TLOS legend of the black dragon chapter 14 Kick-off
Legend of Spyro
Legend of the black dragon
Chapter 14 kick-off
"Take this!"
"Too slow there"
"How about this then"
"Better but still not fast enough"
"It's not fair"
"Strength means nothing if you can't hit your opponent"
"Don't lecture me!"
"Someone has to knock some sense into you"
"But that someone won't be you"
"We'll just see about that you lizard"
"Now you're in for it"
Cynder opened her eyes from yet another voice dream. "Are they glimpses of the future maybe?" She wondered.
"This one was about a friendly fight and that can't be a coincidence" Cynder thought as the memory quickly returned to her.
-yesterday-
"What! You want us to fight?!" Cynder exclaimed.
"Yes, the winner will have a match with either one of you so I thought preview of your power will be a great way to start the tournament" Terrador said.
"That's a great idea Terrador" Spyro said excitably.
"I'm not sure" Cynder said as she didn't like the thought about fighting Spyro at all.
"Oh come on Cynder, let's just do it" He urged.
"Well, okay then" Cynder gave in without actually thinking it through
"Why?! Why didn't I think it through?!" Cynder grinded her teeth.
She turned to the purple dragon that was laying next to her.
The thought that she had to fight him felt very nasty to her but she already promised that she would do it so she had no choice.
She truly loved Spyro with all her heart but she now had to put that on hold for the battle she was going to have today.
Cynder's mood dropped fast as she thought fearfully about the fight.
However the sight of him quickly filled her with happiness again and she just cuddled up to him to feel him, not caring about it anymore. She positioned her back on his belly and moved her head underneath his chin. As long as she could feel him next to her she couldn't feel worry or doubt. Spyro's warm body seemed to drain all her worry and fear out of her. As long as she had him with her she could pull herself through it. She was sure of it.
Spyro opened his eyes and saw that Cynder had once again cuddled up to him. It had happened so often now that he didn't panic anymore but just shove her a few decimetres away from him.
He hated it when she did that but somehow he couldn't bring himself to ask her to stop doing it. He just didn't know why she did it all the time. It wasn't cold so it didn't make any sense for her to do it.
His thought shifted to the opening of the tournament. He had been a bit surprised by Terrador's idea but he liked it right away. He and Cynder haven't had a fight since the war ended and he actually wanted to find out now which one of them was the most powerful.
He settled back down but didn't fall asleep again. He was just too busy thinking about the tournament for that.
After about 20 minutes he decided it was time to wake up and he gave Cynder a nudge with his snout to wake her up.
"Yes, yes I'm awake" Cynder sounded annoyed.
"Okay then" Spyro said a bit surprised by that she was reacting like that.
"Are you ready for the tournament?" Spyro asked.
"Sure" Cynder sounded very fake and almost sarcastic.
Spyro didn't know why that was but he just ignored it.
They came down and inspected the work they have carried out in the citadel:
The main hall was completely redesigned. There were a couple stands for food and drinks near the walls and chairs for non-draconic spectators. For the dragons there were couches standing but only a few since they doubted any dragon would use them with the amount of activity they were expecting. There were posters indicating the timetables of the battles as well as some advertising for the tournament to make the visitors excited. However there was a lot of empty space as well to make sure it could hold a large crowd. The kitchen was transformed into a cafeteria with tables and chairs everywhere. The number of moles chefs had ten folded and there was enough food to last a seize for years. They had removed as many art pieces as they could and the fixed ones were covered to make sure they wouldn't be damaged by all the commotion. The main practice ground outside the citadel was transformed into a humongous battle arena that even surpassed the sporting arena in the middle of the city. It was large enough for 12.000 spectators and left plenty of room for the participants to battle. The stands planned out so that dragons would be able to protect weaker creatures if fire attacks approached the stands. It was divided into boxes, dragon stands were around the box, cheetah stands near the back and mole stands near the front. In the middle there was also a small row for any other creature that could come. (Manweersmalls were counted as moles). There were also ice dragons in fixed positions to take care of the risk that any part of the citadel might catch fire. They had gathered enough volunteers to make sure everything would run smoothly and they had put up many signs to help guide the spectators and also the participants to the right places.
"Ah there you two are" Spyro and Cynder spotted Terrador walking over to them.
"Had a good night sleep" He asked.
"I'm ready" Spyro got in his battle stance and look totally excited.
Cynder however just stood idle and seemed plunged in thought.
"As you know the fight will begin at twelve o'clock, we want you to be in the citadel one hour before the match begins" Terrador instructed "Before then you are free do to what you desire"
"So what do you think we should do?" Cynder asked Spyro when Terrador had walked away.
"The smaller practise grounds aren't used so want to practise?" Spyro suggested.
"Sorry Spyro but I would rather keep my tactics secret" Cynder sneered as she tried to hide that she actually didn't want to fight him.
"I know your tactics already Cynder" Spyro shot back.
"That's what you think"
"So what else do you want to do then?" Spyro asked her.
"I wanted to go and visit Georga again because I have a surprise for her" Cynder said looking forward to telling her.
"Really what?" Spyro asked intrigued.
"Well let's go to Georga" Cynder said deliberately now answering his question.
"Well to be honest I wanted to go and visit Frost to tell him about something too" Spyro admitted.
"Let's say you go to Georga and I go to Frost and we will meet up at the house of Oxidus" Spyro offered.
"Sounds good" Cynder said although she would have liked it if Spyro would have come along with her to Georga.
Cynder and Spyro flew out of the citadel and quickly parted ways.
When Cynder had reached Georga's house she knocked on the door with her talons.
"Ah, Cynder what brings you here?" Volt asked as he spotted her.
"I wanted to tell something to you and Georga" Cynder said.
"Well come in then" Volt stepped aside curious about what it was.
"Georga, Cynder is here!" Volt shouted.
"I'll be there in a minute" The voice of Georga replied.
Volt rolled with his eyes "She can spend hours washing and cleaning herself you know" He said to Cynder.
"Really?" Cynder asked very interested.
"Really" Georga said dryly as she appeared behind the curtain of the bathroom.
"Hi there Georga" Cynder said cheerfully.
"Hi Cynder" Georga replied plainly.
After the three dragons had settled down on the couches Georga was the first one to talk.
"So why are you here other than to gossip about me" She asked still a bit annoyed.
"I just came to say that yesterday I managed to get the two of you an honour seat at the tournament" Cynder said in the same annoyed tone as Georga.
"An honour seat!" Georga's annoyance suddenly vanished instantly.
"How did you do that?" Volt asked also surprised.
"We have the guardians around us all the time so we can get that done" Cynder said smiling.
"Wow that's sounds nice but what is an honour seat anyway?" Volt asked.
"It is a separate box that provides a clear view of the arena" Cynder explained "You also have more space and it is directly linked to the main hall"
"That sounds very nice" Georga said happily thinking about it.
"It sure does" Cynder replied.
"So are you two going to watch the entire thing?" Cynder asked.
"Well nearly all dragons are going to appear at the Igus cup so the day-care is closed for today" Georga said.
"Alright then, so you are going to watch the exhibition match?" Cynder asked
"Of course Cynder, we wouldn't want to miss that right?" Georga turned to her guardian.
"That's right" Volt agreed.
Meanwhile Spyro had arrived at Frost's house and was already talking with him. His father was already out because he had some business to take care of so they could just act like they saw fit.
Spyro and Frost were playing around with a spinner. They had both mastered the toy already so they were more talking than playing
"So you managed to get me my seat?" Frost asked when he had caught the toy.
"Sure did"
"Although my father purchased one of his own so you will have him with us as well" Frost signed placing the toy between his paw digits.
"I think that is something we can survive" Spyro said laughing.
"I didn't know your father even liked sparring matches?" he asked Frost.
"He doesn't but he will do anything just to prove that he is one step above the rest" Frost smirked as he spun the top back to Spyro.
"I see" Spyro chuckled as he caught the top again.
"So how do you feel to battling your mate?" Frost then asked.
"She is not my mate!" Spyro shouted back holding the spinner clenched in his paw now.
"Calm down there" Frost laughed at his panicked reaction "How do you feel about fighting your best friend?"
"I am totally psyched for it" Spyro said excitably.
"Don't you feel any remorse for it at all?" Frost asked again just to be sure.
"No, why should I?" Spyro asked tilting his head a little.
"You know. Something against fighting your friends" Frost hinted.
"It's just a sparring match, so there is no need to worry about that"
"Good point there Spyro"
"Well I really ought to get going now" Spyro said after he looked at the clock.
"Huh? I thought your match wasn't until noon" Frost asked as it was nowhere near noon yet.
"I still have some other business to take care of" Spyro said as he put the toy away hoping that Frost wouldn't pursue the topic.
"Alright then I am going with you" Frost said friendly.
"Wait! You want to come with me?!" Spyro exclaimed.
"Or isn't that possible?" Frost asked.
"Well it is possible" Spyro admitted.
"Good then lead the way" Frost said instantly.
Spyro was very surprised that Frost would come with him to who knows where but he decided that it would be fine.
He walked out of the house and spread his wings to go to Oxidus' house, knowing that Frost would follow him.
Meanwhile Cynder had just arrived at the house of Oxidus and knocked on the door.
"Well Cynder and Georga too it's a pleasure to see you" Igüsa said in her usual friendly voice.
"Nice to see you again too Igüsa" Cynder said glad that Igüsa was sounding like her old self again.
"We have come to check up on Oxidus" Georga said who was standing behind her.
"You have?" Igüsa asked.
"I hope it is possible this time" Georga said knowing the previous time it wasn't.
"Of course it's possible" Igüsa opened the door and let the young dragonesses in.
"Hi Cyn, hi Geora" the high pitched voice of the little Furno greeted every visitor like normal.
"Hallo Furno" Cynder and Georga both said in unison.
"So where is Oxidus?" Cynder asked looking around but not finding him.
"Oxidus!" Igüsa shouted knowing his most likely position.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming" Oxidus sounded annoyed as he walked out of the garden.
"What happened to you!?" Cynder exclaimed as she saw him almost covered in ink.
"He got a little overexcited at registering" Georga whispered to her.
"Oh, I see" Cynder giggled at the strong looking fire dragon covered with black ink.
Suddenly they heard someone knocking on the door.
"Huh? Another guest?" Igüsa said very surprised.
Cynder smiled as she knew who was standing behind the door.
"Hallo there Igüsa" as expected Cynder heard Spyro's voice speaking.
"It's a pleasure to see you lady Igüsa" Cynder now was very surprised to hear a another male voice. The other voice was familiar to her but she couldn't place it yet.
"Why are you two here as well?" Igüsa asked Spyro and the other dragon.
"We just wanted to talk about something" Spyro didn't sound surprised that Igüsa said 'as well'.
"Well come in then I'm sure your mate is very eager to see you" Igüsa said warmly.
"She is not my mate!" Spyro shouted.
"I'm not?" Cynder asked surprised making sure it was loud enough for Spyro to hear.
"Well, um, Cynder is just a very close friend" Spyro said making it sound like he was still talking to Igüsa.
Cynder heart grew both warmer and colder at the same time by the remark.
"Frost?" Cynder thought as she spotted him walking behind Spyro. She had never expected the aristocratic Frost to follow Spyro to Igüsa.
"Iga who that?" the hatchling like voice of Furno asked.
"That's Frost, his father is my boss" Igüsa said to her little brother.
"Hallo there" Frost said soothing.
"Hallo Frost I'm Furno" Furno high pitched voice chirped.
"Hallo there Furno" Frost said again still sounding just as kind as the previous time.
Now that there were a total of 6 dragons inside the living room it was getting a little bit crowded.
However everyone got a place to sit down and even Oxidus was now inside the room and he didn't leave.
"So are you entering now Oxidus?" Spyro asked.
Oxidus didn't reply and looked away.
Georga drew an annoyed face and slapped him with her globe in his back.
Oxidus coughed from the sudden blow in his back and he looked angrily at Georga.
"I entered" Oxidus then gave as a reply.
"Good so Georga succeeded I take it" Cynder looked at Georga.
"I sure did" Georga chirped.
"So are you going to come and watch the matches?" Spyro then asked.
"Well Blizzard hasn't giving me a day off so I don't think that I can come" Igüsa said a bit sadly.
"I will take care of that Igüsa" Frost said "Don't worry about it"
"No, Frost you already did it yesterday and if you would try it again you would be grounded for months?" Igüsa asked him a bit sternly.
Frost signed "Okay then, however I will make sure you get free during your matches and the ones of Oxidus" he declared like it was an order instead of a favor "Got that!"
"So what nickname did you choose Oxidus?" The dragons talked for almost an hour having much to discuss. Oxidus however remained silent and only used the minimum amount of words when he was asked a question.
When it was half past eight Spyro and Cynder decided to head back to the citadel.
Georga wanted to come along as well. Although Cynder didn't want it at first she couldn't stand up to the power of Georga's persuasion. So the three dragons flew towards the citadel and landed near the back entrance so that they wouldn't run into the crowd.
"Ah there you are" Cynder was a bit startled when Terrador approached them when they had only just entered the citadel.
"There is a friend who would like to see you"
"Huh? Who?" Cynder asked.
"Ah there he comes" Terrador looked to his right and Spyro, Cynder and Georga looked as well.
Cynder was very surprised by seeing Hunter and also Meadow walk up to them. There was a third cheetah as well that she didn't recognise. She could however tell that it was a female.
"Well Hunter we didn't expect to see you" Cynder exclaimed in surprise.
"Really? I was sure that it were your paw prints on that letter" Hunter replied when he was within hearing distance.
"Oh so that was what that was for" Cynder thought as she remembered Terrador asking her and Spyro to put their paw prints on a letter but he didn't tell them why.
"It's so great to see you again Hunter and you too Meadow" Spyro now stepped forward "But who is that" Spyro looked at the unknown female.
"My name is Bianca" the female said sounding very soft and sweet.
Bianca had a cream coloured fur with black ringlets that just like Hunter's. She wore a black cape with a hood but she had it off now. She had large blue eyes and rather large ears.
"Hallo Bianca I am Spyro and this Cynder" Spyro introduced himself and Cynder "Oh yeah and this is Georga" Spyro quickly added.
"A pleasure" Bianca said very friendly.
"So what have you been up to since the last time I have saw you two? And why don't you tell us something more about Georga" Hunter looked towards Georga.
"Well Georga is a friend of us and-" Cynder gave Hunter a summery of their life up until now inside the dragon city.
As she summarized it, it also appeared to her just how peaceful and joyful their lives really were now. There was no war, no death, no destruction, nothing of the sort.
"Good, you two deserve it" Meadow now spoke for the first time.
"I guess so" Georga said sarcastically.
Cynder shot Georga an angry glance but Georga just smirked.
"Sorry to break up the conversation but you two should be getting ready by now" Terrador stepped in.
"Ready for what?" Cynder asked.
"Ready for the match of course" Spyro answered for her.
"Spyro you go to entrance A2 and Cynder you go to entrance E1" Terrador instructed "Volteer and Cyril are already positioned there and will give you further instructions"
Spyro started to walk away but Cynder grabbed his tail to stop him.
"What is it?!" That Cynder bit tail didn't hurt Spyro but he still didn't like it.
"Before the battle I really need to do this first" Cynder said lovingly and pressed her lips hard against Spyro's and forced them open.
Spyro eyes widened as he felt Cynder's warm breath inside his mouth and tasted her saliva. Cynder had kissed him before but never like this. At first his heart jumped from it but then quickly he felt disgusted by it.
He quickly shoved Cynder away from him and spit out her saliva. Spyro was appalled but also very embarrassed by what Cynder had just done.
Cynder giggled and ran off towards her position no longer feeling any doubt about it.
"Cynder!" Spyro snarled with his jaws closed. She was going to pay for this very soon.
Spyro quickly got to his spot on entrance A where he found Cyril.
"Ah, Spyro are you ready for the tournament to start?" Cyril asked.
"Sure, so when is it going to begin" Spyro's said, his tail was twitching from excitement.
"Oh, the match will start after an hour"
"An hour!?" Spyro exclaimed in disbelief "then why did I need to come?!" he shouted.
"We can't have any mistakes in the opening day so we wanted to be sure. Also the spectators must not see you at first" Cyril explained.
"Okay then so what do I do now?" Spyro asked a bit annoyed that they had to make haste to get everything done and now hear he was way too early.
"I would recommend for you to go to the unused training grounds to hone your skills young dragon" Cyril said.
The sentence really reminded Spyro of his old mentor Ignitus. The tournament was held in his honour so Spyro had to give it his all.
"Okay Cyril I will" Spyro rushed off towards the training ground to do some warm-ups for the fight with Cynder.
He practiced every move he knew and also tried to improvise so more to use against another small dragon. He had never battled against an equal before so he needed new tactics to fight such an opponent. He was so absorbed in his practising and strategizing that the hour was over before he knew it.
"Spyro!" The voice of Cyril sounded.
"Huh? What is it?" Spyro said as his training was interrupted.
"It's time for your match" Cyril declared.
"I understand" Spyro suddenly sounded very serious and followed Cyril to the entrance of the battle arena.
The entrance was blocked by a heavy iron fence and Spyro waited before it.
"When your name is called you must enter the arena okay?" Cyril instructed.
"Understand" Spyro nudged.
Spyro listened to Terrador giving the introductions for the Igus fire cup and waited to be introduced.
Being here really reminded him of being captured by the pirates. Just like back then he was going to face Cynder and the place even looked a lot like it. It was a large round battle arena and he was waiting behind an iron fence. The most important difference this time however is that they volunteered for it and that it was just for fun. Spyro didn't feel bad about it, this was just a contest.
"On one side there is our all too familiar purple hero!" Spyro prepared himself as his name was most certainly up soon.
"The one who has saved many dragons and saw the good behind a veil of evil!" The speech brought back some more memories with Spyro but he suppressed them because now wasn't the time.
"The legendary purple one SPYRO!" The iron gate rose up and Spyro ran out into the arena.
The stadium was filled to capacity and there were cheetahs, moles and dragons on the total length of the stadium. The honour box stood out in the stadium because of it's yellow colour. Around the honour box where the stands for minors He spotted Georga, Volt, Frost and Blizzard in the honour box. He spotted the bright pink colour of Ember laying in front of the honour box in the minor stands. A crowd of 12.000 is intimidated when they are all staring at you, even if you are a war hero like Spyro.
But Spyro shifted his attention away from the crowd and focused on the upcoming battle.
"Facing our legendary purple one is the also familiar black heroine!" Spyro looked to Terrador who stood inside the middle of the arena having some red decorations on him to make himself more visible.
"Once conquered the world but then made up for it by saving us all! Our precious Angel of darkness CYNDER!" Spyro looked and spotted Cynder coming out of the entrance directly opposite of him.
She looked mentally prepared for it and very fierce. It was obvious that she didn't have any doubts about this anymore.
"The winner of the Igus fire cup will get a chance to battle one of these two war hero's! Now it is time to find out just what they are made off!" Terrador really sounded impressive as he stood presenting them.
Terrador nudged to them and Spyro and Cynder knew what to do next. They walked up to each other and turned around a bit. Spyro took the initiative and put his tail high in front of Cynder. Cynder collided her tail with his in a sort of sword like clash. This was considered a sign of respect when facing an adversary. Then they looked at each other and nodded just like was expected. They turned around and walked back to their original positions. Never saying a word to each other.
"Ready. Get set. Fight!" Terrador flapped his wings down in an x indicating that the match had started.
Cynder was the first to move, drenched herself in poison very quickly and speeded towards Spyro hoping to soak him in poison and get an early advantage.
However she had made a crucial mistake because Spyro's body tensed as he grounded himself into the ground while watching her moves closely.
When she was within striking distance he unleashed an earth missile to blow her away. Cynder took a direct hit in her chest and was blasted a good 20 metres away.
Spyro quickly took the opportunity and used his earth element again to generate a globe around himself and quickly rushed off to try and crush Cynder when she would hit the ground.
The first attack had made Cynder cough but she had managed to recover in time and saw his attack coming. She flapped her wings and avoided the crushing boulder and Spyro had to break up the boulder and reveal himself because otherwise he would smash against the wall of the stadium.
Cynder took the opportunity and quickly jumped towards him, hoping to draw him into close combat in which she was at her best.
Spyro unleashed lightning at her trying to keep her away but Cynder used her shadow element to protect herself and was quickly face to face with him
She tried to jump over him but Spyro used his wings to try and push her away. Cynder grabbed his wings with her paws and tried to push them down again.
Cynder was now backwards on Spyro back wrestling with his wings She knew that Spyro could never get to his hind legs and throw her off because he needed all four legs to support both his and now also Cynder's weight.
Spyro was very strong and she couldn't collect the strength to push his wings down his body. Spyro then bit her tail that was tangling in front of him and managed pulled Cynder off.
Cynder tried to hold on but was no match for Spyro and was hurtled away by his enormous strength.
She collided with the floor and skated along a few metres before coming to a stop. That Spyro was her absolute superior when it came down to raw physical strength was a major disadvantage in close combat.
Spyro ran towards her and jumped on her while she was still laying on her side and tried to pin her down.
Cynder was struggling underneath him but she knew that Spyro was starting to gain the upper hand in this battle.
Spyro managed to intertwine their tails and Cynder couldn't pull it loose. If she didn't do something quick Spyro was going to win.
She suddenly had an idea and struggled to get down on her belly. Despite that Spyro was on top of her she managed to burry her claws into the sand. However with her in that position and Spyro on top of her he only had to get one of his paws into the right position and he would win.
Suddenly she jerked her head back and her sharp horns headed straight for Spyro. With her shift underneath him Spyro's chest was now laying very close to her head.
Spyro had to move sideways and release her to avoid it, using the fact that their tail were still intertwined she grinded her claws into the floor and used Spyro's own momentum to swing him away.
Spyro couldn't hold on to her tail and lost his grip. However he wasn't thrown far and grinding his claws into the sand he was standing on all four again almost immediately. Spyro was standing sturdy on his feet and could now unleash any attack he wanted while Cynder was still on the ground. She had swung Spyro with all her strength and had not regained her posture yet.
Spyro took the opportunity and breathed a liquid stream of ice to try and freeze up his opponent.
Cynder tried to move out of the way but the stream completely soaked her left wing and froze it solid. With her wing completely frozen Cynder couldn't fly anymore.
Noticing that she was grounded Spyro quickly flew up and hovered over her while he continued to unleash low energy fireballs to try and tire her out.
Cynder moved around on the ground dodging Spyro's assault but she knew that it took her more energy than it did him so she needed to think of something and fast.
She unleashed a blast of wind towards him but Spyro dodged it easily because he was so high it had a too large radius and continued his barrage on Cynder.
Because Cynder had to aim to unleash her shot she had to stand still for a second and that was very bad as she was hit with a fireball on her side because she didn't have enough time to dodge it.
Cynder was blasted on her side but quickly got back to her feet to dodge another attack but only just.
Spyro hovered above unleashing low energy fire balls in steady repetition and Cynder was dodging them as she hoped the ice on her wing would melt from the heat before her energy ran out.
Suddenly Spyro unleashed earth missiles instead of fire balls to bombard Cynder down below. It proved to be a smart decision as Cynder suffered many glance hits from the exploding earth shots.
Suddenly Cynder stopped and folded her wings to guard against another earth shot instead of trying to dodge it.
She was hit full on her wings and the blast threw her off her feet and on her back.
Cynder rolled over on her back in order to dodge another earth shot before quickly rising back up to her feet.
Cynder now smirked before spreading her wings and chasing after Spyro. Now it was obvious what Cynder had done: She had used the shock wave from the earth shot to shatter the ice that was on her wing so that she could fly again.
Spyro continued to spit earth bullets at her but she easily avoided them all. Earth shots explode on contact with an object so they are very difficult to evade on the ground. However in the sky they needed to be full on hits and since they are very small in size they are easily avoided.
Spyro switched elements and unleashed an ice stream to try and freeze her up again.
However Cynder wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. She unleashed her wind element and blew the water like ice stream away from her and back towards Spyro, as she continued to close in on him.
Spyro breathed a stream of fire and it collided and cancelled out the ice-wind spiral but that proved to be his doom.
Cynder couldn't see through the fog of the melted ice but she knew that Spyro was still there and flew through it while preparing her attack hoping that the fog and surprise would prevent Spyro from counter-attacking.
When Cynder thought she was within striking distance she unleashed the most powerful fear scream she could muster to try and stun Spyro.
She could see that the gamble paid of when Spyro appeared into view. He was shaking and seemed paralyzed by the extremely powerful shriek.
The paralyzes only last for a few seconds but that was all Cynder needed. When she had approached him close enough she spun around on her axel and smashed the blunt side of her tail blade into his soft belly forcing the air out of his lungs.
Not waiting for a second Cynder grabbed Spyro by the horns and using the momentum of her spin she threw herself around and landed on his back. Spyro couldn't do anything this time because the hard blow on his belly had stunned him and was still a bit dazed by the powerful fear scream.
When he had recovered Spyro tried to resist but it was futile as Cynder had already managed to firmly grab hold of him. She put her front legs around his midsection and used both her hind legs and her tail to grab hold of his back side as well. She then placed her weight on the base of his wings and then used her own wings to keep them completely pinned down.
Without his wings keeping him aloft Spyro quickly fell down towards the ground with Cynder still holding on to him.
He tried to wrestle himself loose but Cynder held on tight and although he was much stronger than she was there wasn't anything he could do since he couldn't use his powerful paws to throw her off.. A dragons paws are below their bodies. So if you manage to get on top of your opponent and he can't shake you off he is at your mercy. This time Cynder was facing in the same direction as he was so he couldn't bite her tail this time. Cynder was laying on the base of his wings and because of the lever effect she could keep his wings pinned down easily. He tried it with all his might but he couldn't spread his wings to pull up as he and Cynder plummeted earthwards.
Only a second later Spyro crashed full force into the ground with Cynder still on top. Spyro could only wheeze as the air was forced out of his lungs. A powerful shockwave reverberated through is body and his vision temporarily blackened as he was crushed by Cynder's weight in addition to his own falling 30 metres out of the sky. The hard blow also released a large dust cloud that temporarily blocked the view of the spectators.
When the dust settled Cynder had Spyro still firmly in her grasp and had the sharp side of her tail blade by his throat ready to cut it.
Spyro knew it was over now. You win a sparring match if you can put either your claws, jaws or sometimes tail appendix at the dragon's throat. You are then in a position that you can kill your opponent right then and there. Since Cynder had a razor sharp tail blade she had now officially won the match.
"The match is over! The winner is the Angel of Darkness, Cynder!" Terrador shouted while he raised his right wing.
The crowd started cheering and shouting Cynder's name. There were few curses as well but they were overshadowed by the cheers.
Cynder got off of Spyro and moved her paw towards his face.
Spyro looked up at her and she was smiling so he understood what it meant.
He took her paw and placed his weight on it to raise himself back to his feet.
They bowed towards each other and parted ways just like they were instructed to.
"Sorry for your loss Spyro" Cyril said when he had closed the iron gate.
"It was just an exhibition match so it doesn't really matter" Spyro said but his voice betrayed that he actually did feel bad that he lost.
"Dude, she totally kicked your sorry tail" A voice said.
"Yeah I know but..." Spyro swallowed his words as he recognised the voice and turned to look at it's origin.
"Sparx! What are you...?" Spyro didn't finish his sentence yet again because he was completely stunned by who were floating behind Sparx.
"Mom? Dad?" Spyro managed to bring out after a few seconds.
"Hallo Spyro" His foster father said smiling.
Spyro was at a loss of words, that he would meet his foster parents here was something that he never could have thought.
"That was quite some battle that you two fought" His father said after Spyro had kept silent for multiple minutes.
"Yeah only did mister legend here get beaten by a dragoness" Sparx said mockingly.
"I have missed you" Spyro now finally said as tears now started to form, he was much to stunned by meeting his foster parents to pay attention to Sparx's mocking comment.
"We also have missed you" Nina said soothing "We never stopped thinking about you"
"I never stopped thinking about you either" Spyro sobbed as walked over to them and let them pet him.
"I'm sorry to break this touchy reunion up but Spyro must go to the speaker's ground now!" Cyril said plain like nothing was going on.
"Oh, um, right" Spyro snapped out of his trance and swiped away the tears "I'm sorry but I really have to go now" He said after he just met his foster parents again after so long.
"That's alright Spyro we will talk to you later. Now go where you need to" His father said.
Feeling that it was alright now Spyro left his foster parents and ran towards the highest place in the arena. He quickly got to a large opening and flew towards the spot where he needed to be. He could feel that his body was pretty shaken up from the hard blow he suffered and it ached as he flew around.
However Spyro was no weenie and just clenched his jaws as he flew towards the peak of the newly set up arena.
He then landed and walked the rest of the way on top of the ring formed stadium.
This part of the stadium was not meant for guests so he wasn't greeted by a crowd but he knew that if he didn't hurry he still could get a mob.
He quickly spotted his place next to Terrador who had flown up and landed on the speaker spot. The speaker spot was an appendix on the top of the stadium above the honour box. It stood out about 10 metres and was painted bright red so it was very easy to spot.
He spotted Cynder already standing on the right side of Terrador looking at him smiling. Knowing what to do Spyro quickly got to Terrador's left side and tried to look as powerful as he could be.
"With that the Exhibition match is over!!" Terrador started now that he had both Spyro and Cynder by his side.
"One of these two fierce dragons will fight again. But who that is remains a mystery. Only the most powerful fire dragon will remain standing and be declared worthy of battling with one of these great legends!!." Terrador gasped to catch some breath before continuing his speech.
Spyro in the meantime stood steady next to him and tried to appear like the great legend Terrador had just called him.
Terrador sucked in huge amounts of air and Spyro cringed as he had a hunch of what was about to come.
"AND WITH THIS THE IGUS FIRE CUP OFFICALLY HAS BEGON!!!!!" Terrador shouted with all his might while he opened his wings and used his earth element to shake the stadium a little to further impress the crowd.
The crowd erupted into cheers and shouts from the impressive words of the earth guardian.
Spyro was very awed by it and by the looks of it Cynder was as well.
Terrador however looked like he wasn't awed at all and calmly walked away into the citadel with Spyro and Cynder following him.
"Wow Terrador that was awesome" Spyro said after they had closed the door.
Terrador was gasping and suddenly looked very tired. "Yeah it sure was"
"Why don't you two go to your room" He suggested after catching his breath "I think you two have seen enough action for today"
"Well, I really wanted to speak to..." Spyro began.
"Cyril already sent them to your room and they are awaiting you" Terrador said.
"Huh, what? Well okay then" Spyro was very surprised that Terrador not only knew who they were but also had planned ahead.
"So Spyro who does it feel to lose to a dragoness?" Cynder now spoke again having been silent ever since the nasty kiss.
"Bad" Spyro shot back. He knew he couldn't fool Cynder so he hoped she would be satisfied with the answer and not continuo the topic.
However it worked counterproductive at she now knew he hated that he lost "Guess now we know which one of us is the strongest"
"Yeah, yeah, you are the best Cynder now let's go" Spyro walked away annoyed while Cynder happily followed him towards their room.
Cynder now was feeling very well. She had been having doubts about having to fight her love in the morning but after she kissed him she had managed to do it and now it was over.
And not only did she fight him she also won so now she had something to bully him with if he pulled another prank on her.
However she spotted that Spyro walked a bit lame and that meant that she could have really injured him.
"Spyro are you alright?" She asked hoping for a reassuring answer.
"Yeah, sure I'm fine" Spyro said back sounding full of energy.
"Good" Cynder now knew she didn't injure him so she could put that to rest now.
"But Spyro who are the ones that are going to be in our room?" Cynder asked as they had reached the end of the hall and flew out into the sky.
"You'll see" Spyro teased.
Knowing that their room was only seconds away Cynder didn't bother pursuing it and flew towards the top of the citadel to where their room was.
Cynder entered their room but what she found was something she could never have expected.
Floating in their room was Sparx and beside him were two other dragonflies: a blue male and a pink female.
"Ah there is the one who kicked our legends tail" Sparx said referring to Cynder.
"Sparx that's not nice" the pink dragonfly scolded.
"I'm sorry but who are you?" Cynder asked not getting why the dragonflies were in their room.
"Cynder, they are my foster parents" Spyro said landing next to her.
"Foster parents!" Cynder exclaimed.
"Foster parent" Sparx repeated.
"You two were great back there" Spyro's foster father floated over to them.
"But we were told that you two were mates so how is it that you fight?" Spyro's mother now asked.
"We are not mates!" Spyro shouted angrily "Cynder and I are just close friends"
"But still why did you have to fight like that" Spyro's mother now sounded almost worried.
"Huh? Well we just figured the best way to start off a dragon's battle tournament is with a battle" Spyro said sounding a bit surprised.
"Is it really that normal?" Spyro's mother asked having a hard time to believe that fighting your friends was thought of so lightly here.
"Yeah, dragons are meant for battle so as long as we keep things from going out of control battling can easily be a sport" Cynder explained.
"Is that true Spyro?" His mother still didn't seem convinced until she heard it from him.
"Yes of course it is" Spyro said while he shrugged.
"All right then" His mother still sounded a bit uncertain.
Cynder had never expected Spyro to have parents. Although they were dragonflies they truly loved him and that meant Spyro had parents as far as she was concerned. Meeting them was tough for her.
"Cynder it is a great pleasure to meet you" Flash now said noticing that they still haven't greeted her yet.
"It's an honour to meet you too" Cynder bowed but it looked a bit awkward.
"That's not necessary" Spyro said although it wasn't directed at him but he said it on impulse since he had heard it so often.
"It's so great Spyro finally has found the thing he craved for the most" Nina said sounding very happy.
"Huh? What was what he wanted the most?" Cynder asked.
"Someone as fat as him" Sparx laughed.
"It was the entire reason he left home in the first place" Flash said while giving Sparx an angry look.
"Is that true Spyro?" Cynder asked suprised.
"Yeah, I always felt that I was different and when I discovered my powers I sent out to search my place and my species" Spyro said.
"So now he has found another dragon and a female to boot" Flash said jokingly.
"So what are you two doing?" Nina now asked very eager to hear how her son was doing.
"Huh? What do you mean mom?" Spyro asked.
"You know, what have you done since you left home and what are you doing now?"
"Well I think you may want to float down and rest because this might take a while" Sparx said smirking.
The dragons laid down on their paws and folded their wings like was normal however the dragonflies just stayed aloft while Spyro told about all his adventures: about his first hostile meeting of Cynder, freeing her from Gaul and finally about their confrontation with Malefor.
During Spyro's summery of their adventures his parents never spoke and patiently waited for him to finish. Sparx also wanted to tell about his great deeds but his parents wouldn't allow it.
When Spyro had finished about their adventures he stopped to hear what his parents thought about it.
"You have done very well" Flash said "We just can't tell you how proud we are of you"
"Yeah Spyro, that story is unbelievable" Nina said "But we believe it"
"Cynder thank you for supporting him and being at his side when he needed you the most" Nina said as she spotted that Cynder had been standing idle looking very empty for a while now.
"Thank you" Cynder said although she sounded a bit absent minded.
"But after that Malefor was defeated how did you come to this?" Flash asked wanting the story to continuo.
"Well we arrived back in Warfang and were greeted by our fans. Then we met Georga who in turn introduced us to Oxidus. I met Frost during a tailball match that Georga organized while she went to a beauty farm with Cynder" Spyro said a bit quickly.
"What are these Georga, Frost and Oxidus? What's tailball and what is a beauty farm?" Nina asked not being able to follow her son.
"Georga, Oxidus and Frost are all young dragons like us" Spyro answered reminded that his parents had never been in Warfang before "Tailball is a dragon's ball game that I really like and a beauty farm is a place were they prep up dragonesses" Spyro said looking at Cynder who replied with a weak smile.
"You have really changed Spyro" Nina said sounding a bit more serious now.
"Huh? Why are you saying that?" Spyro tilted his head and was a bit struck by the serious tone.
"You have grown up and I don't only mean in age" His mother said.
"You are not an overgrown dragonfly anymore but you have become a real life dragon"
Now that Spyro thought about it his mother had an excellent point there. He couldn't imagine anymore that he was bullied by the other dragonflies who said that he was an overgrown runt and a freak of nature and that he actually believed them that he was just a mutated and malformed dragonfly. He was special yes, but he knew that he was a dragon. He was a dragon for sure, that was what he was and that was the only thing he would ever be: a dragon.
"But you are still our son" His mother said warmly "It doesn't matter to us if you are an overgrown dragonfly, a dragon or a legend. You are our son and that's the only thing that really matters"
"Thanks mom" Spyro said while he stroke away a tear in his left eye.
Spyro then spotted that also Cynder was starting to cry although he couldn't tell if it was from happiness or from sadness.
However judging from her smiling face he concluded the former.
"So are you going to stay and see the rest of the tournament?" Spyro asked.
"Yes, we were planning to stay here until your or the angel's fight with the champ is over" Sparx said in place of his parents.
"Sparx you are going to stay after the tournament right?" Spyro suddenly felt a bit scared that he might lose him.
"I don't know" Sparx said sounding reluctant.
Spyro looked at him very serious now and Sparx felt that he should stop joking about it "Of course I will"
"So where are you two going to stay" Cynder now finally spoke.
"We have yet to figure that out but Sparx told us we shouldn't worry about it" Flash said.
"Hey I just figured since this is a humongous dragon city it shouldn't be a problem for us" Sparx said after he spotted everyone looking at him.
"Well you can always sleep here" Spyro offered.
"We will see Spyro" Nina said.
Suddenly Spyro's stomach growled and he blushed from embarrassment.
"Dragon or dragonfly some things will never chance" Nina said grinning.
Spyro growled at his mother but it sounded very pathetic. It sounded just like a little hatchling and having raised him the tiny dragonflies weren't scared by it.
"Let's say we go down for some food" Cynder suggested.
"But the-" Spyro started.
"They started to leave when you left with that earth dragon after he finished his speech so I'm sure they have already left by now" Flash said having predicted what Spyro was going to say.
"Okay then" this time the dragons didn't fly but just walked down the stairs to the kitchen.
The main hall was a rummage and there was mess littered everywhere. It was clear the cleaning crew had their work cut out for them.
However having expected it Spyro and Cynder paid it no notice and just walked towards the kitchen with Sparx and his parents close behind.
The kitchen was also messy but they paid no attention to that either and just treated it like a normal dinner.
Spyro ordered a boar and Cynder ordered a sheep. For the dragonflies they ordered 3 taviboah's.
Because of the preparations for a large crowd the food was already served before they had even reached the table.
The dragons walked back to the counter and picked the dishes with their jaws and Sparx and his parents picked the teal fruits.
"You two are really going to eat that?" Nina said as she looked disgusted at the sight of the death animals that were in front of the two dragons.
"Of course" Spyro replied "its typical food for a dragon"
"A dragon" Nina muttered while she hovered to her husband.
Not giving it a second thought anymore Spyro began eating his meal and Cynder did the same.
After they had eaten their meal they started to see if they could find any of the guardians anywhere.
They found Volteer in his room doing some paperwork.
"Excuse me Volteer" Spyro said.
"Huh? Ah Spyro that battle of yours was splendid I believe something like this has never been-"
"I was wondering if you knew a place where my parents can stay during the tournament" He said interrupting Volteer.
"Well for the visitors that were sure to arrive we have prepared that the inns in the city would-" Volteer began.
"So where are those inns?" Spyro asked, trying to keep Volteer from rattling before he got the chance to start.
"I think that they may be here somewhere" Volteer sounded annoyed that he was contently interrupted but sifted through his paperwork in search of a suitable inn for dragonflies.
"Here I think this one will do fine" Volteer said after having found a brochure for a inn.
"I will be more than happy to show you the way" Volteer said politely to Spyro's parents.
"That's very kind of you mister Volteer" Nina said very kind.
"Well I am want to keep my ears attached so I am going to stay with the couple" Sparx said.
"We're not a couple!" Spyro shouted angrily.