FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 56

That ungrateful bastard of a sister.

With a flash of flames red paw splashed into the water, cooking it instantly, the hissing and bubbling deep and loud enough that it sounded like a blare of some monster, being strong enough to muffle the growl that accompanied the swift retreat of the red leg.

Hot droplets splashed all around when Ignus pulled out his paw, they reached his snout and body and what's worst hit even the armor he was cleaning. Noise like that of a screeching bats immediately filled his earholes.

He cursed under his breath when he pulled the breastplate from the bowl, its entire frame steaming profusely, the icy aura of protection the armor radiated stung his body fiercely, he immediately let go off the plate, shoving it to the side with a barely muffled roar of fury.

Damn brat!

She can't see anything! Doesn't understand anything! And now she's fucking going to kill her!

And what is he doing?! Laundry!

Fucking laundry!

Everything is collapsing before it even began!

He slammed his hot paw against his very face, sliding it down slowly, the heat peeling off the mask of delusion, showing underneath the scales of a snout he was always too afraid to admit that was there.

The face behind the mask was wounded, carrying holes after a jagged tongue he knows and despises too well.

It was all so tiringly pointless.

He grabbed the forsaken bowl that was the size of a small ship and hurled it across the room, the raw strength slammed it against the grate there, ripping it off the hinges when some parts of the pottery exploded under the sheer strength of the collision, spilling some of the water right in the room he was in while the rest was sent down the freshly revealed chute.

Clanking and clicking noises echoed for quite a while as if some ancient machine would be springing up to life from somewhere below. Little did the red dragon care that his used, hot water and shards of the now crashed bowl shredded a young child from the lower levels that decided to venture a step to far in its need of exploration.

Ignus instantly blew a massive hurricane of fire at the spilled water, the temperature of his breath not even giving it a chance to boil, evaporating the liquid with a blink of an eye.

His attention then shifted at the cast to the side piece of armor, he was panting heavily, like a rabid animal, spirals of flames wafting from his nostrils with each heavy and short breath he took.

Locked in a battle between his internal demons, being closer than ever before to doing what he was afraid of the most.

Standing up to his sister.

Yet just like always, the idea of thinking about hurting her was short lived, nothing terrified him more than the perspective of feeling the hot blood of his own sibling on his very tongue. Yet this time though, each smack of his lips was followed by the faint scent of Iris in between, gluing itself and lingering on his palette, a corner that not even his long tongue could reach.

And even though that he cast the initial aggression away he kept feeling that specific taste on his lips, a tiny reminder, a little guiding finger that pointed in a direction his soul recognized. He clenched his wet paws, sensing the ambition that led him all this way slipping through his toes.

A thud echoed on the staircase, in this brief silence it sounded like a rock crashing with the depths of an empty well. He recognized the paw that made it instantly, he observed his sister for so long that he could easily tell when she was coming.

He quickly snatched another bowl from the nearby pile he prepared himself just before he started, it was already filled with water. Not losing speed he sprang for the armor, throwing the still hissing piece into the liquid, while he himself began to scrub it again, rubbing it with so much fervent energy that he didn't even notice that he was peeling off his scales.

His breath hacked just when the pain was about to hit, replaced by a feeling he never believed he would feel again.

Joy.

Next to Athron's side was Iris, who had a striking resemblance to her mother even though her snout was locked behind the mask. It was all about the legs and how they moved the hips to which they were attached. The fluent, seductive dance was present in both females, he simply couldn't satisfy his eyes with the sight. What he also couldn't do was to give his sister any signals of her being his weakness, he doubted it to be any secret, however giving extra reasons to another female so she can stomp him to the ground wasn't high on his to do list.

The closer they both got however, the harder it became for him to return to his duties. With each new step of the blue legs his eyes lingered on Iris longer and longer, and no matter how obvious it became where his attention was, he couldn't help himself, even if they tortured him, family was everything.

"You're alive" the words flew freely from his mouth, offering a relaxing touch like a brush of a wind on a hot day

"You knew"

With great difficulty Ignus managed to pull his eyes away from the young girl, a feat that didn't entirely feel as it was accomplished by his own, free will. A notion that usually stung his royal heart, but even though the pull was just another rewind of the cacophony he experienced many times over in these cold walls, the one responsible for it all didn't fit the established image he had of her in his head.

"I'm glad you noticed it too" the tone with which the words left the mouth would allow skipping the drying process entirely

"I'm sure you are"

Reality struck him back harsh, forcing his toes out from the bowl, biting cold eating away at the toes. Droplets of water painting a faint, icy road when they met with his sister's exhaled breath.

"What did I do this time?" red eyes rolled in their sockets

"Ignus" Athron inhaled deeply, approaching the recently crashed grate on the floor, a single claw poking it like it would be a bloated corpse "Despite your belief, I can see things as well"

"Sun be damned Athron" red toes crunched the wrinkled, pained nose "Could you stop being so cryptic? It's not like you need to hide much from Iris, she came all this way for you after all. Little trust doesn't hurt, really"

All he got in response was a chuckle, the tone of it wrapped itself around his throat, tightening like a rope that immediately tugged at his neck, dragging his attention sideways.

In that spot he met the familiar white eyes, every muscle contracted under their weight, thoughts puffed from the mind as if his brain would shatter, an echo was the only thing left in this void, asking only one question.

Doesn't it really?

For a moment he felt the ground underneath his paws cracking, the oblivion that prepared to devour him roared with the strength of an approaching army. It too had a question to ask, one that he felt his own soul repeating as well.

"What did you do?"

Athron inhaled deeply, her nostrils flaring, welcoming every speck of scent.

"Ah, the smell of a our little household spirit, it became rather disjointed lately didn't it brother?" she stuck her head into the chute, the vibrations of her voice bounced around down the walls like a bolt of electricity

Iris craned her neck, feathers standing on end.

"Empty"

Athron's mouth stretched into a pleased line.

"Before we came down here, we had a little one on one with Iris where she recalled her recent years to me. Years she spent mainly fleeing from her pursuers, life under constant pressure allowed her to develop a most curious and useful trait. Did you know she can pinpoint that someone if skulking around where he wasn't supposed to?"

"I'm not filling the cracks with spies if that's what you're implying. And yes, I'm aware of that"

Another smile stretched his sister's mouth, one could call it sweet, pretty even, seeing her smile was like witnessing a small wonder, not for its rarity, but for the way how ideally it matched with her seductive features.

Ignus was the only exception though, it injected a tremble into his muscles, the first sign of a burning up disease gaining on strength. Testing his immunity, looking for a crack to slip through.

For some reason his sister became far more intrusive than she normally was.

"I wouldn't even begin to entertain a thought of you acting against me brother. It was just a sample, we don't hurt family after all, and we don't allow anyone else to hurt us either. Isn't that right Iris?"

"Yes mother"

Ignus instinctively flinched at the response, response so autonomous that he had to squeeze his eyes to be entirely sure that the young girl standing next to his sister is still the same creature he saved from the dungeons.

His eyes yelled at her, demanding to know if she is aware of what she is doing. There was even some manner of honest care there, something that the uncle she knew forgot a very long time ago.

Just like the version she knew, this Ignus also didn't understand what mother meant to her.

Normally she wouldn't even take his objections into consideration, but lately she had experienced alien displays of assistance that she believed no longer existed, especially towards her. But he, just like Spyro, needs to be paid back for his actions, she doesn't like owning favors to anybody, this Ignus at least deserves to know just how important for her was finding mother.

I'm submissive uncle, unable to live on my own, mother was the only anchor holding my sanity in place.

And I won't let her go, not again, I won't make the same mistake.

She blinked, sending the wordless message, Ignus visibly flinched, mouth parting slightly, a gasp as faint as a sound of a breezing feather left the throat.

And if she would listen closer she would hear that he called her a fool.

"Very noble of you sister" the tightened throat made him sound as if he would be choking on water "But now it also falls on you to protect this family, how do you plan keeping all of this a secret to do just that? You having a feathery winged pet will raise eyebrows already, especially someone like Iris who you know many see as more worthless than worms on a withering corpse"

Athron looked her daughter over, a frown so brief that many would take it for a trick of light wrinkled her forehead. He wasn't one of them however and could see it for what it really is.

Uncertainty.

His heart made a flip, speeding up its pace like in the days of their youth when her determination, despite the hardships of harsh treatment, was a force that rivaled that of the sun waking up after winter. She was far more alluring, so much more awe inspiring whenever she followed the call of her heart alone, with no plan in mind whatsoever.

Life unfortunately brought that girl to heel, tarnishing all the will to experience the unpredictable. A little detail he remembered well and fought so hard during the years to reanimate, to bring the sister he loved dearly back, to finally let her rest.

He never expected that girl to be still breathing.

"This is why you remained where you are Ignus and I advanced. You spend too much time thinking about worries than embracing possibilities. You must learn to adapt"

If she would be paying attention she would notice two tiny hearts flaring up in his pupils. Just for a second, a fleeting moment of utopic reality where everything was perfect.

If you only knew sister that if you would be back, you wouldn't have to give me any lessons, I would have done everything for you either way.

"And we got plenty of new options before us" Athron picked up the grate, putting it back neatly in place "Not as chaotic as I have thought, how much have you learned about Iris' companions Ignus?"

The red dragon bit his tongue, at first wanting to keep the information to himself, but then he quickly realized that there was no point, throughout their whole journey to the castle Iris was with him and there was no doubt that she will pinpoint his lies and hesitation if he so thought about using them.

It was not worth it.

"Not much. But enough to question the reasons for all this fighting"

Athron smiled, obviously pleased with the answer for some reason. She gave her daughter a delicate nod.

"The purple dragon is powerful" the room was filled with the cold, accented voice of the feathered dragoness "He prevented the world from breaking apart in his time, defeated a dragon of the same scales to do that. If he can mend the earth he definitely can crack one too. He controls time, he can kill you without you even knowing it, he is one of the most talented and unpredictable magical forces I have ever met"

Ignus' brows furrowed deeply.

"Really? I know he knows tricks we never knew existed, but he didn't strike me as a force to be reckoned with. Too...soft hearted to be a destructive power"

The smile on the queen's lips grew a tad wider.

Iris' dropped her fierce gaze, sinking her head almost between the forelegs, the cold floor the only witness of her faint blush.

"He listens to that heart. After all this time he didn't allow it to break" she ran a claw over her neck, feeling nothing besides the touch of soft scale "This is not a weakness" she gazed into the eyes of her uncle, pupils vibrating as if at the brink of tears "You felt it too"

The plea in those eyes caught him right by the throat, this girl had power over him that he was as relieved as he was scared to admit. Even if he would want to deny everything he knew that he wouldn't be able to do that.

The little hearts that vibrated in his own fiery orbs shattered into pieces. He was defenseless against her. A drop of sweat dropped on the floor from his brow, temperature reaching levels unbearable even for him whenever Iris was looking his way. He followed that single tear, finding pitiful relief in that brief window where he was alone, following the drop until it finally crashed against the floor, splattering small tears all around.

One of those meager mirrors reflected the smile of his sister, as predatory as that of a horde of Moonborne striders.

"Yes" voice barely squeezed through the tightened throat "There is something odd about Spyro, he is strangely fascinating" despite the hearable softness, words floated from his mouth unhindered, as if pulled by an invisible rope right in the order it wanted them to be heard

"It's not fear mother, that pull...it's otherworldly and powerful like...like...like fulfilling a dream"

"Fulfilling a dream" Athron repeated, eyeing the tight walls of her castle, through the openings seeing the more tighter walls of Skyward "Many would kill for that"

Iris' feathers stood up in alarm.

"Spyro can't be hurt mother, he's the only male that deserves to live. And that means his mate and brother, the black girl and the dragonfly must live as well"

Athron laughed.

"How can that fly be his brother?" her blue paw rose up in the air before any words could leave Iris' mouths "Doesn't matter. I've seen worse families. Nothing will happen to them if the stories you say hold any truth to them. If they survive you must tell me something more about these three, the two others might be just as interesting as the purple one is"

"Survive?" Ignus narrowed his eyes on his sibling as if expecting her to shed her scales soon to reveal her true identity "What are you planning Athron?"

"Me?" she giggled "Nothing at all, I think we will just stay here and enjoy our small family reunion before my duties will call me again"

A cold deadly chill flashed across her eyes.

"And if the otherworldly pull is as strong as you say it is I won't have to wait that long. After all only we know that our purple visitor isn't very keen on using his powers for destruction. Many of my...business partners still believe I have the ultimate dealing card to change the fate of war in my possession that I keep introducing to more and more parties. Masquerade never ends. While they believe I got my paws tied by the population of our humble city, forced by the unfortunate events to introduce the Squeakers to a force I can't hide no longer, they fail to realize that I expose them to the essence that got my daughter's head here all up in the clouds"

Athron reached for the blue cheek, caressing it with her claw, flipping the scales to reveal more and more red painting the cheek.

"Skyward doesn't understand affection, it only understands power. And a weapon is like a territory in war. If you want to wield it, you must first claim it"

*

No matter how much she tried to ignore her surroundings, no matter how hard she told herself that she was here only with her friends, working for the betterment of everybody, her tail just couldn't stop moving.

It was sliding all the time over whatever limb it could reach, the blade on the tip flipping around almost on its own, doing everything in its power to manipulate the blinding reflections of the lights down onto the unending mob below.

It didn't help much, she still felt each of her scales being lifted and turned, the body they covered poked from every possible angle, the sensation of pawless groping only intensified by the gluey substance sticking to her body that no longer reminded her of a material one uses to build structures, but a material one uses to create eggs.

The world around began to swirl.

"Cyn, be a good dragon and don't throw up will you? They will force us to clean that and I'm not really hungry"

"Sparx, wrong time, seriously" his paw waved along the line of the freshly patched ceiling, the hole that remained was no bigger than that of a mole's mine shaft "You can do this Cynder, not much longer"

"Yeah? And what after this? We all are going to snuggle and sing songs?"

Purple shoulder's slumped down.

"I don't know, but as long as we're together it's okay"

She felt her heart jumping from her ribcage, pushing up towards the mouth, leaving a burning trail behind. She felt that if it only could it would jump out from her maw and slap her across her snout so hard that part of her scales would switch loyalty to fire.

She was such an idiot.

"I'm sorry guys. I feel so damn dirty with all those drones drooling over us that it's starting to wake up the black dragon in me"

Neither of the boys were mad, they too fought their own demons and wondered where it all might lead when they eventually will finish what they were doing. Worry however had this small advantage that you don't have to think about it when there is still time to prolong that moment and they still had a hole to patch that will take them quite some time to finish.

This particular attitude makes you blind to worry's main disadvantage though.

Time speeds up immensely when the moment you don't want to face lingers on the horizon.

"We're finished" all three of them announced, staring at the last mended strand of sinew as if it was a mirage

They didn't notice the guards hovering above them exchanging nods, neither did they see one of them diving towards the ground, moves of wings accurate, guiding their owner with the determination of a bird hunting for its prey.

"Down!" a peacekeeper's deep voice shook the mushrooms, making them bleed more of the red petals on the recently mended ceiling as if to test its construction

"This show is concluded" the attention of the massively armored dragon turned towards Bones who immediately straightened up his lithe body, rising like a snake from a basket

"The spectacle has come to an end dear patrons! Please follow me to the exit, more will come tomorrow, the Wyrm in all her grace wishes for all of you to experience the change and whoever didn't get the chance yet to witness the specimens will be amended with the dawning of a new day upon Skyward!"

Nobody asked questions, nobody tried to force his way through the crowd, the initial excitement, or fear that accompanied the crowd when they got here was all but gone, replaced again by the pacified, almost soulless obedience.

It took so very little to satisfy this crowd and they had a feeling they will now worship Athron for all eternity. Of all the things Iris said about her mother, she clearly wasn't wrong about one thing, the Queen was clever, she clearly turned a catastrophe that would be the downfall of more than one noble into her advantage.

Spyro observed the unfolding scene with an irritating itch scratching against his heart, he couldn't deny that it was an effective way to lead, playing on the ground rules of your society that allows you to bend them to your will is no easy feat. Crowds always scared him and Athron handled it without even being here.

Would be all impressive if not for that single word responsible for all that itch.

Playing.

Was this what leadership is about? Do you really need to treat the people you lead like they were some cogs in a machine to be an effective, sole leader? It was so different in Warfang where the leadership is split between several dragons, dragons that treat their population in a more civilized fashion.

But that also leads to the citizens having more say on what is going on in the city, if they would be ruled like here, minus the rather heinous feeling of the city functioning like a hive mind, would that make life for Cynder easier? Wouldn't it be better if he could simply order everyone to just like her and they would have to accept it?

These dragons don't look happy though.

Truth be told many in Warfang don't either.

No wonder folks believe in the prophecy so much, either in the shape of some divine writing or a story symbol wearing the same colored scales as his own. Deep down both societies desired that destined happiness, he couldn't tell just how far in the past they went, but it was a deep jump nonetheless and neither here nor in the present that destined happiness wasn't reached.

The world cracked sooner.

Spyro swallowed, Dragon Realms were looking up to him, no matter how hard he will try to deny it, the facts were there, pointing clearly in one direction only. He is on the path to becoming a leader of the Realms.

But he was only a lone dragon, eons haven't changed the view of the souls living on this earth, how he can be the solution to an equation that didn't seem to have a good result?

This battle with destiny will be the hardest he will ever experience and truth be told he doubted he will win it.

By the time their paws touched the ground, Bones pulled away all of the observers who obediently followed him like ants migrating to a new hive.

"Follow. I will show you where you can clean yourselves up"

Cynder's eyes glowed at the perspective, water won't clean all the filth she feels crawling under her scales, but at least it will fix the exterior. They all need to start from somewhere.

The group dashed after the guard, they were immediately joined by two other dragons belonging to the same branch of security. A second later the last member of the freshly formed party caught up, a thickly cladded in armor peacekeeper closed the group.

"Where are you going? Our orders were to take the freaks straight to the castle"

"I thought that you were Ahtron's lackey" the leading guard chuckled, voice sizzling with mockery "I won't be listening to your boss' shouts just because you didn't learn anything. You know she hates filth, we are not bringing them back until we stop at the cleaning pools"

"The Queen said clearly that we are here to follow orders and the order was to bring them back to the fort after they're done"

The guards exchanged short glances between each other before deciding in unison to stop, making the group they led bump into the nearby tail.

"Please" the leading guard bowed elegantly, freeing the spot at the spear of the party "Lead the way then, follow the order blindly if you think this is what's best"

The sole peacekeeper took the lead without hesitation and the moment they turned corners, splitting from the path they originally took Cynder felt her scales turning lifelessly white.

"No washing then?"

"Cyn relax, it ain't that bad" Sparx looked the dragoness over with a deep wince "I would even pat you, but only if you swear that you'll bite the arm off later"

Whine as sharp as a claw scratching against a plate contracted the magenta throat.

Spyro's joy sparked eyes glanced over his two friends, he always enjoyed their bickering, even though Cynder was his mate now, a relationship that forces him to stand in her defense, he knew that he shouldn't act too hastily. Despite her depressed whimper she knew just as him that Sparx' poking was done in good faith so to speak, to lighten up the mood and she just like him knew that in this particular moment she was on the receiving end of this blessing.

Situation demanded it.

Speaking of demanding situation, just when his eyes were about to pull back they skimmed over the guards escorting them, noticing again how they exchanged nods and impossible to hear whispers.

The sight wiped the smile off of his snout, heart hurled itself against the cage that was his ribcage. He saw enough conspiring, bad characters in his life to know when they are planning something bad.

And their well being wasn't high on these guards priority list.

"Get ready guys" he intoned quietly, puffing out a faint stream of purple mist from his nose

All signs of friendly barter vanished from the faces of the purple drake's friends, both turning serious at the sound of the command, as if they would be machines receiving an order that reprogrammed their initial functions.

None of them informed their current party leader of the approaching ambush, not only it could make the situation worse, the next few seconds proved that they didn't also have the time to do it. The moment the peacekeeper made a turn a glowing with bright green colors net was hurled at him, it was so massive that it immediately buried the dragon under its weight, exploding in a flash of acidic looking splashes as it forcefully drained the dragon's essence, in moments making him drop on the ground.

A similar net was hurled at them, spreading wide like a mouth ready to devour them. All three almost instantly dashed away from the strike zone, being away from danger even before the peacekeeper said his welcomes to the floor.

"Idiots!"

"Fools!"

Even before the owners of the two sharp, spoiled voices appeared the group already knew with who they were dealing with.

"Keep them in place!"

"Do not let them move we said!"

The big hats they were wearing appeared before the females did, identical bodies adorning the same colored scales entered the fray, both snouts contracted in the same angry wince.

They could smell the pain of a hurt ego radiating from the females.

"They moved so fast!"

The apology threw the first sister into a frenzy, right now they couldn't tell which one was that exactly, but with the ear shattering shriek leaving her throat as a powerful board of ice manifested in her paws that she immediately smashed against the back of the head of the trapped dragon, knocking him out, all of them decided to call her a crazy bitch.

And they were sure that the name fit both sisters just fine.

"Idiots! Idiots! Idiots!" the body that was not locked in a scream spat out loudly, shards of ice started to pop from her body

Almost like the diamond shape that Iris is capable of taking, but more rough, more imperfect and judging from the splashed of blood flopping around, definitely way, way more painful.

"GET THEEEEMMMMMMMMMMM!"

Both blue bodies shrieked, and the guards charged immediately, determined, yet not blindly hostile. Their moves dictated not by sheer aggression but the desire to just get this over with, in whatever way possible, just to make the sisters shut up.

Sadly talking it out wasn't the first idea that came to their head for solving this problem.

Cynder immediately shrieked at the charging dragons, unused to dealing with Fear magic, her Siren Scream turned out to be very effective, freezing all the guards in place. Spyro immediately took the opportunity to charge at them, fueling his sprint with fire magic he slammed into the first dragon, even though he was smaller, the empowered by magic charge made up for all that difference in size.

The hurled body of the drake picked up the other two guards, smashing them all against the nearby building.

"Don't get up if you don't want to get hurt!" Sparx yelled at the cramped up group of draconic limbs

The sisters joined the attack with their own personal, furious roars. In the span of a few seconds all three of them could feel sharp claws of biting chill scratching at their bones. The buildings and ground were immediately covered by frost as if the sisters would open a portal through which the entirety of Dante's Freezer collided with this universe.

Cynder watched in horror when the ground underneath her paws turned to ice, it spread so fast that she didn't even have the time to leap into the air. Her ultimate downfall was incoming.

To her surprise though the paws seemed to act on their own, adjusting the weight and finding the proper stretch to keep her balanced. Her eyes widened, head immediately jerked up to look at Spyro who was already giving her a confident, supportive smirk.

Then it all became clear, she remembered.

He showed her how to slide on ice. The first social skill she had ever learned, first skill that normal folks use to have fun. A trivial thing many would say, there was nothing special about it, an activity like any other, some like it, some do not.

To her though it meant everything, it might be the first thing that didn't involve killing that she learned and will save her life. And considering the aggression of their enemy, the meaning is nowhere near being metaphorical.

She wasn't sure how redemption tasted, all the things she experienced until now showed her that it was rather pointless to seek it out. Yet today, at this very moment, she was certain she got the first taste of it, doing it all by herself, without even Spyto's assistance.

Oh sweet independence, how I missed you so, you look really nice in the colors of redemption.

She would never believe that someone's attack could be so empowering, but right now she felt so strong that wielding Convexity seemed like a child's game in comparison.

The sight of both young dragons maintaining their balance only infuriated the two sisters even more, the shriek they were letting out painted cracks on the recently formed ice, the noise so loud that it seemed like the two females tried to kill everyone with their wails alone.

It was so loud that it was impossible for Athron's peacekeepers not to hear it.

Sparx pushed upwards, gaining as much attitude as possible for a proper look around, with the growing buildings and all sorts of towers and walls dotting the Upper City it was very difficult to see any living souls among the structures. Nevertheless such noise must have drawn attention, they didn't knock out that poor dude for no reason.

But the streets were empty, mostly that is, he managed to spot a tail or two here and there, cladded in white armor, lacking the typical glint of green that characterized the peacekeepers. Those were the standard guards, Athron's soldiers were nowhere to be found.

The crazy twins might have secured the perimeter, getting rid off any unwanted dragon and replaced them with their own lackeys, a scenario that most likely happened considering the rather tirelessly wiggling shapes in the distance as if eaten by impatience.

But that didn't explain the lack of reinforcements.

When they blew up that soldier and showered the city in those creepy, bloody petals, Athron together with her companions was upon them in seconds. He was no expert, but he believed that the shriek of those crazy bitches was as loud as any explosion and that is ignoring the sudden spike in magical energy that turned a part of the city into a damn popsicle.

Athron and her Peacekeepers must know that something fishy is going on, they just don't do anything about it.

Realization dawned on him quickly there, was no way that a pair of unstable girls like the twins would surprise Athron in any way, if she climbed to the leader's seat in this pit of betrayal and unfaithfulness then that only meant she was clever.

Brutally clever.

And something told him that this brutality is in play in this very moment, Athron was clearly aware of her enemies, they proved also to be quite a considerable flaw on her plans most likely.

And this was the ideal opportunity to get rid of two things that bothered her, even when only one will prevail he was sure that she was already cooking up a plan on how to work with the leftovers.

And none of her ideas had their well being in mind.

Marble's proposal about screwing them all over didn't seem so vile anymore, even though he trusted her as far as he could throw her, she was at least honest about her plans. If all the dragons they had the doubtful pleasure of meeting, that barbed tongue harpy seemed to be the most reliable one as crazy as it might sound.

The second in line was Ignus, he did seem to betray them once when the explosion happened, but then again he stood in their defense when Athron found them so that disappearance might have been just a part of his plan to get them out of there. He knew his sister better than most.

And this is what bothered him about the red dragon.

He really do seem to care about family and Iris really gets under his scales, he was becoming more and more sure that if things will turn very drastic Ignus won't have problems choosing sides.

And seeing as they were not on his sister's favorite list, it was quite easy to tell which throat he will decide to tear apart when the time comes.

In this place, there was only interest at play, and the easiest way to aquire it is through brutality it seems.

The environment of ice proved that point bluntly, with the freezing magic pulsing from underneath the blue paws the ice surrounding them started to crack.

Golems no higher than a mole but with thick arms started popping from the walls of the buildings and the floor, two of those hands shattered the ice right under both dragons, grabbing them by their hind leg, dragging both onto the floor as the creatures jumped from the ice.

The massive fists were immediately swung down upon the two dropped drakes.

Both Spyro and Cynder reacted quickly to the surprising attack, throwing all paws up they met the incoming blow with their own strength of muscles, while the position they were in didn't allow much opportunity to defend oneself properly, it was enough to slow the attack down at least for their own magic to kick in.

Shadows devoured Cynder, the big fists of the golem cracking the ice where she just laid a few seconds ago. Almost immediately she popped up from underneath her enemy and using her iconic move she sent the creature flying at the twins with a solid kick.

In the same time Spyro dealt with his own problem by channeling magical powers to his tail, mimicking the trick he learned when it came to empowering his own claws. A little green torch burst from the tip, enlarging it in the same time he made a swing, it made a cut in the ice and when it crashed against the golem's legs it painted cracks against the whole frame, making the creature wiggle for balance.

Balance that was immediately took from it when the hurt floor collapsed, bending the golem in unwanted ways. Spyro freed himself from its pressure and immediately sent a bolt of earth magic right at its chest while slamming his tail after a flip into the weakened body, shattering the artificial creature into pieces.

The guards that finally managed to scramble themselves us no longer seemed so keen on attacking, huddling to each other they silently tried to decide if throwing themselves against those two, who not only possessed unknown abilities but also looked like fighting would be as mundane to them as breathing. This whole deal was about gaining power and not letting it rip their scales to shreds.

One of the blue set of eyes flashed and the golem that was hurled their way exploded into a shower of icy projectiles. That didn't bother the sisters who blasting a steam of chill at their opponents began their charge, directing their combined attention at Spyro while the horde of golems went for Cynder.

Ice cracked all around him, shards forming pointing arrows that immediately hurled themselves right at the purple dragon.

Time came to a halt as Spyro sprang forward, bouncing off one sister he leapt on top of the other, biting into her neck he twisted the girl's body roughly, blood started to slowly form at the bark mark, the only indication that the slowed universe reacted to his actions. He quickly jumped behind the other sister, discharging the electrical cage he created around himself during the leap, timing it all to the last second, before the flow returned to normal each blow he threw was recorded by the universe in ideal synchronization.

Blood gushed from the blue neck, the jerk forcing the wounded sister to fall the twist Spyro provoked caused her tail to swing wildly, tip of which slapped against the other female, only adding more speed to the hurl the electrical discharged already caused, sending her flying right under the shower of shards that supposed to hit Spyro.

Cynder in the meantime ran straight at one of the attacking golems who prepared to throw a mean hook at her. She dropped to the floor, taking advantage of the frost the creature was creating around itself she slid right in between its legs, thrusting the claws into its back as she climbed on top of the icy shoulders and leapt at the next nearby creature, the scythe like blade leaving a deep cut across the neck, making the head drop even before her paws touched the icy body of the next golem.

She blasted the creatures who charged her with her wind powers before wrapping herself tightly around the golem she was on and forcing a twist, the frozen body of the creature struck by all the flying fists of the other golems who threw their punches at her as she was soaring across the sky.

She leapt at the falling golem's head before making another spring, pushing her body into a swift turn in the air, her deadly blade slicing off heads and the arms of those creatures that put them too high. Another gust of wind threw back another group of golems.

With an effective backwards jump she put her body into a vertical spin, the cold fingers of the thick hands merely scratching her before they were chaotically torn apart by the sudden gust of wind that whirled around her. Cynder brought a small twister into life, potential of which caught all of the golems and turned them into lifeless blocks which immediately floated all around her spinning body, gaining on speed before being hurled at the two scrambling up sisters.

The avalanche of rocks pinned the two females into the ground.

The guards lost all their motivation to fight at the sight of it.

"Let's bail!" Sparx waved his arm, his family reacting to the cue instantly

Just when Spyro and Cynder took to the air Sparx turned his head, the Upper City that was previously dark and devoid of life started to glow deathly green, like a horde of undead would stare back at them.

The gold wings that flapped so lively all the time stopped moving altogether for a second.

They were here all along.

Waiting.

The green lamps turned dark for a second and then flashed bright again, far more closer. Another second and those lights took the shape of armored dragons that immediately surrounded them, their armors were glowing with the infused Binding magic that seemed to itch for the perspective to drain them.

Too many of them wielding dangerous powers to take on.

"We are here to escort you for a direct audience with the Queen. She demands your immediate presence"

For a second Sparx wanted to say that the guy that was knocked out was leading them there anyway, yet somehow he doubted that the room of that castle he mentioned consisted of Athron. It was clearly the fight that changed Iris' mom's opinion.

He wasn't sure he liked the idea.

As if feeling his hesitation the guard who served as a leader of the group grinned viciously.

"The terms, I'm afraid, are not negotiable"