make it any better, it was stupid that he felt responsibility for her and the way she looked at him, it was like she was telling him that he failed her.

He didn't know why, but he sensed that she was, in a way, afraid of him, she was at his mercy and he ascertained dominance over her by bringing her back from the verge of death.

Perhaps she was afraid that he can remedy that in any moment.

Or perhaps she was afraid to move her head and awaited his permission to do so, she would have some sort of a guarantee that her neck won't snap.

Whatever the case may be Iris was offering her independence on a platter, a thing she guarded with all her hateful wrath.

It was insane.

He was known for his recklessness though, thing he wanted to improve on, turns out he didn't do a good job at it because his weak, naïve conscience overpowered him, as crazy as it may sound Iris woke some fatherly concern in him, something that Flare managed to accomplish too.

This might be a consequence of becoming a leader.

Or he was simply dull with his head still high in the clouds.

Whatever it was, it did not change his next action, his paw rose automatically, guiding the faintly glowing claw above the bluish neck.

The wound was still there, still big and bright red, in places though he could see the scales growing pieces of some reaching across to tie themselves around their partner on the other side of the tormented river of blood cells. He examined the neck from each possible angle, trying to get a correct estimate of the damage around the entire radius of the wound and he was quite relieved to see that the wound was healing nicely.

Iris definitely could feel the discomfort of having her own flesh pulling at each other to close the wound, the constant pressure must be the thing that scared her, sending a false signal that her neck is being held on strands only.

The healing pulse he sent was far more less powerful in closing open cuts than brute flame, yet he was still pleased with the result, while she might have recovered better if undertaken another healing method, he had to admit to himself that the result, considering it was his first time, was promising.

Iris will live. That's the important part, the rest are details and those can be honed with practice.

"The wound is still healing, but it looks good. Your head won't fall off, you can move it if you want to"

"And here I hoped we would have something to kick around to pass the time" Sparx whined in disappointment, joining his brother's side, his natural light opening the neck to a proper examination

"Yup. It'll hold, you did good bro"

Iris moved for the first time since she was awake, her paw rose shakily, tenderly patting at the neck, a small tremble tugging at the claws as they grazed over the wound, caressing it delicately like a newborn baby.

The static eyes finally blinked, with one flap the submissive, charming glimmer was gone, the color returning to its standard cold self.

Spyro already knew that he will miss it.

The only silver lining that was left, at least for the time being, was the lack of hate burning in those diamond orbs.

"Why are you sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?" Iris grumbled, wavering between irritation and honest bewilderment "Why won't you leave me alone?"

Usually when someone asks the last question it is mostly filled with anger, with a rebellious spirit that is far from welcoming. In this case however there was no contempt in there, but a rather subtle...plea? Hope? Something that Spyro had troubles deciphering, but no matter what it was exactly the tug on his heart mean only one thing.

She had hooked it.

And there was no chance for him to break the rod.

Damn, vulnerable heart.

"Because I'm an idiot" he offered the girl a cheerful smile

"I will abuse you Goldie, when your usefulness ends I will make your life hell since obviously the foretaste didn't work"

Sparx scratched the back of his head in confusion.

"I must say this is the weirdest thanks for saving my hide that I heard in my life"

"I doubt it" Spyro commented confidently "Not in the abuse part, you're more than capable of doing that, I doubt the effect of it. You can punch and bite me all you want Iris, it doesn't work on me. I'm really hard to offend and the more you vent your frustrations on me the more stubborn I become"

"Why are you so insufferable?" the ice dragoness growled in irritation

Purple shoulders shrugged.

"I dunno, it's the way I tick I guess. Or, as I said, I'm a cretin who doesn't know better, either way you're not getting rid off me that easily"

Blue paws clenched the sand, with a taxing groan the blue dragoness lifted herself up, snatching his paw as she did so, keeping the illuminated claw close to their faces as she stared him down.

A shattered soul swam inside the two diamonds, some shards were so sharp that a mere touch was enough to cut yourself.

"They murder Goldie" the shards of the broken soul glimmered like cold steel

He gulped, noticing that some of those shards were covered in thick red, blood, always dripping and fresh. She was not threatening him, not saying some frustrating promise, she was stating facts and the blood he saw swirling among the shards had a piece of a feather strapped to it.

The blood didn't belong to the innocents, not all of it.

Some of it was her own.

What a familiar sight.

If you would look closely Iris, you might have noticed a similar pattern in my own soul.

If he would be really the perfect figure of legends and fairytales some people believe him to be, a pure savior with pristine blood who vanquishes evil, he most likely would smite the girl in front of him where she stood. Evil and bad deeds have to be punished according to the idealized stories.

But then if he doesn't want to be a hypocrite he should strike himself down as well.

He killed innocents as well and the dark counterpart that corrupts his soul is himself in the end no matter how many times he tries to convince himself otherwise there was this one argument he could never abolish. If he would put himself in front of the crowd of people and switch scales when they blink, the crowd would take him for the same dragon but only with a different shade.

Because the truth was simple, if he wouldn't feel guilty he wouldn't have to keep Dark Spyro a secret.

We all have our demons.

His job was to make sure that they remain in the closet, in his own as well as in the others.

"Then get in line because no one of us is perfect. All of us here though are trying to change that"

"I won't allow you to do anything to me that I don't first demand"

"That's a load of crap!" Cellsa blurted out in irritation "That half breed freak is full of shit, she pretends to act all high and mighty like the damn princess she supposedly is, so independent and stuff that it makes me want to vomit, while all she does since I met you guys is follow you around and obey any command. Which, before you spit on me, is nothing bad, you are a curious specimen Spyro and there is something very influential about you that just makes my female parts all tingly. The only difference is that neither of us is crying about it, we all accept it for a fact while Featherbrains here pretends that all of it is her doing while in truth she is as content following you around as we all are"

Orange paw slapped the forehead several times.

"So get that finally in your dumb skull Cloaca and admit that you like being someone's bitch, I wouldn't be surprised if Spyro here wouldn't be the only one that tugged at your leash with you pretending to be otherwise. You are not ruling anyone princess anymore, fallen leaders only end in two ways, dead or a toy and since you are very much alive we can guess what you are. So I vote that you finally pull your head out of your ass and admit that you like it, it will save us all the trouble of listening to your retarded voice, plus it'll also help our stomachs, puking our guts out would be kinda harsh right now cause I doubt we will be getting any food anytime soon'

Silence fell on the cell after Cellsa finished her bombardment of words, not because that shock had tangled the vocal cords of her companions, but because her electric tongue reached a sizzling pace that could rival Volteer. Her mouth clamped shut, but the heads of her cellmates were still busy processing the words.

The flash of embarrassment and fury sparkled in the diamond eyes of Iris when her brain finished its evaluation process.

It didn't escape Cellsa's attention, her hair bristling in alarm.

Sparx noticed what was brewing far more quicker than Spyro and Cynder did, realizing that if he won't act the girls will end up killing each other. He also knew that stopping that crazy chick directly would only piss her off more and only prove Cellsa's point and right now it didn't matter if he agreed with the electric dragoness or not.

"Time to rot people! We're never getting out of here if the two of them will kill each other! Goodbye Iris' mother! Goodbye freaky noodle dragon! You got exactly what you wanted!" he wailed into the bottleneck through which they had fallen through

While the hate still lively burnt in her diamond eyes, Iris didn't move a muscle. Sparx' words striking their mark, appealing to the girl's royal ego and her sense of purpose. Iris was more than aware that they were close to accomplishing their goal and risking it on personal shame would be a waste.

It was surprising to see the girl displaying such patience, but it worked for now.

The question if all this stored fury will blow up when this is finally over was a totally different matter. All they have left was to hope that Iris will at least remember what gratitude means when they will finally unite her with her mom.

After all this whole mission was because of her and Spyro's sense of friendly duty.

"You are not worth it filth" Iris rasped, spitting a ball of small ice into the sandy floor

The misty, green tentacles lunged at the piece of magic hungrily, like a pack of vultures throwing themselves at a corpse.

Cellsa snorted mockingly.

"So now that we have bloodshed out of the way, can one of your wonderful females tell us what is the best course of action here? We wait or try giving this place a slip?" Cynder inquired casually

"Escape? How? Can't you see the bars?" Cellsa pointed at the mentioned objects "Those are not lanterns if you didn't know. Binding magic, it will suck us dry the moment we touch them and I would really advise against turning yourself into a sack of bones"

"Clueless and short sighted. No wonder you were dominated, not even paying attention to the ones you fight alongside with. You worthless worms flooded this world, it is no surprise that it cracked under your weight. I hope you died a painful death Junkie" Iris snarled in disgust

Brilliant, white fangs glistened from underneath the smirking black mouth.

"Let's just say that you guys clearly didn't face a black dragon, this prison is not built to hold me. I see the other side of the cage I can be there without even touching the bars"

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Cellsa shouted at the black dragoness, full of irritation and disbelief "Then get us out of here before that spineless freak comes down here!"

"First I need to know how to unlock this place"

"Who cares! There must be a lever or something nearby. Move your black ass finally!"

"Stay where you are Tat and don't listen to the idiot, you will only get us all killed" Iris interrupted the conversation

Cellsa rolled her eyes with a groan.

"Oh yeah! Listen to the delusional princess of nothing, it's not like she's unfamiliar to reason and logic, she only pretended all her life to be independent, no big deal, what can possibly go wrong?"

A swift jerk of the white pupils was the only answer Iris gave that comment, yet everyone in the room felt that if it could kill, Cellsa would be dead by now.

"Escaping will only give the disciplined citizens of this place a reason to dispose us. You simpletons clearly never ruled anything besides your own bowels and even that is doubtful due to all the stinky shit your wagging tongues produce"

Sparx clapped his hands enthusiastically.

"Nothing like a bit of inspirational speech to get your blood pumped, am I right guys?!"

"To rule is to manipulate, you don't make people listen by the force with which your whip cracks, pain and pressure births resistance, direct force is understood by intellectuals and fools alike and no matter how comfortable you feel on your throne, the combined groups outnumber you greatly, iron fist is an effective, but a temporary solution, it is only a matter of time before someone like Goldie awakens among the oppressed to bring your downfall"

"You rule the population by doctrines, traditions, benefits and peace. You make them fat on comfort and your grace by offering tributes or special treatments to other groups. You split the opposition. You cater to a part of the intellectuals, you use the rest to supply the fools, nothing makes people more lazy and docile than sense of appreciation. But people are greedy, you feed them some and eventually they will want more and more, this is why you keep them busy, this is why you need enemies. Eventually some of the intellectuals will see that they are being used to supply the rest, they will rebel but by that time all you need to do to quench their shout is to point a claw at them and let your manipulated worms do the dirty work. There will come a time where the ones being catered to will see what's going on, then you simply feed the ones that were ignored and the circle repeats itself, to make things more believable you might want to rule through someone else, move away from the throne to give the populace a false sense of change. Do you understand now cretins why you can't leave?"

If the group understood was hard to tell, all seemed to be shocked by Iris' lecture about politics where she used only a limited amount of curses and insults and sounded actually rational.

The dumbfounded expressions of her companions irritated the ice dragoness greatly, clueless simpletons, all of them, lost in the territory of the influential and royal. How can she possibly show herself to her mother surrounded by these fools?

Unfortunately though, this is all she got.

"You senseless fucks" Iris groaned painfully "We run and we give the idiots outside the reason to murder us, they are taught that the Pits prisoners are enemies, we run, we die, do you understand now dipshits or must I bang it into your worthless skulls?"

"So you think we should wait?" Spyro asked unsurely, time might be on their side, yes, but even that has its limits

"I KNOW we should wait. We broke the set of rules, people are confused, so are the highborn. To rule also means to be wrapped in an never ending power struggle, if my mother really wants you dead Goldie then there is surely someone influential enough wanting to make use of you to get to her. We just have to wait and see who gets here first, so save that energy for the incoming assassins, someone is bound to open our cage sooner or later. When it happens we win anyway"

Iris looked over the group, supposed enemies and yet all were breathing.

"They won't expect to see us all alive, when the retarded siblings didn't make up the worldwide conflict of course"

"You're retarded" Cellsa snapped back "Half-breed saying what's normal or not, that's rich. Don't rustle your feathers Wormsucker, everyone hates everyone in this place, if you don't believe me I gladly demonstrate on you just how deep the hate runs. And pull that cock out of your mouth already, your accented slur is starting to get on my nerves"

"Your opinion, bug, means nothing to me. Sputter until you can, when we meet with my mother your usefulness becomes irrelevant. You will learn your place then"

The trio were surprised by Iris' mature approach, all of them expected the dragoness to throw herself at Cellsa by now, yelling several insults until her claws began slashing. But this side of Iris acted mature, like someone of true power and authority that fell from grace but was intelligent enough to realize her position where she had to deal with souls she would never regard the existence off if she remained on the pedestal of power.

However there was no denying that Iris had a burning disdain towards Cellsa and would be joyful to see her miserable.

The question remained though which side of Iris was more deadly and capable of fulfilling that desire.

"You know what superstar? If you acted like this all the time I might actually begin to like you" Sparx commented with a smirk, hiding behind the mask of wit the tornado of thoughts that kept rattling inside his skull. That crazy chick was leaving a mark on him

Iris snorted, wordlessly expressing her appreciation or lack thereof, for his support.

Spyro and Cynder were equally impressed just like Sparx was, they have never knew Iris from this side, they didn't know whether it was the head pain or the atmosphere of this place that sparkled her rather royal aura, but it was clearly impressive to see her...well...sensible. All this time she only boasted how important she was while her actions only proved that she was a spoiled child.

Right now though?

They felt they were dealing with a fully fledged highborn of royal blood who perfectly understood the nuances of politics, understanding that only could come from being a native to this world. She might have some mental troubles, but this place seemed to bring back the Iris that the girl buried deep down under the rubble of her past.

Even Cellsa who wasn't very fond of the dragoness remained silent and considered her words as rightful guidance, even when they were bickering. She didn't know herself why, she despised the rules of this place, rebelled against them all the time, but then among all this mess was Athron. Athron she respected as the only female dragoness who climbed to the seat of power with the desire to change the fucked up surroundings. That respect was what kept driving her own renegade agenda, as miniscule as it might be compared to the Crystal Wyrm's ambition.

Iris had something in her of that desire, her speech radiated royal influence. The exotic accent, the arrogant scold, the confidence, all those characteristics that stood out from the typical scrum met on the streets, it marked the feathery chick as one of the higher-ups. Or she might be just some lowlife that gets intimidated by the signs of royalty, as a dragoness that was forced to respect her betters, it didn't matter that her parents wield some manner of respect in Skyward, Father being even a Warden, both of them effectively making her feel worthless.

She hated her life in this fucking coffin.

And though she rebelled all the time, she still acted submissive in the presence of highborn blood. What a joke. Thanks Mom and Dad, I gotta live with a trauma now.

"Interesting" Cynder cocked her head "You seem actually likeable now. Note to self" she cleared her throat "Smack Iris in the head when she gets annoying"

"Watch your tongues morons. I won't stand your mockery and will silence the lot of you when I'll heal" Iris snarled threatening, her tone full of mischievous arrogance as if speaking to her cellmates would feel similar to a trek through disgusting mud

"Thank you Iris" Spyro jumped in before the situation escalated any further, he didn't know what was going on with Iris, the sudden change of attitude came as a surprise to him, not so long ago he again saw that confused girl, spoke with her even, right now she seemed like a completely different dragoness

Of course the spite was still there, he doubted that one can be gone completely, yet even her vile nature was tranquil, giving room to this cunning and ruthless girl. Her voice was stern and cold, the eyes radiating chilly hate were now blank, considering the world and the people they see as worthless bugs.

A true, cold blooded queen.

"We really need your help with this"

"I'm doing it for myself, I couldn't care less about you bugs" her cold stare buried itself into Spyro "I'm doing it for myself" she repeated, her accented voice rumbling with sweet tenderness

Purple neck squeezed hard as it swallowed a bulge of saliva.

Gratitude.

Reverence.

One of the floating shards of her crushed soul seemed to look at him, it was a tiny piece with even more tinier spikes that on closer examination looked like small limbs. In fact the shard was not the typical sharp object he saw bleeding before, this one seemed to wiggle almost adoringly.

Like it was alive.

He could swear that it looked like a youthful, miniature version of Iris who instead of eyes had two big, red hearts that followed him tirelessly.

For that miniature Iris he was an idol and fascination she couldn't let go off.

She wasn't lying, she was really doing it for herself.

And he had a feeling that him healing her, basically displaying godlike power she prayed to in her time of need had something to do with this.

Was this really a bad thing though?

Was he not doing the same thing when he went after Cynder even though the Chronicler told him it was a waste?

Almost every action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It is a trait we hate in others but justify in ourselves.

In the end though, it is those personal desires that drive progress and sometimes benefit others that are met in the way.

So he'll accept it because it was pointless to oppose it.

Each of his companions was his and her own storm, with cracking desires and ambitions, together they form a gale that rivaled Nature.

He can't stop the wind.

But he can learn to fly.