FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 18

This whole adventure is turning into something much worse than any of them expected and the putrid smell hanging in the air wasn't the only reason behind such revelation, yet no one from the group denied that it played a major role in killing the remains of their enthusiasm. It had to end like this because who wouldn't want their stale air which made breathing hard enough already to be mixed with an unbearable stench.

Not only there was no sign of any refreshment coming but they also found out that this mine is nothing more than a dark maze filled with endless tunnels. Even if Spyro through their whole trek relied on his special sensing ability he still couldn't find the proper way. He sometimes wished he was a Manwersmall, that way he would locate the correct route without problems, the moles have a nose for finding their way through dark mines. Unfortunately for the group they didn't have such privilege.

Spyro led his companions through the maze to the best of his ability but most of the times it just wasn't enough. Lots of these dark passages were impassable at some point, many times when he thought that he finally managed to locate the proper tunnel it turned out that their way was obstructed. It was annoying but at least in those situations he knew what to do- turn back.

There were situation where they once more arrived at an intersection, once again it was difficult to tell from which tunnel the tingle was coming from so Spyro put all his faith in simple guessing. Later that day he found out that Luck wasn't accompanying them. Many of those tunnels he picked up randomly seemed like the correct way, whenever they crossed such passage Spyro felt the tingle intensifying like they were finally reaching their destination but then with each more step they took the shiver started to falter until it was gone completely.

Every now and then they retraced their steps and took another tunnel at the previously visited intersection, sometimes it led to more tunnels and another crossroads, yet even there the tingle died down occasionally. It was obvious they were wandering around but nobody said a word, but Spyro could tell from their stifled sighs that like him they have enough of crossroads for a lifetime. So instead of retracing his steps when the tingle died down the purple dragon pressed forward.

At first it seemed that the tingle was gone, that it was for sure the wrong road but suddenly to his surprise the shiver within awakened after some time. Unfortunately Luck was a whimsical jester and the maze was its fool's paradise, literally. Whenever a spark of hope awakened within the purple dragon it was extinguished quickly by a thick impassable wall in the groups way that at first glance looked like they were made of rocks in a motley pattern.

Good news was that the caves were actually quite big and wide so Flare could easily hold back his claustrophobic fears yet there were times when the group had to pass through some very narrow tunnels. It put everyone on edge since Flare was being startled by the tiniest unexpected sound which made everyone jumpy and forced constant looks behind shoulders as if the group was expecting an attack, not necessarily from the bugs living here.

" There are moments when I really like your company guys" Sparx let out an exasperated and tired sigh " This isn't want of them" he removed the two fingers squeezing his nostrils and took a quick breath, he grunted in abhorrence and covered his nose again

Cynder removed her wing covering her nose and impulsively took a sniff just to hide behind it once again with a whine " Would you rather want us to get attacked?" she asked with a squeaky and full of revulsion tone

" Anything to forget about this stench"

She smirked from behind her wing, and threw a quick glance ahead, Spyro was still keeping his distance. She no longer cared what was the reason behind his behavior, she was disgusted and bored to tears and needed some entertainment and nothing worked better than a little innocent teasing.

" Spyro!" she cried out

Cynder's evil grin grew wider seeing her friend balk at the sound of her voice just like he would be startled by a sudden thunder

" Are we there yet?"

" N..." Spyro let out a sigh of relief "..no"

" Ok that's it" she faked a stern tone " Slow down a little I'm going to help you"

" It's this way!" he blurt out and quickly disappeared behind a corner

Cynder closed her eyes and smiled blissfully " Dear Ancestors I needed that"

Sparx couldn't help himself but to smile " That was cruel"

She opened one of her eyes, her green pupil flickered mischievously " So?"

" I love you"

The dragoness laughed heartily

Flare jumped and he instantly directed the light from his candle at the nearby wall, nothing was there but he could swear that he heard something moving behind it.

" We shouldn't be making so much noise" he muttered with an undeniably paranoid voice

Sparx rolled his eyes and turned towards the fiery drake " What now? You've seen a worm again? Or a shadow startled you? Or maybe the walls are moving? Come on tell us, what is it?"

" Do you hear that?" the drake muttered again, completely ignoring the dragonflies mocking tone

Spyro's brother slapped his forehead " Of course! The voices! How could I forget about the voices!? Don't be shy Dude, tell us what they are saying!"

Cynder focused but couldn't hear a thing " You are imagining things Flare"

The red dragon kept staring at the wall, his light beam slowly started to move along the wall following the sound. His paranoia might enhance his senses, or perhaps he is just crazy, whatever the reason may be he didn't care, he knew what he is hearing and that sound is definitely moving.

" There is something out there, trust me" Flare muttered as he kept following the sound

Sparx snorted " I should ask my bro what he thinks about trusting you"

Cynder observed the closing white light curiously " Flare seriously-" she was cut off when the blinding light stopped at her, she could feel it shining at her from behind her wing " Flare put that thing away!"

Flare ignored her stern request, the sound suddenly died down. Odd.

" Flare!"

Just when he was about to give up and blame it all on his paranoia it happened again but this time the noise was different, it sounded like something was clawing its way through the wall. His wide eyes instantly stopped at the illuminated form of Cynder.

" Get out of there now!" he yelled

The dragoness only managed to open her mouth, this time she heard it too but it was already too late to react.

There was a deafening rumble as the wall next to her crumbled, the dragoness yelped as she instinctively dropped to the ground, the shooting rocks flew past her head maybe just a few inches away. The noise was ringing in her head with such a shrilling tone that she was unable to hear her two companions shouting. Thick blinding dust arrived soon after, it covered the already hard breathable air with its suffocating veil, she started to cough uncontrollably, her throat began to burn after unwillingly inhaling the choking grime.

Cynder turned her head, her white light pierced the dust, not much but it was enough to see what is happening. The moment her eyes focused on the now crumbled wall with a corner of her eye she noticed one big rock slipping away from its socket in the wall and falling directly at her. Gasp of horror escaped her throat as she prepared to roll away from the deadly boulder, but then she noticed something else behind the rock, penetrating the thick grime, it was something big, yellow, slightly curved and extremely sharp, it looked like a giant pincer.

There was a sudden shake, it was so strong that it managed to lift the dragoness body from the ground, yet it didn't bother her. Cynder prepared her Shadow element to slip away from the incoming part of the wall using her own shadow but then, suddenly the pincer directed itself at her, it opened and presented rows of razor sharp claws at both its portions. The moment the pincer sprung at her everything changed.

The dragoness screamed in agony when she felt her back being pierced by rows of stinging daggers, right there and now in a sudden surge of painful realization she understood that the pincer has snapped. Luckily for her the claws didn't go deep, they only slightly pierced her scaly armor, then she felt herself being lifted from the ground. It was clear now that she is going to die, a part of her thanked for that, at least the pain will finally stop.

She noticed the huge boulder just mere inches from her, just right behind it was the other half of the sharpened pincer closing in. The dragoness sighed inwardly, at least she will be spared the agony of being impaled on the other rows of razor sharp claws and the sensation of being torn apart later on. Oh how she thanked the Ancestors that the boulder was first, just one powerful impact... and everything will be over.

Cynder closed her eyes, it is time, but then everything changed once more.

Just when she thought that she is going to imprint the form of her body on the huge rock ahead she suddenly stopped moving, she creamed again when the unexpected cessation of movement forced the pincer to shake and stretch her impaled flesh. A deafening squealing roar filled the cavern, the pincer jerked again, the dragoness shrieked.

Then something small fell on her forehead, moments later something of similar size struck the same spot again, then again and again, it felt like someone was poking at her head, forcing her paw to slap her head and made her reconsider her attitude.

She opened her eyes, the sight ahead invited the will to live and fight into her entire being. She saw the huge boulder in front of her shaking, it hovered in midair dropping tiny rocks at her. Behind it she noticed the other half of the pincer, just like the boulder it was shaking, it was obvious that its claws got stuck in the huge rock preventing the pincer from clamping itself shut and squashing her inside. The creature that so desperately wanted her dead was confused, if she wants to live she has to take advantage of its distraction, and she has to do it now or she might never have the opportunity to try again.

Another squealing roar echoed throughout the cavern and Change came with it. The whole pincer jerked to the side, she groaned through clenched teeth as the gnawing pain grew with every yank, she could almost feel her flesh being ripped apart. A grating sound reached her, it was obvious that the pincer was sliding along the ground, she turned her head just to see that it was returning through the newly created opening and to its owner no less. Every part of her body screamed in protest, telling her that this is the last place she wants to be.

" SPYRO!" Cynder cried out pleadingly like she never did before

The shrieking begging scream brought him back to his senses, Flare shook off the dizziness, blood was trickling down his forehead after receiving a solid hit from one of the shooting rocks. Through his gaze she saw his friend being dragged away, his first and only friend who saw something else inside him behind his mask, and he so wanted to cling to that something. And now that friend was being taken away and he just knew if he won't do something she won't be returning from that dark hole. With her gone he just knew that he will die, just like he died all those years ago.

" NOOO!" he roared, adrenaline instantly rushed through his body forcing his legs to carry him up. His entire body burst with fresh, red hot flames as he dashed after her.

That shriek, her shriek, he never heard her scream like that, he never heard anyone close to him screaming like that and in that moment, he knew that he was losing a part of himself. He felt his heart bleeding, a strong hand gripped it and squeezed it so tightly that he felt a dark empty void taking its place. There was a flash, he saw his heart squeezed by the massive iron hand, a drop of blood slipped through its metallic fingers, it was his own blood.

Flash.

"And what dragonflies from this family do?"

They stared at each other for a while before simultaneously and happily exclaiming " They stick together!"

Flash.

Sparx swallowed his heart that seemed to be stuck in his throat

" BRO!" he yelled, he yelled at the top of his little lungs, it was a war cry, a war cry that only certain dragonflies understood.

The pincer bounced slightly on a protruding rock, the sharp jerk elicited a painful moan from Cynder's throat. It hurt so much but at least she knew that she was still alive and her future survival lies only in her ebony paws, her friends will help her but if she won't figure something out they will only find her mangled corpse.

She lost her train of thought when the pincer bounced once again, pain unrelentingly kept shooting through her wounded back. Cynder felt herself being lifted, she focused on her surroundings, she couldn't really turn her head much but from what she could tell she was in the possession of some kind of yellow creature, a big yellow creature. The dragoness winced when another small chunks of rocks hit her head, she looked up, there was a barely audible cracking sound, the boulder slipped some inches down, it was just at paws reach, if only she could..."

But then she was flipped around, the stone now was below her but that wasn't exactly what draw her eyes, behind the stone was something far more threatening. Her light revealed the head of the creature, at least a part of it, it was definitely one of those bugs creatures, but this one was way bigger, at least she could tell that from the size of its dark eye, its stripped of any emotions dark eye which was now examining her.

As she hung upside down she saw reddish streams and drops falling down onto the rock, part of the pincer and eventually on the creatures head. The falling red liquid was like a rain or a waterfall, she chuckled inwardly, it was funny to know that her own blood made her realize just how thirsty she is and judging from the abundantly flowing blood she really wanted to drink.

Cynder's mind was shot back to reality when the creature opened its round maw delicately, even from her she could see razor sharp teeth inside. The creature was swaying slowly while its mouth kept contracting and backing up to its normal size as it drunk her blood. It seemed like some kind of drug to it since whenever new droplets of the thick reddish liquid hit its maws it was squeaking softly as some kind of addict.

Moments later it had enough, the round maw disappeared completely somewhere inside the chitin husk. Then with a furious and hungry squealing roar the creature opened its jaw again but this time it grew to unimaginable sizes. Cynder's body shivered with pure fear, she was so overwhelmed by it, that she even ignored the wafting putrid breath of the creature, she has never before seen such a gaping maw, even the Death Hounds couldn't open their jaws to such sizes.

She felt the pincer quickly descending towards the maw, the razor sharp teeth grew rapidly, she was certain that the stone won't protect her from them, the enormous gaping maw of the creature was most likely able to crunch the boulder in two bites. It would be a bitter meal for the creature but somehow she believed that it will pull through it just to reach the main dish in the shape of her bones.

In that moment when she imagined her bones shattering between the creature's piercing teeth a red light appeared in Cynder's head, a last kick of her survival instinct. She doesn't want to die, not like this, if her destiny is to die during one of her adventures she will die as a warrior, she will fall in the heat of battle and not land in some monster's bowels while she is still breathing.

" Oh no you don't bitch" The dragoness hissed fiercely, in moments like this the will to survive puts one body to unimaginable exertion.

Cynder yanked one of her paws free, she screamed as her limb was released from the claw's sharp clutches, blood splattered in every direction as she ripped the remains of her flesh by freeing her paw. As it swung uncontrollably part of her leg touched the still shinning beam of white light coming from the candle on her head. The dragoness pupils dilated when they caught something she only appreciated, the illuminated part of her paw casted a shadow on the stone below. She knew instantly what needs to be done.

Cynder forcefully yanked her whole body forward, a feminine scream filled the cavern, it was a shriek mixed with determination, anguish and painful tears. One of the claws holding her back gave up, blood and bits of scales and flesh shot after the fierce pull. She cried, literally, she felt like her scales were pierced by hooks connected to long ropes. As she moved her chest forward she felt those ropes string and then some immaterial hands pulled them exactly in the opposite direction than she wanted to go. And then there was the most creeping snapping sound as her stretched skin finally gave up under the pressure, some bloody parts of her fresh remained on the claw, making room for the freshly created wound to spread.

Cries and screams echoed throughout the tunnels as Cynder freed her trapped body parts one by one from the edgy spikes. In the cacophony of feminine anguish she eventually achieved her goal, she released her back, paws and membranes from the deadly clutches.

Her body began to fall limply down, with the last portions of her strength she raised her paw towards the light. A shadow appeared on the boulder which grew constantly as she approached the stone, when she was about to collide with the rock the shadow managed to cover all of its surface by now. Where everybody else would crash painfully with the stone she just passed through it like some kind of hole.

As she was carried through the area in her invisible protective shield she heard the echo of the stone being smashed by the round maw. Moments later she jumped out from the ground, far away from the creature, only now when she was thrown into the air she felt as exhaustion finally takes a hold of her. It was so overwhelming that the moment her paws touched the ground they bent under her and she unceremoniously dropped on her belly. Cynder with great effort raised her head and through her blurry vision saw the creature carefully sucking each of its pincer claws on which she was impaled not so long ago.

" I hope I'll give you the runs" the dragoness muttered and her head limply fell on the ground, just before darkness clouded her vision she noticed the creature turning towards her.

He pushed with all his might, he could see the white illumination gently covering the tunnel in a transparent white fog, she couldn't be far away now. It turned out that Flare couldn't be more right, with another several flaps of his fiery wing he popped inside a huge cavern. Nearly in the middle of it he saw a bright beam of white light running along the stony floor until it reached a yellowish moving shape.

He didn't care about the creature that the light was illuminating, it's exact features were unimportant to the red dragon. He took only brief glimpses of the beast but it was enough to tell that whatever attacked them was ten times their size and most importantly it wasn't really docile.

Flare saw the towering shadow closing In on the spot where the beam of light started, impulsively he directed his own white ray on that particular spot knowing much earlier what it will reveal. Yet even if his expectations were correct the sight still stole the air from his lungs. It was her, she was laying there, her wounded and motionless body never reacting to the approaching danger.

With a rush of fresh adrenaline Flare pushed even harder forcing his wings to the brink of their strength, as the dragon flied he perpetually shoved away the image of her body...her dead motionless body. However there was that nudge in his mind that aroused hope, she might be laying there but that doesn't necessary mean that she is dead, she just might be unconscious...she might be alive.

A second wind rushed through his entire body after that nudge, even if she might be alive she won't be for long, that creature will make sure of that and as a friend it is his duty to save her from that fate or at least allow her remains some honor.

After sever more flaps he eventually pressed his wings to his sides and dived towards the dragoness unmoving form. With a corner of his eye he noticed that the towering shadow was just about to reach its destination. Luckily he was faster than it, he extended his paws just like a bird preparing his talons to catch an oblivious fish. Just when he swooped mere inches above her body he clenched his paws around the dragoness upper arms and lifted her hopefully unconscious body up.

Her wings flopped down across her flanks, her whole lower body together with the black tail swung wildly in the air as he ascended.

" Forgive me" Flare mumbled with sincere pain in his voice and let her go.

His ascent along an invisible arc allowed to hurl her body farther away from the creature, he didn't raise high on purpose to avoid causing any serious injury. Yet when her body crashed with the ground he felt as a very powerful bolt of lightning struck directly at his heart which sent a shiver through his whole body.

He could hear the sound of her body hitting the ground with a rumbling thud, her black form rolled a couple of times along the ground before finally stopping, then one of her black wings fell limply down covering her ebony body under its pierced magenta membranes.

Flare never got the chance to dwell on the caustic guilt that filled him after treating his only friend so cruelly since the moment her wing dropped down a massive pincer swiped him from the sky.

Sparx has entered the cavern, glad that he finally managed to catch up with the red drake, and the moment he left the freshly created tunnel behind he gasped when he saw Flare crashing into a wall just next to him with an agonizing grunt. The impact was so strong that it created a visible indentation in the wall, as the fiery drake's body began to slump down some bits of rocks followed him.

There was that shrieking roar again, the dragonfly turned his head, in the distance he noticed a beam of white light running along the ground, the metallic hand once again squeezed his heart when he realized that it was her. Then suddenly the light started to twitch slightly just as if the ground was shaking, it might have been in fact since he heard something massive walking across the cavern in the darkness. And without even laying his eyes on the creature he knew what he must do, the thing he does best- annoy.

The dragonfly grabbed one of the nearby rocks which were now loosely hanging from the wall after Flare collided with it. With the rock tightly held in his fist Sparx darted towards the ceiling, it was a safe place to plan his further actions from there, the ceiling was high so there was no chance that whatever is hiding in the shadows will get him.

From there he started to listen intently, trying to figure out from where the sound of the creature footsteps coming from, thanks to that knowledge he will safely assume in which direction it is actually looking.

Moments later everything became clear, he scurried towards the hulking monster. His natural glow allowed him to see slightly farther, thanks to that glow in fact he spotted the creature's yellowish chitin husk way before he actually reached it. There is no doubt that it is built like one of those damn bugs, remembering how the bugs looked like Sparx decided not to annoy it around its head, he doesn't want to get accidently sucked by the creature's maw by being careless.

The dragonfly decided to try a different approach, he made his way towards the monster's back. When he reached his destination Sparx raised the sharp rock he was holding.

" Take this you ugly shit!" after that shout the dragonfly stabbed the monster with the rock

The creature let out another shrieking roar as it spun around swinging its pincer wide, however it had no idea that the attacker was so small and swift.

Sparx closely followed the creature's turning back. " I'm right here!" he shouted once more and again stabbed the monster

It roared without stopping its wild spinning.

" What? Can't catch me?" Sparx spitted the words out and struck the ugly shit as he called it again

This time the creature started to thrash and clamp its pincers chaotically.

When Sparx stabbed it again he began to wonder if the creature is intelligent enough to realize that he is not causing it any harm, the stone was unable to penetrate its chitin husk after all.

" Where are you bro?" the dragonfly muttered worryingly

Spyro entered the tunnel, first thing he did was to look in the direction from which the constant roaring was coming from. He smiled.

" Sparx" the dragon muttered proudly as he noticed a small glowing shape in the distance circling around a huge spinning creature.

He focused on the beast, it was nothing more than one of the bugs, yet this one was huge, almost the size of troll. It seemed like Volteer was right after all, those damn bugs can actually get bigger.

He started to look around the dark cavern in search of his best friend, the smile on his snout disappeared instantly when in the distance he spotted an unmoving beam of light. An empty void filled the dragon sucking away all the life from him, that hateful sensation was enough to say that there it the distance his best friend was laying motionless.

A moan of pain reached him, Spyro impulsively looked down to see Flare scrambling onto his twitching paws from the ground, the red dragon had to receive a one hell of a blow since he had troubles keeping his balance. Even despite their rather cold relations Spyro felt some pity for Flare, they have accidently saved him from a certain death just to drag him into more pain and near death experiences. Jackpot.

His eyes once again traveled to the unmoving light, Spyro swallowed a painful lump in his throat. He really wanted to help her, leaving her out there in the darkness all alone was way too risky, but he also knew that he had no choice in this matter, his brother needs his help, he has to leave her there for the time being. With furious tears sparkling in the corner of his eyes he turned towards the creature and with a determined, painful and angry snarl he darted towards the monster.

As he ascended Spyro scanned the creature with his light trying to determine what would be the safest and the most deadly approach at the same time. He did a quick math in his head and came to a conclusion that while he has a moment of surprise on his side the creature has no chance to reach him near the ceiling. He was quite certain though that he won't be able to stay there for long since he was pretty sure that even this hulky monster can jump like its smaller counterparts.

When he was just above the thrashing beast Spyro channeled his Earth element, he remembered that the manweersmall in the camp forbade them from using any earth-shaking abilities but since he would be dropping straight at the creature there is no risk in causing a cave-in, and if his lucky this fight will be over faster than it actually began and he will be able to focus on Cynder entirely.

While in the air Spyro curled into a ball, moments later a transparent form of a rocky round ball embraced him. He began to spin rapidly while hovering in the air and with each turn he made the transparent form started to become more solid growing thick large stony spikes in the process. He had use the trick already when he fought that ape leader in the forest all that time ago, he exactly remembered just how effective the Armored Boulder is against such opponents like the huge bug here.

The round weight that was now his body pushed him down, yet by magical means he never stopped spinning. Moments later Spyro saw the yellowish head of the creature closing in, it won't be long now, the fight is just about to end. There was a loud cracking noise when the spinning boulder that the dragon transformed into crashed with the creature's chitin husk, a noise very familiar to the sound of a shattering egg shell echoed throughout the cavern.

The creature emitted a painful shrieking roar at the impact, when Spyro bounced off the beast's husk he saw cracks running through its natural armor while it turned its head to face him. The dragon was surprised that the bug managed to survive this but he was quite certain that another strike will be enough to finish it. With a smirk he started to fall down again.

His cocky smile disappeared in a moment when he saw the roaring creature opening its maw, at first it was nothing special, a small round jaw with many sharp teeth inside it. But then Spyro's stony eyes widened when the maw suddenly grew to enormous sizes, with the creatures throat stretched like that he had no doubt that it would swallow him whole.

" Fuuuuuuuuuck!" Spyro hissed as he quickly tried to dispose of the speed and the accumulated elemental energy coursing through him. The stony barrier began to fade and flicker, his purple body parts started to slowly push through the weakened veil of his protective shell. Yet it was just not enough he was still quickly dropping directly into the creature's bowels.

" STOOOOOP!" Spyro screamed in panic just when he was about to reach the beast's maw

There was a hollow thud and the world listened to his panicked plea, instantly he felt himself diving into a very deep ocean even if he was currently in an extremely dry cavern. The boulder surrounding his body was gone, his purple body was curled into a ball hovering just above the creature's mouth with his protrusive amethyst orbs staring at it.

The bug's sharp teeth were twitching very slowly together with its meaty gullet, Spyro could its shriek, yet the sound was so hollow and strangely distant that it seemed like it was coming from somewhere very far away. A sensation of familiarity ran through him, he knew what it was, he has just trapped the world in a place where currents of passing days flow differently. He just had used his Time ability.

It wasn't his first time but it still felt strange, since the day of the Eternal Night he has lost his ability to stop time, but now he managed to use it without relying on any gems and strange rituals. He felt that strange energy again pulsing inside him, such addictive and powerful energy. In that moment he felt that nudge deep down somewhere inside his soul just like it has stirred it from a very long and deep slumber. In that moment he knew- the purple dragon of prophecy has awakened. For better or worse.

Regaining his composure Spyro stretched his body and extended his purple wings, he threw a quick glances and the gaping maw. He shivered at the sight when realization struck him as some kind of cold shower, he was just mere inches from meeting his end and only luck saved him. While he kept staring at that mouth he wondered if he had any feline blood flowing in him, because if that was the case he knew for sure that just now he lost one of his nine lives.

Taking advantage of the given opportunity he dashed away from the monster's gullet, as he hid behind the creature's flank he spotted Sparx. His brother's wings were sluggishly flapping, his hands raised above his head were moving with great effort like they would be burdened with tons of rocks. Also his lips were twitching releasing all that incomprehensible echo.

To Spyro's surprise his brother's body seemed to slowly break from the Time's chains as with each passing second every limb and lip was gaining on speed, from the echo that came out from his mouth the dragon could pick up single letters. Spyro felt the newly awakened energy slipping through invisible cracks, everything was returning to its normal pace, much earlier than he was used to.

" Damn, I'm rusty" the purple dragon muttered sadly

"...iot" Spyro heard Sparx muttering before he screamed when the world finally broke from the sphere that trapped it

The dragonfly jerked back and pressed his hands to his chest as if trying to hold back his heart " What the hell?"

The purple dragon grinned

" What are you doing here? I've seen that creep biting your stupid ass off!" Sparx blurt out furiously " What were you thinking Dude? It's about time you grew a brain finally!"

The creature shrieked like it never had earlier before, sending a shiver through both brother's bodies, it was clearly disappointed that its meal slipped away somehow.

Ignoring his brother's comment Spyro grabbed the dragonfly and darted away from the furious creature.

" I need you to check on Cynder"

" What? Why?" Sparx protested " I've been kicking this guy's ass! You don't bench the best player!"

" I'll take care of it"

" I can help"

" Cynder needs your help more than I do" Spyro whimpered

Sparx was taken aback by his brother's tone, his eyes impulsively traveled to the unmoving light in the distance.

" You have to watch over her" Spyro continued " It's too dangerous to leave her there, more of those bugs can be here and she can't defend herself" he looked in the direction of the light and swallowed " A...and if she's gone, t...tell me"

" Dude..."

" Sparx please!" the purple dragon pleaded with tears in his eyes " I have to know!"

The dragonfly felt the metallic hand once again gripping his heart as he looked at the unmoving white light, he instinctively began to rub the left upper part of his chest.

" Fine"

" Thanks"

Sparx turned towards his brother with furious frown and pointed a finger at him threateningly " But if I see you doing such crazy shit ever again I'm going to tell Dad so he can whack your purple reckless ass!"

Spyro let out a saddened chuckle

" I mean it!" the dragonfly exclaimed before he dashed towards the white light

The purple dragon turned towards the huge bug, thee creature has already spotted him, it roared grisly opening its gaping maw again.

" Now I'm going to make you suffer for everything you've done to her" Spyro growled feeling as tremendous amounts of elemental energy flowed through him.

Sparx kept flying towards the motionless light, his eyes never leaving it from their sight. His whole body ached from the constant maneuvering around that bug but no matter how much it hurt he just kept going. Inch after inch he moved closer towards his destination, and with each flap of his wings his heart began to race faster and faster.

First thing he noticed when he reached her was her black snout, besides some minor scratches it looked quite good. Sparx let out a breath of relief, maybe it isn't as bad as they thought. She was laying on her side, he move along her whole form and gulped when he noticed that she was covered by one of her wings, the magenta membrane was pierced in many places, the wounds didn't look like teeth marks either, it looked like she had torn out her wing forcefully from whatever that seemed to hold her.

Through the holes in her wing he could see parts of her ebony body covered in red lines, scratches again. " Not bad" Sparx thought, yet back inside his mind was that gnawing feeling that the worst is yet to be discovered.

With an anxious gulp he strained his muscles and delicately pushed away her wounded wing from her body , when he laid his eyes on her feminine silhouette he couldn't help himself but avert his gaze and cover his mouth to stifle a horrified yelp. Taking some quick breath he squinted and forced himself to look upon her again.

Her back was a mess, torn bloody flesh dotted her body and her black scales were hanging from the wounds in bloody strands. The wounds themselves resembled like the ones on her membranes, several puncture wounds dotted the whole length of her back. Some were smaller, some were bigger, some were covered by strands of dangling flesh and scale, others were completely revealed and all of them looked like they were created by jerking her body forcefully as if trying to break free from whatever that held her by her flesh.

The wounds themselves weren't deep, but some were worse than others. When the dragonfly examined her back his face twisted in disgust, some of those holes were so hollow, flesh was completely torn out from the middle of the wounds, some weren't that bad but they still bled profusely.

The blood, there was just so much blood, her back was completely red, some of the thick liquid was also on her visible flank and there was a pool of it just right under her laying body. She has lost much of the life-giving crimson liquid, as he stared at the red pool below he felt his own heart bleeding. Sparx looked her over with sincere pity and pain shimmering in his eyes, rubbing his forehead he moved towards her snout.

He ran his hand along the top of her head " Oh girl, what has that thing done to you..." he mumbled with palpable pity and leaned closer towards her nose.

" Please breathe, please" Sparx muttered pleadingly as he started to listen intently. Nothing, he moved his head closer, almost touching her nose. In that moment he felt a powerful relief wafting through him. She was breathing, barely, but it meant she was alive.

Sparx turned towards his fighting brother and pressed his palms to both sides of his mouth " SHE'S ALIVE BRO! SHE'S ALIVE!"

At the sound of his brother's shout Spyro ceased his fire attack, dodging under a bloody pincer he turned towards the motionless light.

" BUT SHE'S BLEEDING BADLY! SHE NEEDS HELP!"

He heard his brother shouting, part of him wanted to dash right to her but with a corner of his eyes he spotted Flare who prepared to attack the large bug but after hearing his brother shout he turned around and directed himself towards Cynder. With a growl Spyro dashed towards the fiery dragon, ignoring the flying pincer above his head.

" What do you think you are doing?!" Spyro snarled as he got close to the red dragon

Flare jumped back horrified " I...I'm going to help Cynder"

" You are not going to lay a paw on her!" the purple dragon growled

" She's hurt, she needs help"

" Not from you!"

The red dragon looked towards the unmoving light and the waving dragonfly, then he looked at the ground. Moments later he narrowed his gaze and looked straight at the purple dragon, tiny flames flickered inside his yellow eyes.

" Listen, you are strong enough to handle this thing yourself, I'm going to help Cynder"

" How about you fight with the bug and I'll go to help her!" Spyro roared

" You can't, you won't be able to stop the bleeding"

" What makes you think you can?!" the purple dragon snarled irritated

Flare raised his paw, mirage covered his silvery claws as heat began to emanate from them " I have my reasons"

Spyro took the hint, as much as he hated the idea about a backstabbing dragon helping his best friend it seemed like he didn't have a choice in this matter and the longer they wait the worse her state will get.

" Fine" Spyro snorted " But if you hurt her..."

" I won't kill her, that I can promise" Flare took to the air and dashed towards the waving dragonfly

The purple dragon jumped back as a pincer came down crashing into the ground where he previously stood.

" Just die already" Spyro hissed agitated and began to run along the bug's arm as it started to rise.

Sparx threw his arms wide as Flare approached him " What are you doing here? Where is Spyro?"

" Busy" Flare answered emotionlessly as he walked along the trail of Cynder's wounded body with his eyes entirely focused on her black scales.

The dragonfly narrowed his eyes on the fiery drake, not really happy with this whole situation " Spyro knows you are here?"

" Yes" he stopped in the spot where he could see the dragoness wounds more clearly, he winced at the sight " Damn, lacerations" he muttered under his breath

Sparx darted in front of the dragon's snout and folded his arms " Why I don't believe you?"

Flare looked at the dragonfly with great irritation and worry in his eyes " Right now, I don't care if you believe me. I'm here to help Cynder so please get out of my way because if we won't do something soon she'll bleed to death"

The dragonfly looked at the wounded dragoness with a sad and conflicted gaze, he didn't want the dragon who tried to attack his brother so close to her but he also felt that he has no other choice. How he hated that feeling of an invisible rope tying his hands. He made room for the drake watching him intently " But if you plan-"

" I will never do anything that will put her life in danger" Flare cut in, cutting the dragonfly off

Sparx was taken aback by the dragon's sincere determination, deep down he knew that the red dragon means it, yet it didn't hurt to be cautious. He hovered next to the fiery dragon's head and began to examine the feminine body with him " You have any medical experience?"

Flare swallowed " No"

The dragonfly gulped, he could hear it in his voice, the dragon was terrified, just like he was. " So...so what are you planning to do?"

The fiery drake exhaled a wavering breath and threw a quick glance at his claws " I'm going to sear the wounds"

Sparx winced, he didn't like the sound of that " You've done this before?"

" Yes"

" And it works?"

Flare shrugged " I'm still alive"

The dragonfly didn't feel any better, he impulsively looked at the bleeding wounds again " I don't know Dude, I'm no healer but won't these wounds get infected when you will sear them?"

" Probably, that's why I need your help here. While I work I need you to find me some spider-web"

Sparx jerked back " What? Why?"

" We'll use them as bandages, just make sure they are old"

" I'm not leaving you alone with her!"

Flare narrowed his eyes on the dragonfly, tired of this constant mistrust " Listen! I'm not trying to fob you off alright? We need to work fast, you are small you can get to places where I won't be able to, when I'll be done with searing the wounds you should be back already with enough spider-webs to cover the injuries. Those spider-webs are important, they produce that fungus or whatever. Anyway they work, so go get them!"

The dragonfly looked at the dragon curiously " And you said you have no medical experience"

" You'll do anything to survive. Please, go, she needs you"

Sparx sighed " Fine, how many spider-webs you need?"

" I have no idea, grab as many as you can carry. Just make sure they are old"

The dragonfly flew away.

Flare gulped when he turned towards the dragoness' still body, he touched her scales gingerly, his paw trembled with fear " Just stay unconscious please, I wouldn't bare your painful screaming again" he muttered pleadingly.

He held his breath, expecting a response, there was only silence. With a wavering breath he put his forelegs delicately on her mostly unwounded flank. He extended one of his paws and leaned forward, getting a good look at the bleeding lacerations on her back. The good news was that not every wound required searing the bad news was...well that he actually is the one who needs to do the healing.

Another nervous exhale, with it came the feeling of heating air, he looked at his extended paw, tiny flame danced above one of his extremely shaking claw. He killed the fire and looked at her bleeding wounds again, strands of torn flesh and scale hung from the lacerations resembling a black torn paper than actual skin. He had to get rid of it so he can get a better access to the wound.

He delicately raked his claws across her wounded body, he winced when he felt his claws getting moist with the crimson thick liquid, he winced even more when he sensed his claws moving across uncovered flesh, her body convulsed uncontrollably whenever his claws touched the sensitive spots.

There was just so much blood, the crimson liquid began to drip from his paw way before he knew it. if there was someone who would observe him now they would probably say that he is gutting the dragoness instead of helping her. He just couldn't stop the shaking of his paw, no matter how long he worked on the wounds it still didn't want to stop twitching, to make things worse it seemed like the shaking intensified with each snapping sound of the loosely hanging flesh and scale.

How he hated that sound, even if he could clearly see that he is getting rid of the dangling flesh he still felt like he was gutting her alive. Another snap, a piece of bloody flesh dropped on the ground, followed by the noise of a splattering drop of blood. His whole body shook uncontrollably, he shut his eyes close and let out a soft whimper. Doing this thing on yourself is one thing but doing it on someone else is way different, there is just no comparison, but if he won't do it, who will?

Flare opened his eyes again, with an abhorrent twist on his snout he renewed his work, flesh, scale and blood hit the ground as he moved from wound to wound. Some of those lacerations were wider and deeper than the others, there were moments when his claws touched the uncovered sensitive spots which forced her body to convulse. In those moments he couldn't take it and withdrew his paw just to walk on three legs in circles with the bloody paw raised in the air, taking quick breaths to calm himself down.

He lost count just how many times he did that, yet whenever he made a break he kept imagining her body bleeding, her breath slowing down, her body ceasing its convulsions, he imagined her perfectly still and cold. Those were the moments when he returned to her side and renewed his work with great vigor and determination just to ran away minutes later. His hit and run tactic eventually paid off, he did it, the wounds were clear.

Flare stared at the uncovered lacerations with watery eyes, he just couldn't say what was worse, the thing he finished seconds ago or the thing he is just about to do right now. With the unresolved conflict in his mind he heated his claw, the dancing flame appeared once more. He brought his claw to the wound and immediately the sound of melting flesh could be heard as if he would start a small cracking fire.

How he hated that noise, yet he also knew that there is nothing he can do about it, once he started there was no turning back, only when he will finish with the wound he will have a moment to gather his bearings. Her body kept shaking, he couldn't stop muttering thanks seeing this, what a relief it was to see her unconscious during this ordeal. He could only imagine how much it will hurt when she wakes up, searing wounds while you are still awake is one thing, you'll get used to the pain eventually even if with great difficulty but to wake up just to be struck by the agonizing pulses...he didn't envy her.

Even through her black scales he could spot the burn marks appearing on her body, however he knew that it was a good sign, if searing wounds with hot flames could be called like that of course, that meant that the bleeding will stop. He was right, the wounded sealed up, he killed the flame and wiped the blood away, watching the wound closely, there was no more blood, he has stopped the hemorrhage.

Flare pushed away from her and once again began to jump in circles, trying to fight the nervousness that spasmed his own body. However he knew that this was a battle he won't be able to win in such short time, with terrified expression he returned to her side.

" Let it be over finally" he muttered pleadingly when he heated his claw again

He began to close wound after wound, taking breaks whenever he just couldn't push much further, yet to his surprise he realized that witch each passing moment he was able to withstand the ordeal for longer. During one of the searing process he heard a rumbling sound and then a shook of the entire cavern, yet he ignored it, completely focused on his work.

After countless minutes he killed the flame and examined her body, the blood was no longer flowing in streams from her lacerations, he did it, he has stopped the bleeding. However the mental scar just didn't allow him to feel any happiness or pride. Gingerly he pushed away from her body with the bloody paw raised in the air, he turned around, he was so flabbergasted that the sight of a wounded purple dragon and a dragonfly holding to many spider-webs next to the drake didn't have any effect on him.

Spyro's eyes flared up at the sight of his bloody paw " What have you done to her?!" he roared and shoved away the light-headed dragon as he darted towards his still friend.

Flare unable to keep his balance on three legs fell on the ground.

The purple dragon's eyes flared up with pure murderous intent when he saw the pool of blood and torn flesh " You've told me you wouldn't hurt her!" he spun around and prepared to pounce at the fiery drake

Sparx darted towards his brother side and at the sight of the state of her wounds grabbed his brother's shoulder " Bro wait, he helped her!"

" What?" he snarled " Can't you see the blood?"

" Dude it was far worse earlier, he closed up the wounds! Look, she isn't bleeding anymore!"

Spyro examined the wounds again, the looked like somebody seared them with flames, it looked like Flare did what he said he will do, yet that was not the only thing that worried him " You seem to be just as surprised as I am"

Sparx showed him the spider-webs " I wasn't here when it happened, I-"

" You left her alone with him!?" the dragon roared

The dragonfly jerked back " I..." he then shook his head and narrowed his gaze on the drake " He helped her you idiot! She would be most likely dead if not for him! There were more important things at stake than the annoying mistrust, we are in this together like it or not, so shove your accusations up your scaly ass and let us work!"

Spyro's mouth dropped down at the sudden outburst, he was speechless

Sparx ignored his brother " Flare what we do with these spider-webs? Just put them on the wound?"

The fiery drake approached the two foster brother's " Yeah, look" he took one of the spider-webs the dragonfly offered him in his shaking paw " You have to remember to cover as much of the wound as possible" he turned towards the dragoness but then the spider-web slipped through his shaking bloody paw and fell on the ground " Leave it, we have to take another one" he reached towards the dragonfly

Sparx turned around, hiding the spider-webs from the fiery drake " Listen Dude, you did your part, get some rest, we got it covered"

Flare stared at him with confused unfocused eyes

" We can handle it I mean"

" Oh, ok" he said in a groggy tone, moved away to make some room and sat on the ground, staring at his bloody paw

Without wasting any more time the brother's started to work, carefully placing each spider-web on each laceration.

" Maybe he isn't that bad, you need to give him a chance bro" Sparx muttered as he placed another spider-web

" He tried to attack me Sparx" he whispered back

" Maybe he got confused or something, I mean Dude look at him, he is clearly shaken, this is how a murderer looks like? Give it a rest, we all have our issues"

Spyro sighed " Maybe you are right but I'm still going to watch him"

" Fair enough" he placed another spider-web " Hey Flare" Sparx shouted " What about the holes in her wings?"

" I can't do anything with her membranes, they have to heal on their own"

Moments later all the spider-webs were gone, safely securing the freshly sealed up wounds, both foster brother's had to admit that she looked better already.

" We need to hide somewhere" Spyro said and sniffed the air, the rot could still be smelled " There might more of them here. Flare come on, give me a paw"

Both young dragons lifted the unconscious dragoness and made their way towards one of the openings in the walls with Sparx scouting their way.

" Listen Flare" Spyro mumbled " I'm sorry that I jumped on you, I really thought you broke your promise"

Hearing a purple dragon apologizing to him was a surprise, yet he tried to hide his shock " I understand, but to clear things up, I promised I wouldn't kill her"

Spyro chuckled " Fair enough"

" So what's the plan?"

He looked at the bouncing black snout caringly " We wait till she wakes up, she needs the rest"

Flare nodded, that was a good plan, she wasn't the only one that needed a moment of respite.