FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 46

Ignus pushed the door to a close when the last tip of tail passed through the doorstep, he used both paws to do so not letting the frame go even when the door clicked in place. He stood there, leaning against the structure with his both forelegs stretched out, armor creaking quietly, projecting every thump and pull of muscle underneath through its metallic body.

He kept pressing against the door for two long minutes, as if expecting them to soon burst open. Only when the time passed and there was no obvious signal that someone will try to rush the door open Ignus allowed himself a moment of relief.

His chin dropped down, head hitting the frame, the thud that echoed after he shoved his draconic forehead into the door sounded as if the entire building had a hiccup.

He started to breathe heavily, each exhale making the armor he was wearing rattle uneasily on his figure as if each exhaled breath would collapse his muscles. The tension he stored evaporated, for a second there, when Ignus used all of his air, he looked as thin as a skeleton.

"All of you, get some rest" he mumbled tiredly, paw that not so long ago held the door sprang up to the nose to relax the wrinkled scales there

A faint thudding of a distant, approaching headache hummed inside his skull.

"Leave the clothes in your rooms, I'll collect them later"

"Ignus, what-"

"Not now" the red dragon grumbled, cutting Spyro off, in his hoarse rasp the group could hear the whisper of the grumpy side they had the pleasure to meet

"Go to your rooms, stop thinking about everything that happened here, don't bother with what you were told, everything you experienced here is as real as mirage on the desert"

Sparx frowned uneasily, scratching the brink of his nose.

He was not about to forget the conversation he had with Marble, the dragon's offer, as gracious as it might sound, was like reaching to pat the tongue of an unconscious Death Hound. You never know if the jaw won't accidently clap close and tear your arm off.

"Now, I want to be left alone"

After a short while the clicking of claws and beating of wings tenderly bounced off the walls of the bi house. Becoming more distant as seconds went by.

With the lack of sound evaporated the last will of resolve, there was no point to pretend to be a distressed king any longer. It was time to take the real clothes on and act like the reckless, unprepared boy he was.

His paw slid down the armor, making him reach down between his legs and touch the underbelly. The paw followed the metallic path to the destination.

They immediately started to work on the strap there and just like always his claws couldn't find the proper angle to snap it open. Soon enough the relaxed groping turned into irritated yanks which caused the heavy plates of the armor to stab his scales.

Poking him while he had no option to retaliate, almost like his cooperation with Marble.

The thought made him furious, with a snarl his head dived in between the legs to take a good look at the fucking strap and to finally give it a yank do hard that it will never bother him again.

Instead of a furious growl of an attack, a choking gasp was everything that left his throat.

Iris was standing behind him, looking him straight in the eye in this embarrassing position.

He quickly straightened back up, a fierce blush coloring his cheeks.

"You too Iris!" he blurted out, wanting to make his voice sound commanding and full of authority, the embarrassment however turned it into a squeaky, wavering mess

The sound of it was like a thunder that just exploded inside his skull.

He was loosing this skirmish under her stern, hard to discern gaze. He has to run, he really had enough of these theatrics for one day, and Iris seemed to smell that weakness, that desire accurately.

He spun around, with cheeks still burning he marched towards the resting quarters.

"You don't get special treatment. Move" he blurted out, almost recovering his frustrated tone, yet even that spark of confidence wasn't enough to force his head in her direction.

For some reason he simply couldn't force himself to look into her eyes, afraid of what he would see there.

And the most scary thing about it all was the idea that whatever he would spot there, would look very familiar.

He passed her, feeling an impossibly demanding strain in his neck that was trying to turn his head around. He knew she didn't react to his command, that she was still burying those eyes into him. He had no reasonable explanation for it all, he had no idea why she made him so distressed, but whatever the reason could be, he couldn't fight it back.

His paws sped their walking pace without him even realizing it, his pace wavering at the edge of running. He reached his door, heart beating quickly, the tension in the neck threatening to snap its connection to the spine. His paw smashed into the handle of the door leading to his quarters as if it would be the last thing in the world capable of keeping him alive.

His heart raced so quickly that he felt time itself shrinking its embrace around him, humming filled his head, getting louder with each second, among the hissing echo thuds resonated, each causing his entire body to spasm.

The pounds increased their tempo, but it was not his heart, it was her steps, getting faster and faster, she was running at him.

He pressed the handle.

And he was certain that she will get him, the door will get stuck or he would lose a piece of his armor that he simply will need to pick up.

The door opened up smoothly though.

He jumped inside without even looking around, slamming the door shut with a held back breath. He slammed the locks in place and just in case leaned over the frame to make sure that the door stay open.

The prolonged breath of relief he exhaled almost made him faint. The humming together with the uncomfortable clench were gone, he was alone in the darkness of his own room. Instinctively he leaned his snout against the door, listening for any sound coming from the corridor.

There was nothing but silence though.

The fear that painted his snout turned into comfort not long after, that comfort after several seconds shifted into a thrown aback frown, a couple more seconds later the disgusted grimace adopted its final form.

Utter fury.

He jumped away from the door with a vicious snarl, springing away with such speed as if the frame would caught on fire. He shook his head fiercely, the armor he was wearing rattling to the vicious twirling, the noise so loud and rumbling that it almost felt as if he would displace his own brain inside the skull.

What the hell is wrong with him?

He couldn't understand how that girl, who he barely knows, has such a huge impact on him.

It's not about you knowing her Ignus, it's about her knowing you.

The dragon froze in place, feeling the earth shattering all around him, the spot he was standing on the only place in the whole world that protected him from being devoured by the opening void.

His head started to hurt.

Claws immediately began rubbing the insufferable forehead, his eyes hectically looking around the dark room, not really knowing what their goal was. Then out of the darkness manifested one cabinet, with rows upon rows of full wine bottles.

He could feel the horrid taste of the mushroom wine on his tongue by just looking at the bottles.

Instead of retching though, he kept staring at the cabinet as if he was very familiar with it. He immediately located some spills, some of the wine seemed to be broken and was leaking its contents.

His nose sniffed at the air out of its own.

The piece of floor he was standing on lost a slice of it, forcing him to kick his left leg in the air.

Blood.

The oozing substance flashed crimson, it was not the first streak of blood he had seen, yet this particular one was holding his attention stronger than any commanding leader.

It's stench irritated his nostrils.

Pieces of torn bluish and white feathers began to float on top of the river of blood.

Their sight irritated his heart.

The fury that was boiling inside him exploded with intense force, commanding the risen paw that recently lost its footing to make a forward step. Instead of falling into the darkness his claws found a solid surface, and that click paired with the anger was enough to bring his mind back to its senses.

The room materialized before him just like he remembered it, he still had his eyes on the wine, now clean and tidy, the sight of it awakened past memories of its taste on his tongue.

He immediately turned away in disgust from this horrible bottles, incapable of imagining how a liquid as bad as this could even play any role in his life. He of course digested the ugly drink as a guilty pleasure, but there was no deep, underlying desire anywhere to be found there.

This was insane.

And insanity was the idea he accepted, all these weird feelings and confusing thoughts were nothing more than a consequence of this tragedy of a charade. It all got too much into his head, a natural course of events if you keep a company like Marble and all the rest of the clowns around.

Everyone would go crazy around them.

Ignus gave his head another solid shake, only then he started to feel that finally everything is back to normal, this last twirl was enough to get rid off all the stupid and unnecessary ideas.

Weariness creeped in, as to be expected.

Yes.

Everything was back to normal.

Time to get rid of this armor and get some rest when he has the chance, Skyward doesn't provide many such opportunities.

He approached a tall mirror, giving himself a proper look over, admitting arrogantly that he seemed really formidable in this piece of scrap. Naturally, like almost everything during this evening, this armor was as fake. It did provide protection, yes, but he would never wear such a thing into battle.

The pieces simply ate into his scales, not to mention that it was very easy to displace some of the joints, in the end making something clunky already into even a worse burden to bear since it was nearly impossible to put the stuff back in place.

He needed a damn mirror to simply get the thing off without hurting himself too much. If he lives long enough to see the day where nobody pretends to be somebody else he will die a happy dragon.

He reached in between his forelegs, fidgeting a little with a strap there but eventually letting it free with relative ease. A shoulder plate fell to the floor. Eyes turned to the mirror watching the recovered, yet greatly bruised splotch of scale.

He hated his joke of a life.

He made another dive, taking care of the opposite shoulder with similar ease, dexterity that surprised even him, usually it took some playing around to get rid of the individual pieces of armor.

Red eyes landed on the mirror again, before shifting to the scales though, they remained locked at the visible snout, admiring the burning determination in the pupils.

For some unexplained reason he really wanted to take this armor off with as little effort as possible.

Driven by the determination he worked at the sides of his forelegs, using the left one first, a leg that he considered more clumsy than the other. The claws however stumbled only for a while, taking care of the plates and revealing the outer side of his right foreleg.

The mirror returned to his point of focus, red pupils fell on the opened up scales only for a short second before shifting to a point that didn't reflect his body but the wall behind him.

His heart started to beat a little faster.

It was time for the other leg now, this one went even more fluidly than the first one.

It was the mirror once more, this time his eyes didn't even bother with examining his own body, lingering on that empty spot behind him.

The beating of his heart resonated all the way to his skull.

Chin went down, paw slamming against the chest plate, he extended a claw, sliding it down the invisible line running through the middle of the armor until it eventually fell into a tiny opening, a single thrust later and the chest plate opened like a hatched egg.

He peeled the armor off.

This time when he raised his eyes to the mirror again he noticed Iris standing in the previously empty spot.

Heart pounded so hard that he started to sweat, despite the discomfort he felt unimaginable pride, he did it, he impressed her, now he deserves a reward.

Iris though didn't seem to share his enthusiasm, she looked bored and uninterested in fact, condemning even. Though her lips didn't move, the cold eyes staring at him from the mask seemed to ask only one question.

What did you do?

The arrogant passion was replaced by fear in a blink of an eye. The clench of dread was so strong that it nearly kicked him off of his paws. His head once more started to hurt, ideas of this being merely another weird vision flushed his head, he quickly spun around, instinctively following the last move of success when a solid shake brought him back to his senses.

She was still there.

He couldn't help himself but to lean closer, sniffing wildly at the air, trying to discern if the girl in front of him is real or not, every part of him wanted to believe that she was fake, he didn't hear the door open, there was no way she could get inside.

Then he finally felt it, her breath on the tip of his nose.

She was real.

The revelation made him jump back with a yelp, he crashed into the mirror that immediately toppled down, the frame hitting his head.

"Iris!" he exclaimed in pain, shoving away the fallen object "How the fuck did you get in here? I locked the door!"

He didn't know what it was, he couldn't explain it, but the way with which she just stood there, callous and almost lifeless, paired with her piercing, unmoving stare made him feel as if he would be looking at a reanimated corpse that dug itself out of its grave. A past memory he hardly remembers while she knows everything about him.

This was torment.

And he had a feeling that she knew it.

"You never learn uncle"

The dreadful confusion only grew higher.

That seemingly random response that made absolutely no sense to him was exactly the manifestations of his earlier thoughts about her being an undead memory. He felt it in his guts that in those several words she presented their entire story to him, even though her voice was as cold as ice he couldn't help but to think that by calling him uncle she not only tortured, but also mocked him.

His highborn esteem was wounded, in any other situation he would challenge the one daring to question him, command a more detailed explanation. Yet for some reason, when it came to Iris, he couldn't force his tongue to do any of those things.

Whenever he moved his tongue he could sense the vibrant touch of her melodic voice wrestling with his tongue, like a bodiless, forbidden kiss that felt both horrifically wrong as desirable. She was a charmer, just like his sister, the only difference being that Iris seemed to be extremely fluent in wielding that charm as a weapon.

Her accented, impossibly alluring voice was so much more potent when facing her alone. Heart started to pound instantly at the prospect of seeing this meeting to an end, a meeting that made you feel so tiny and insignificant where you lose all the control of your actions, but at the same time making you feel as alive as ever, deep down telling you that if you show only a tiny bit of initiative at the right moment, you would never forget this day since the finale could only be extreme.

Great pleasure or great pain.

His eyes ventured to the wine filled cabinet again, projecting the feathery blood floating there once more, deep down the sight of it made him feel despicable, he couldn't find much difference between great pain and pleasure, feeling that when it came to Iris those were the same things.

Whatever he knew for certain now that the girl was truly his sister's daughter.

He heard some souls speaking about Athron in praising words, that she had potential to truly lead, if only she could focus on what mattered.

In Iris he saw everything that Athron can be and most likely became in the end, passing all of her charm and lessons on her daughter, still Iris' unnatural behavior and aura was a clear sign that at some point everything went horribly wrong.

That allure, instead of building up sweetness to the pedestal allowed terror to triumph over all. If there would be creatures in this world that murdered by stirring up desire and passion, Iris would be their matron.

No matter what he was thinking right now, only one thing remained true and it pounded against his very soul. Something told him that he can't be with her alone, ordered that she must go.

"I don't know how you got in here, but I told you to rest" Ignus pointed at the door, pretending not so see just how bad his extended claw shook "Go away, this instant"

He swallowed, depressingly realizing that his weak voice would not be able to banish a ghost of a fly from his room, let alone a fallen princess.

"This is my home, you showed me its secrets together with mother"

"I'm not your uncle girl!" he yelled, yet just like previously, the intention turned out to be much different than practice. Instead of dominant shout, his yelp bordered on a pitiful cry

"You are my property and you will do as you are commanded if you know what's best for you"

"You always knew what's best for me" Iris ran a claw along her robes, cutting a straight line across the weak material

Ignus swallowed his tongue, watching with unnatural horror as the robe parted and cascaded down her curved body, revealing the perfect figure underneath. A slender, clean neckline with a back holding a pair of groomed, feathery wings.

"Do you like what you see?"

Be gone demon!

The terrified scream that exploded in his head never pushed through his mouth however, he was too taken aback by Iris' behavior.

He had no idea what it was, they were strangers for everything that's holy!

Yet his eyes were drawn to her body, but he knew, somehow he had this dreadful feeling that it was not about the flesh, it was a beacon, a very prominent one, but it was there to draw attention and it had all the traits to acquire it.

Whatever scared him was hidden behind the masked eyes, he felt that the question she asked had a second meaning, a meaning he really didn't want to find out. He didn't have the courage to look up, to match his pupils with her diamond ones, his eyes remained lingering on the artistically shaped female body, accepting the ugly abhorrence that came with it, fearing that whatever hid behind the masked eyes was far, far worse.

The falling robe left a familiar mark on her shoulder, a delicate taint of substance that looked like clay but in truth was the blood coming out from the roots of the mushrooms growing in this cave. Back in the days he too was touched by them, in the same place. She got here through the secret passage he dug out himself, the root was a consequence of a mistake by digging a little too high.

"You came here through the secret cave" he noted gloomily, he couldn't really say why this revelation was so depressing exactly, he was tossed around between fear of having all his secrets revealed and sadness that it was necessary to rely on these secrets to live in relative normality

Iris scooped up the blood streak from her shoulder, she put the bloodied claw in her mouth, sucking at it deeply.

Ignus' throat hurt as it struggled to catch a breath.

"We are a secret, you always liked secrets uncle, your eyes twinkle even today"

He shook his head, having difficulties to struggle with this awkward stress any longer. It brought him back to the days when he was growing up, or even struggling for the throne with Athron, she also seemed to be always one step ahead of him in everything. Being behind, and what's worse, being aware of it, was one of the most ugliest experiences in his life.

And Athron's daughter was tormenting him with the same weapon now.

"What do you want?" he whimpered, digging claws into his head where pain steadily increased its strength the longer he was talking to Iris

She made a step forward, forcing him to make a step back in turn.

Every part of him screamed that this is insane, that she is no one, it was his home, his rules and his generosity that allowed her to breathe in the first place. But those thoughts were more potent when he was around the whole group, back then he could already feel a strange pull to the girl, but it was muffled by everything else that was going on.

Being alone with her however was a complete different story.

She emitted so much pressure that it was simply impossible to pinpoint the origin of this peculiar power, right now he had troubles imagining him having any rule over her in the future and yet from the bits and pieces he gathered it looked like his future self had an impact on her.

"You never asked me what I wanted" her accented voice rumbled like a purr, he could even take it for something cute and sweet if not for those piercing, white eyes that wrenched his soul into a wicked twist

She kept on advancing, he kept on retreating until finally his tail bumped into a wall.

Her eyes were all over him.

He felt extremely fragile and exposed all of a sudden, the forelegs that no longer could back away rose in the air, paws covering the uncovered chest in a pitiful attempt to shield it from her demonic stare.

The soft jerk when he hit the wall sprang such an uncomfortable bolt through his spine that mashed all his nerves and guts around, to the point that he had to desperately fight back the urge to retch.

She reached out the moment she stopped in front of him, his paws parted away from her path. Her soft paw landing on his chest.

Ignus gasped breathlessly when the cold touch of her paw spread across his chest.

"W-What are you doing?" he stammered, asking the most logical question, yet deep down knowing the answer for it already

She was sucking away his soul, but the most terrifying part about it was the fact that his paws grabbed her by the foreleg, not to shove it away, but to hold it in place.

This is what he deserves.

He had a feeling that he done it all already.

Despite the raging discomfort he couldn't turn away from her deathless eyes, a pair of blank windows through which no soul could be seen. She was his demon, she came back to repay him.

Ignus.

What did you do?

His mind was a torrent of ideas, neither of them was sane enough to propose to your damn niece, so much for the stranger argument.

Her soft paw slid down his opened chest, claw tugging at the piece of armor reaching down his underbelly.

It clicked away from the rest with significant ease.

As if it had done so many, many times before.

His skull almost imploded from the pressure.

"Stop it!" he screamed in horror, shoving her paw away and jumping along the wall, spitting flames from his tail tip that not only toppled everything in their path but also scorched some of them

Iris didn't seem to be moved by his reaction, merely following him with her diamond eyes.

"You are confused! I'm not your uncle!" he shook his head "I'm not your uncle" he repeated weakly, suddenly feeling like a bloodthirsty monster waking up from his berserk trance seeing everywhere he cared about slaughtered all around him "I'm not your uncle" he swallowed, one question instantly springing up inside his brain

Is it really all for nothing?

"You look at me the same way"

"Stop!" he roared, pointing in the direction through which she came "Leave, now"

"Too late for that now uncle"

He couldn't stand this any longer.

"Leave me alone!" he noticed something sparkling faintly near the wall, an object that clearly didn't belong to him and she must have been the one that lost it when she crawled through the cave

He immediately jumped towards it, picking it up and extending his paw, nodding at the wall.

"I'm not your uncle. Take it and leave"

For the first time since the girl entered his room Ignus noticed genuine emotions flashing across her eyes, eyes that also for the first time since she got him shifted away from his face and down onto his paw.

"What is it?"

"I don't know" he hissed in irritation, without any interest looking at his opened paw "A medallion" he faintly remembered that she was wearing that thing around the neck "You nipped the chain when you got here" he mended it together by fusing it with gentle flame "Now take it back and go"

Iris blinked, tapping at her empty neck, yet the thought about losing it wasn't as shocking as the sight of the red paw holding it.

"You will scratch yourself"

"What?"

"The medallion. You will scratch yourself on it"

"This?" he flipped the round object in his paw freely "Where? It's not even sharp" he shook his head, this meeting was already crazy as it is, he really didn't have the strength nor the will to decipher what she meant by this senseless blabbering "Just take it and go, rest, you need it"

Something changed about Iris, she no longer seemed to be a walking corpse, but a truly confused girl.

"You are not my uncle. You don't have to be my uncle" she mumbled, he did not understand any of it but she sounded as if this was some sort of a huge revelation for her

She approached him, this time she was the one acting uncertain, she walked so slowly that Ignus thought that she will fall unconscious any second now. Seeing her like that made him a little calmer, yet he still wasn't perfectly fine, Iris acting so troubled was as uncomfortable as her being a callous, walking corpse.

She took the medallion from him, examining it closely, as if looking for something.

Ignus took the opportunity to retreat away from her.

Iris froze, he could see her muscles flexing, she was clearly preparing herself to turn around and face him, yet, thanks to everything divine, she eventually decided against it. The girl flung the medallion around her slender neck and went towards the wall, recovering her confident step she walked straight into the obstacle in front of her, irritating the masked nose, her face cover the only thing preventing her from crushing her nose.

Iris hissed, backing away swiftly. She extended her leg, patting at the wall blindly.

Ignus observed her with a cocked head.

"What are you doing?"

"You told me to leave" white paw kept punching at the wall

"The entrance is on your left" he said just in case, unsure if she tried to provoke him or did she really forget where the exit was

Iris recoiled back from the wall, eyeing it from top to bottom with anxious sways of the tail, as if expecting the wall to collapse soon.

Ignus observed the girl curiously, and a little worried to be honest, she seemed to be completely bewildered, he almost wanted to ask her if she's alright yet the words never passed his mouth.

This entire experience already answered that particular doubt.

Iris gazed behind her shoulder, he swore he could see fear in her eyes but before he could clarify that she already sprang to the mentioned spot and disappeared in the blackness of the cave.

*

Door slammed tightly behind him.

What a day.

It was not the most exciting he ever experienced in his life, he expected his muscles to get at least a similar beating when compared to the toughest of fights, yet limbs were relatively fit.

Something that couldn't be said about his mind though.

This so called party was a strain on the will, all this pretending, all this acting and lies, it was too much for him, he never was good when it came to bending reality to begin with and this so called party strained his already weak limits to their brink.

Not to mention Cynder and her odd behavior, he didn't even want to think about that now, revisiting that experience in his tired state would probably make him faint.

No.

Ignus told them to rest and this is exactly what he will do.

There might not be any more chances like this.

Spyro slipped from the tunic, the cloth flowed down his body with such ease as if it would his own shed scales. The unusual normality struck him as odd, it was not the first time he wore clothes or armor, most of them were even created to fit his body shape precisely.

No matter how good each of the outfits were he still felt that they were additions to his look, something he gladly took off when he got the chance to allow his scales to breathe. He simply was one of the dragons that preferred his own scales to serve as an armor or cloth than any fancy material out there.

The tunic though didn't feel like an annoying piece of cloth at all.

He had to stop in front of the mirror to make sure that he really took it off, it turned out that he did, yet even after the confirmation he still kept exchanging glances with his reflection. Paw raised up out of its own will, tenderly grazing over the purple and gold scales.

He gulped when he felt his body, the scales felt slick and fresh, like a soft body of a recently hatched youngling. For a moment there his mind was tricked into believing that this was the first time in his life where the purple and gold scales weren't his natural armor.

He spread his wings instinctively, looking at the open membranes, feeling strangely empty when spotting their solid, unmoving structure.

Feeling fake.

With a soft growl Spyro pried his eyes off of the mirror, stepping over the tunic and not giving it another thought. It was him in that reflection, he was a dragon and nothing else, a little purple around the edges but still he was exactly like everyone else, four paws, two wings, a tail and a couple of horns.

A dragon from every side.

Enough thinking, after getting some rest everything will return to normal.

He crashed onto the bed, moaning when he sunk into the impossibly soft mattress, it might have been just his imagination after spending countless hours on a hard, draining floor of a dungeon, but he couldn't deny the unexpected comfort, especially when Ignus told everyone they were his servants and property.

If the red dragon treated all servants like he treats them, giving them their own room together with privacy and soft bed, then perhaps he was really a saint in disguise.

He opted to believe that, whether it was true or not didn't matter right now, he had a bed and there was nothing that could make it better.

He stretched his paws out all across the empty mattress. Claws gripping empty air.

Maybe there was.

He wouldn't mind Cynder sharing the bed with him, hugging her gentle body on a soft bed was way better than resting alone.

It was too risky though. Ignus might check on them and he would prefer not to give the dragon any hints about their romantic involvement. It might be what gives him strength, but he also aware that such connection, especially in a hostile place like Skyward, might be used against them.

Sorry Spyro.

You have to warm the bed yourself this time.

He didn't even manage to complain since his mind was already drifting away into the sweet embrace of sleep.

And then he heard the door to his room clicking open.

He lifted his sleep riddled head from the bed, looking past his shoulder and towards the doorstep, through his squinted by sleep eyes he saw a black, clearly feminine silhouette standing in the doorstep.

His tail automatically began tapping against the bed in joy.

Cynder came despite the risk.

"Cynder?" he slurred, mouth stretching into a smile

"Better"

Spyro's eyes went wide open, tail froze in place, fear scared sleep away probably for the rest of the day. He could see clearly after springing on all fours, the accented voice was enough of a clue, eyes weren't needed to tell who just entered his room.

It was Iris.

Heart began to race in his chest.

There was something odd about her though, now that tiredness wasn't draining his concentration he could see clearly and what he saw didn't match Iris at all.

Instead of having her head high arrogantly as she always did, this time it was hanging down, nose aimed at the floor with both wings flopped at the sides.

He couldn't tell if she was sad or ashamed, no matter what it was however, Iris wasn't a dragoness who gave easily to any of those feelings, at least not in front of someone else.

"You shouldn't be here" he said softly, he knew it was the right thing to do considering his relationship, but it still brought him discomfort, especially when seeing her like this

"I had to see you" she dropped on her butt, keeping her chin low she began to pluck at the feathers in that cute manner of hers

Was this some sort of a trick?

"I can't give you what you want Iris, I have a mate"

"Then kick me out"

Spyro swallowed, he knew that telling her to leave would be the right thing to do, but no matter how much he tried to say it his throat squeezed too hard for any word to come through. He didn't have the heart to force her out, not in this state, even though h would have all the right to do so considering their past experiences.

But then he would never forgive himself for being a damn hypocrite.

"I can't do that" he admitted sadly

"Of course you can't" her head sprang up to its typical level

Spyro gulped, realizing that this really was a trick, he didn't really have the time to wonder why she went through it all to begin with and he doubted he would find a satisfying answer anyway, what mattered now was that Iris was back to her old self. The contempt in her voice was clear, the arrogant stare was back and the sway of her hips as she approached him stated firmly her disgust for him.

"This is not what I meant"

Ignoring his protest entirely Iris sprang on the bed swiftly and just as quickly she shoved her body into Spyro's, the momentum she gained from the jump was enough to give her enough strength to conquer his still not fully awaken muscles, toppling him over on his back with expected ease.

"Iris, srhhh-" his shout was silenced quickly by her mouth pressing against him, her paws pinning his protesting forelegs to the bed

She pressed her soft body against him, rubbing scales passionately.

He screamed into her mouth, eyes shooting so wide that they nearly popped. His body was immediately fueled by magic, so chaotic that he was unable to control it fully, yet he was still aware that it was Time that took control and he used the little window where the flow froze to get hold of the girl, prying her mouth from his, freeing his limbs and forcing a roll. With him ending on top and pinning her forelegs to the bed.

"Stop this!" he commanded, yelling the order directly into her snout

Iris didn't seemed to be surprised by the turn of events, instead of listening he felt her kicking her hind paw up, feminine, soft draconic foot massaged his waist.

With a yelp Spyro jerked his back away, bending his spine so unnaturally that it would be a shock for every biological scientist to see a feat like that happening in a creature without the famous feline dexterity.

Despite his best efforts to avoid her touch, she didn't falter, tail slapped against his strained back, in this uncomfortable position the blow hurt twice as much, making him smack against her belly, she immediately locked her hind legs over him.

"Why the hell are you doing this?" he groaned, lifting himself back again to the best of his ability

He couldn't believe what was happening, if there would be anyone watching him right now, how he desperately tries to run away from the willing embrace of the most beautiful dragoness right after Cynder, they would surely call him insane.

"Paying the price, like you wanted"

He frowned in genuine confusion.

"Price I wanted? What are you talking about?"

Iris growled, using the moment of bewilderment to shake his clench away, Spyro drooped flat on top of her. She licked his cheek roughly, claws dug into his back to get a proper grip while her entire body rubbed against him.

"Stop pretending idiot and claim me already, of all the worthless dickheads that touched me you at least deserve it for listening to my prayers and healing me. Let's get this over with"

He gulped, realizing in horror that her clinging to him was a trained habit. He already had his suspicions about her past, but this moment here proved to him that Iris had a difficult life to bare, and that's putting it lightly.

He could never imagine that having such a sensual body touching him would feel so wrong.

"I'm not pretending" he snarled through clenched teeth

She raked her claws down his back, lifting herself up to give his neck a deep, wet lick.

"Then why I feel your dick poking me?"

His whole body burned up with shame and anger.

This was going too far.

"Because I'm a damn male!" Spyro exclaimed, smashing her against the bed to lessen her grip and to push with all his might through her clench

He could feel her claws tearing his scales but he didn't care, this felt like betrayal, to Cynder, to Iris and to himself, he simply couldn't stand this any longer. His desperate attempt proved to be successful, he broke through her locked legs and raking claws, claws that drew bleeding lines along his sides.

This time it was his blades that did the thrusting, sinking into her shoulders to keep her in place.

"If a pretty girl rubs against me of course I'll get excited! And you know that you're good looking, you know how a male works, but that doesn't mean that I want it!"

His cheeks were burning, realizing that his argument might not hit the mark if there would truly be something hard standing in attention between his legs so he slapped his own tail in between them, hitting his loins with more strength than he intended, but it was still worth covering the rest of his dignity despite the discomfort.

Even if he felt that he was about to throw up for a second there.

"I don't want you Iris!"

He thought that letting her know that he will spare her experiencing the trauma would make her happy, or at least calm, instead he could see her eyes burning with hatred through the mask.

"Then what the hell you want idiot!?" she roared at him "I have nothing else to give!"

"That's not true! You are more than just your body Iris!"

"What is that more?!" she yelled at him in fury "Name it and I will give it! I can't lose you!"

The heat evaporated, Spyro's expression becoming stunned, the claws let go off of her shoulders, he stared at her, worry taking over.

She cared.

She felt indebted.

"Nothing. I don't need anything. You don't owe me anything Iris"

Disbelief shone in her eyes.

"I molested you. I offended you. I caused you trouble. I almost killed the love of your life and you still came for me after all this time" she rubbed her neck in the spot where she almost lost her head, the line there making that event was already faint "Why did you became my dream if not to fuck me?"

He sighed, shaking his head.

"This will sound stupid, but I really don't know. Despite everything I just couldn't watch you die, not when I could help it. It makes no sense, I know, but I can't help myself"

Her expression remained unchanged, still full of doubt.

"How a creature of dreams like you can be so retarded?"

Spyro chuckled.

"I don't know. Everything has side effects I suppose"

He looked down at her, a moment of uncomfortable silence befallen on the two of them. He searched for that lost girl in her eyes, yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find her, Iris' eyes were as cold as always, but there was some strange...sanity in them he didn't notice before.

For the first time he felt as if he was truly looking at her, the girl she was now, not the confused child, not the hatred filled beast, simply Iris, a girl who went through a lot.

"What now?" he asked shyly, standing on top of her like this made him really uncomfortable, despite his will he couldn't silence his male instinct completely, instinct that at least demanded to give a lustful look over such a welcoming body

"Will you kick me out now?"

That would be the most sensible thing to do, everyone would do it after being molested as he was.

The whole world however knew that he wasn't like everyone else.

"I don't want to, but we have to do something. Is there something you want? Besides the impossible"

"I want to stay with you"

Her automatic response once more stirred dread in his soul.

"Iris, I can't-"

"No mating. I just want to feel that you're there"

Spyro felt himself heating again.

"Please"

She pleaded.

Iris pleaded.

Perhaps she knew it would work, perhaps it was another trick to make him do what she wants, or perhaps this was a genuine request with no strings attached. Whatever it was it got him on the hook nonetheless.

He sensed that if he would decline the request he would hurt her far more than if he decided to mate with her. He looked at the door to his room, praying to the Ancestors that Cynder won't walk in and see them like this, he doubted he would be able to explain his motives in any way that wouldn't make Cynder jealous and hurt.

He had troubles explaining it to himself.

He convinced himself that Iris was a special case requiring special treatment, he wanted to help her and right now he saw no other way of assisting her than by fulfilling her request. As he laid down next to her he felt his limbs trembling, giving signals that this was wrong, yet his heart was unmoved, demanding to offer support where it could.

Iris shifted.

Spyro held his breath, she will cuddle against him, of course she will to make it all that more weird.

What on the Ancestors is he doing?

She did no such thing.

Iris curled into a ball next to him, keeping respectable distance between their scales, only her tail rested on top of his, as a physical anchor that made sure that he won't let her drown.

His heart raced, he watched her closely, expecting her to turn any moment now and try another attempt at the romantic caress, after all he doubted there were many males lying with her that could keep their paws to themselves in front of such a body.

She however remained still, keeping true to her own words.

What on Ancestors is she doing?

He swallowed uneasily, it all happened so fast and was so intensely crazy that he wasn't even sure how they ended this way. What he knew for sure though was that he pitied her, it was not something she wanted to hear most likely, but he was truly sorry for her.

He didn't even want to imagine what she had to suffer through as a fallen princess.

With that in mind, sleeping together no longer felt so bad, at least it will give her a chance to experience that males can also stick with her for other reasons than her sensual figure alone. He wasn't sure it would help, it might be another one of Iris' phases she won't remember later, but he still believed it was worth a try.

"Spyro?" Iris whispered, her melodic, accented voice sounding like a sweet bard's song

He didn't know what surprised him more, her gentle, alluring tone or the fact that she called him by his name.

He gulped.

"Yes?"

"Not a word of this to anyone"

"Okay" he responded shyly, gladly accepting the command that left no room for negotiations

It's not like he would know where to start even if he wanted to talk about it, mentioning this situation without triggering ridicule or hate seemed impossible.

Damn pressure.

His eyes shifted onto the cloth lying by the mirror, he shivered at the sight of it, feeling cold all of a sudden as if he would be missing part of his own scales.

Did you also led Iris here like you did Cynder previously?

There was no reply.

Of course there wasn't.

The white tail made a tender tap against his own.

Of course there wasn't.

Simplicity in their lives was no longer an option.