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The Legend of Spyro: Path of Delusions

Book III: Hey Time, you're no friend of mine

Chapter 1

The gold text shimmered constantly under the pressure of the flipping pages, the letters on each next page greeted enthusiastically with their golden curves. The excited shaking caused the book to slip from under the guidance of its yellow light, the fading illumination hid its secrets effectively. Yet those secrets weren't allowed to hide, with one final tug the book returned to its natural place, the golden text sparkled again with great efficiency.

*

A pair of grey eyes were staring through a window at the black expanse beyond it, somewhere there among the spinning paradoxes and unfathomable phenomenons was the slight layer of the world these eyes graced upon. A world these eyes recognized and no longer understood, that layer was just like the black void that surrounded it. A veil these eyes could discern but no longer penetrate.

The void around that once familiar and now completely alien layer was unsteady, uneasy, cracking with white powerful rays. The layer flickered under that pressure, but those eyes knew that no matter how hard the shake will be it won't be the rays that will eventually shatter it, but they will play a big part into bringing its unavoidable destiny.

The grey eyes glistened, glistened with a liquid these eyes thought were no longer present, but they had to acknowledge the fact these alien sensation is still there, an alien sensation for this place and this eyes that should be cast out from the eyes existence is still there, and always will be. After all its those eyes who partially started all of this, this eyes caused that layer to flicker, but it wasn't the tremor that caused these eyes to glisten, it was something far more important that squeezed this strangely unfamiliar liquid from them, something these eyes believed, despite the facts, it was theirs own.

The glistening eyes turned from the sight of the void ahead, already knowing its progress, assumedly unavoidable in the other, mostly now dominating eyes' opinion. The ruling eyes were now different, in that layer some may recognized them, especially someone would who these eyes protected by not thinking constantly about that certain someone, preventing that recognition from being devoured by this place's stillness. Currently ruling eyes especially wanted this recognition to be sustained.

The azure light emanating from the jiggling crystal dangled across the ground as the eyes eventually stopped on a book with a golden text shimmering from its pages. The eyes paws closed the cover and lifted the extremely heavy book, yet it had only a handful of pages. The eyes understood the secret behind its weight, the book is heavy not because of the number of pages that it currently consists of, its heavy from the number of still unwritten pages that would fill its heavy cover.

The eyes never left the book as it was placed on the pedestal, the cover flipped open and stopped on a blank page which every other eyes would see, but this eyes were different, in that blank page was something more than a white sheet and only these eyes could see it.

These eyes examined the blank page from top to bottom, not even realizing when a single drop of that strangely unfamiliar liquid splattered on it. These eyes are seeing something in that empty page that squeezes that strange liquid from them, these eyes glisten with pity. Yes it was pity, and a feeling much more powerful these eyes could no longer spell but knew that is started on l...

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant** _. _**

The delicate quill broke under the pressure of imprinting the hopeful words unto the essence of life of that special someone for these eyes. The enigmatic text swirled, flickered and finally melded into the blank page, completely fading within its snowy embrace.

One of the greyish eyes blinked after that forbidden act, the broken quill returned into the sight of both consciousness. That single eye shone with confidence and certainty which radiates only from great cold wisdom and knowledge. The broken quill scribbled the words that one of the eyes didn't want to read but unfortunately both of them knew they were true.

_We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell _** _. _**

*

" Come on guys!" Sparx blurt out indignantly and threw his hand in the air in resignation " Don't tell me I'm the only one seeing this!"

A pair of yellow and amethyst eyes were focused at the same point, birds chirred from the trees around them, people walked back and forth through the Grand Plaza not paying the dragons more attention than it was absolutely necessary, they were already used to the sight of the drakes return from their journey to Munitions Forge.

Flare narrowed his eyes, bent on his paws, cocked his head just to get a better angle, but no matter what he tried his attempts bore no satisfactory fruit, at least for the dragonfly.

He shook his head and pushed his craned neck back " I can't see anything"

" By the..." The dragonfly uttered a stifled shout throwing his hands and eyes to the sky, his fists shook and fingers curled themselves in a futile begging attempt to an unknown divine force. With a sigh his shoulders slumped down.

" Bro be my man and tell me you see the difference" he muttered with resigned plead

Spyro narrowed his gaze, his pupils dilated trying to find even the smallest change but they were powerless.

" Sorry Sparx I-"

The dragonfly rubbed his forehead, utterly defeated " I don't believe this"

Cynder rubbed her claws on one of her paws on her chest scales, raised her leg to admire the claws from every angle just to place the paw back on the ground with a bored sigh moments later. She raised her gaze to give an irritated look at the prying pairs of colorful eyes.

" Are you done?"

" I don't know Sparx, Cynder's markings look perfectly normal to me" Spyro finally withdrew his somewhat obtrusive gaze from his female friend

" Come on!" Sparx growled and clenched his fists angrily before he darted towards the dragoness. He stopped at the side of her head, grabbed one of her horns and jerked her head forcefully towards himself

" You seriously don't see any difference?" he jerked the dragoness head to the other side

Cynder was completely unmoved by the dragonflies behavior, in fact she was bored beyond tears. A prolonged yawn parted her mouth displaying deadly white razor sharp teeth filling her mouth. In total boredom she began picking at her teeth while the dragonfly kept swinging her head from side to side.

" Nope" both male dragons replied

" They are glowing for Ancestor's sake!" Sparx exclaimed, startling the nearby passers-by. Both dragons opened their mouths but Sparx with a quick motion of his hand gave them the signal to stop.

He took a breath to calm himself " I admit that the glow is barely visible, but it's there I tell you! Spyro you of all people should notice that her markings are way more whiter after her fart killed that worm!"

Cynder raised her claw " Excuse me" she protested with a childish girly accent " I didn't fart, I burped" she snorted and jerked her head to the side with her chin raised high, like some sort of a spoiled noble damsel.

" What?" Spyro blurt out " Why me?"

" Oh I don't know" Sparx pretended to think " Maybe because your ass was chained to hers for who knows how long!" he exclaimed irritated before covering his mouth with his hand while leaning closer towards the dragoness " I would be so mad at him right now, he doesn't even see the difference in your appearance. Now that's rude"

Cynder's eyes snapped open with faked revelation " Hey you're right" she turned towards her purple friend and curled her nose faking an outrage of a spoiled brat " I think I'm mad at you"

" Hey don't put this on me!" Spyro argued back

" You see?" Sparx whispered while eyeing his brother closely " He wouldn't even notice that your eyes turned blue. I would be really, really mad at him right now"

Her head kept nodding " Yeah..." her faked indignant grimace deepened " I'm really, really mad at you right now"

" I'm a guy!" Spyro shouted as if trying to point something obvious " I wouldn't even notice your scales turning green Cynder!"

Sparx gasped in shock and pressed his hand to his heart " How you dare..." he spun around quickly " let's go Miss Ugly, he is not worth out time"

Cynder snorted and spun on her paws " Right behind you Miss Stupid!"

" Whoa" Flare huffed " You really made her mad"

Spyro looked behind his shoulder at the fiery drake, he opened his mouth to explain that they were just fooling around but decided that it is just a waste of time. With a shake of his head he followed both_girls._

Their claws clicked on the marble pavements as they progressed forward towards the two stony guards, the figures observed the approaching group with their imposing and agitated expressions, admonishing them of the importance of this place. Before they reached the door to the City Hall they stopped for a while and looked around, admiring how the Grand Plaza has changed during their absence.

Truthfully there wasn't a big change in the scenery, whatever small debris remained when they lastly visited the Plaza was already cleaned, in fact if they didn't knew better they would never believe that Warfang is still under reconstruction. The Grand Plaza was completely silent, no sounds of clinking hammers nor any other noises related to construction could be heard.

Whoever spent his time hear was surrounded by the joyful shouts and occasional mysterious murmur. The Plaza offered both mental and physical relaxation, the group could only wonder if this state of leisure will remain if they pass the recent somewhat tragic news. There was only one way to find out.

Cynder pushed the handle on the huge adorned door, with a clanking sound the gears responsible for keeping the door shut began to turn and seconds later the massive doors swung open like they weighted nothing.

Even if the passing time was the reason behind Warfang's constant changing, it was impossible to say the same thing about the interior of the City Hall. It was exactly like they have seen it for the last time, you could always say that the massive door that keep this place secure have some kind of invisible magical barrier which prevents the events of the outside world to penetrate this domed structure.

Not only the walls didn't change but also it looked like the passing time had no effect on the sentient creatures from flesh and blood, like the Guardians for example. Whenever they entered this particular building all six eyes were immediately raised to greet them, each in its own way. Starting from chaotic joy, to solid calculating just to end on cold indifference. Whatever people can say about the Guardians they have to admit one fact, their behavior is strictly connected with the Element each of the old dragons represents.

" You can't conceivably cognize how mirthful I am to welcome you back in our unpretentious habitat!" Volteer's quick words echoed throughout the hall " Please rehearse your most likely inconceivable exploit to us, we can't wait!"

" Speak for yourself you old coot" Cyril's cold tone interjected " I'm not shocked to see our friends return, after all Spyro was with them. With the knowledge and power of my Ancestors passed on him there wasn't even the slightest possibility that they will fail. My lineage carries the most secret of powers of our kind, which we only pass onto the chosen few who we deem worthy"

" Elucidate us Cyril, what momentous capabilities are you alluding to, that are not only a fabrication of your magniloquent ingenuity?"

The Ice Guardian growled, icy mist wafted through his nostrils " Don't you dare to question the last descendant of my magnificent royal ancestry!"

Moments like these convinced the group fully, maybe expect for Flare who wasn't yet familiar with the Guardian's sophisticated behavior, that the door that were now closed behind them had some magical powers of locking everything and everyone inside in some kind of protective sphere where nothing ever changes.

Terrador rolled his eyes, seeing the Earth Guardian's usual stern and calculating expression falter made Spyro chuckle.

" Silence you two!" his militant baritone voice bounced from wall to wall " Do we have to really go through the same thing over and over again? I'm tired of hearing your constant arguments, you are two adult dragons, OLD adult dragons so start acting like ones! I don't have the nerve to babysit you all the time!"

Cyril turned his cold indignant eyes on the green dragon, his mouth was twitching in a very strained grimace, it was obvious that he was struggling to keep his wrath in place.

" Did you hear what he said? Such an insult!" I won't allow it to-"

" I don't care!" Terrador blurt out cutting the ice dragon off, his baritone outburst seemed to shook the walls. An eerie silence has befallen on the room as everyone available were staring at the Earth Guardian, trying to process what has happened.

The green dragon on the other paw let out a sigh of relief as if finally he got rid of something that was weighting on his shoulders for a very long time. He took a deep breath, and as he did so someone very observant would notice the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile.

" Now" Terrador broke the silence, his snout adopted once again the stern militant expression " We are going to listen what our friends have to say and we will do so in complete silence" his voice was so calm that it hanged at the border of creepy

" Terrador-"

" In complete silence" the green dragon repeated with a slightly raised tone, not allowing Volteer to unfold his specific charm. The Earth Guardian turned towards the smiling group of young friends " Please, start from the beginning"

The group of friends did as they were told, they began their story from the moment their entered the tunnel, purposely skipping the part where Mole-Yair had an eye-to-eye talk with Cynder and the overall mistrustful nature of the manweersmalls miners later on. Basically they avoided any topic that was related to the odd, or whatever you might call it, behaviors of the members of their group, like Flare's state of mind for example when they were crawling through that narrow tunnel.

They made sure to let the Guardians know that Luck followed them through their whole adventure, especially its Bad side. The swarm of bugs that pounced at them in the tight passage which was effectively thinned by the unexpected violent shudder of the mine caused by the even more unexpected odd white ray of light that seemed to pierce through the thick walls like they were made from cheese.

They didn't let out the part where they fell down into the pitch dark hole below, roughly landed in the lower parts of the mine, fought with the swarm of bugs, just to freeze the hole that caused all this misfortune. Of course this part of the tale was embellished by Sparx' supposed heroism when he chased the falling dragons through the dark tunnels while effectively stopping the falling bugs behind them by using his cleverness and wit. When he began to explain how he accomplished such a feat the Earth Guardian urged the young companions to continue with their tale, justifying his decision with the popular line that time is of the essence, while in truth he just didn't want to listen to the dragonflies fantasies.

Spyro made sure to announce that their further journey through the dark mines was connected to the familiar tingle that served as their guide from the moment the white ray burst through the walls. They only mentioned their aimless walking around the dark tunnels, wanting to skip the boring part. Their tale renewed from the moment when that big pincer grabbed Cynder, when they reached that part they could see the Guardian's glimmering with pity eyes.

Spyro had troubles continue forward, not wanting to remind Cynder of her agonizing experience, but the dragoness took on from where he left. She just mentioned her struggle with the big bug, avoiding the parts with torn scales, blood, screaming and the like, for hers and her listeners peace of mind. Her tale came to an abrupt stop when she reached the point where she lost consciousness.

From there her male companions continued, swallowing the bitter pill of reminder, from this moment forth even the black dragoness listened with great interest since these parts of their journey were forcefully taken away from her. The boys explained how they carried Cynder through what seemed an endless maze of tunnels, ran for their lives when the situation required it, basically they explained how they stayed out of trouble until they found a tunnel that would be an appropriate hiding place.

When their tale reached that point the male dragons rushed through their story, only briefly mentioning their boring patrol routes. They put their focus on announcing Flare's discovery of a water source, which truthfully the fiery drake didn't even wanted to mention but Spyro insisted while also adding his own curious insight about the origins of a water source in such an unusual place. The purple dragon's monolog was ended by Sparx' painful whine that put the grimace of an offended child on Spyro's snout which triggered a merry laugh amongst all of the gathered dragons.

It took some convincing to make Spyro to continue the tale since he is the only one who could sense the portal and put the overall sense to the story. Eventually the purple dragon broke under the pressure, thanks to Cynder, who already learned that her feminine charms have a way to falter even the most stubborn heart. Males, they play tough but don't realize that a girl can twist them with ease around her claw when she really wants to.

The purple dragon explained how he followed the tingle through the dark tunnels while Cynder recovered. He skipped the parts when he encountered the bugs, only mentioning that the creatures were present around the portal in great numbers. He instead concentrated on the powerful force that threw his body around when he got close enough to the Veil and how he got accustomed to it moments later.

After that once again all four of them started to relate their experience, briefly mentioning the battle with the bugs. Spyro remained mostly silent through that part since he didn't want to accidently spit out his observations regarding Flare or Cynder during that fight, or later on with the crystal. He decided in that moment that whatever secret Munitions Forge brew its Munitions Forge job to digest.

When their story brought them to the point where they stood in front of the portal they made sure to describe it with great detail. It didn't escape their attention that the Guardian's seemed as disappointed as them when they heard exactly how the Veil looked like. They related how Spyro opened the portal, what they saw behind it, the purple dragon's unsuccessful attempt in closing it and one of its inhabitants leaping at them.

A gasp of worry escaped the Guardians as their story concentrated on their almost near death experience, they made sure to narrate this particular part with great detail, to allow Volteer to make some sense out of it, hopefully. The group made sure to mention every aspect of the worm, starting from its appearance, to its skills just to end on its feral character.

Not really wanting to mention what in truth happened to the worm, partially because it would be difficult to do so and partially because in truth they didn't knew what happened exactly themselves. They just put the blame on Luck, this time on its Good side, which made the tunnel crumble under another powerful impact with the worm. They mentioned how the lava devoured the creature and how it chased them down the huge tunnel and even through the vent that allowed the volcano to spit out all the magma.

Their story ended the moment they pierced that metallic barricade and spent some time in the Munitions Forge to recover until they arrived here, in Warfang. In truth it wasn't as nice as they made it to be, the manweersmalls where happy of course to learn that they have ended the threat of the bugs but they seemed to forget about that even faster when they learned that Cynder will be staying in their home. The dragoness didn't seem to care but Spyro had enough of the constant insults thrown her way and decided to leave that place even in the same day, just to spare her the disgusting experience.

" This is exactly what I feared" Terrador muttered sadly " Dire news indeed"

" Disastrous?!" Volteer blurt out excitedly, either he couldn't hold back his restless tongue any longer and ignored the Earth Guardian's orders or decided that the moment of silence is over the moment the green dragon opened his mouth.

" My esteemed friend, this revelation is far from lamentable! The infelicitous specifications are only lucid representations of incommensurate potential! Our friends conte imparted the most substantial discernment! Spyro is proficient in beguiling the inscrutable ingress to diverse macrocosms!"

There was a moment of silence when everyone gathered processed the Electric Guardian's words...or tried to. Flare especially, he tried very hard to understand what the dragon is saying but the attempt only made the cogs in his head grind on each other. He just stared at the amber dragon with dull eyes and discouragement plastered on his snout.

" I don't think I ever want to learn to read" Flare broke the silence with his mumble

The dragon's sad and somewhat resigned tone of voice triggered a merry laugh in the group, Guardians included, expect for Volteer who seemed not to understand where the problem is.

Spyro coughed, killing the chuckle that rumbled in his throat " Volteer said that there is nothing to worry about since I obviously can manipulate the Veils but lack experience to do so"

" Precisely what I verbalized!" the amber dragon agreed

Impulsively a smile widened Spyro's mouth but the moment he looked at the Electric Guardian his expression took a more serious tone " But honestly I don't see how any of this is good news"

" Me neither" Cyril joined the conversation with his cold tone, reading the purple dragon's intentions " Spyro is only one dragon, the world is vast, he can't be everywhere at the same time, it's absolutely impossible"

" Just ruminate the feasible complexity of perforating the cabalistic lamina..."

Sparx rubbed his forehead " Ok he lost me there, what do we need to think about?" he let out a painful whisper

" Possibilities" Spyro whispered back

"...if Spyro's conceit so to speak in unearthing the potential of his Time competency is humongous, I speculate that our friend will be adroit enough to deviate quintessence of Veils perseverance to his velleity"

Terrador snorted, obviously not sharing Volteer's excitement " The Veils appearing in our world is a bad omen as it is, we cope with the power of Time, that no one of us, even Spyro, is capable of truly understanding. Don't forget Volteer that the portal that our friends described in their story is not even similar to the one they encountered in Boven. What are the odds that Spyro will be able to lock all of them?"

The Electric Guardian nodded, he seemed to be prepared for such a question but before he began his sound sensor sizzling explanation he turned towards the young black dragoness. His intelligent eyes narrowed on her form as if processing a completely new image but moments later they returned to their original excited size.

" Pardon me Cynder, but what I'm about to divulge might wreak tribulation on your life giving organ. I will only wend to the gist of my explication with your approbation granted in full knowledge of the viable repercussions." his amethyst eyes for a moment ventured towards the fiery drake at her side

The dragoness perfectly understood the meaning of his words and looks " You have my consent" she replied in full confidence

Volteer nodded thankfully " Terrador convoke into your mind the day when Cynder overcame us in battle and used us as some sort of suspended, organic power source, she did that to administer what was imperative to allow the Convexity portal to subsist. We don't have any cogent validation but I hypothesize that it is the case. The puissant Veils like any other mighty gateway to contradistinct latent realm crave for such power source"

Flare lost interest in the amber dragon's words the moment Cynder name was mentioned in his monologue at some point. He observed the black dragoness curiously

" You fought with the Dud... Guardians?" he asked surprised making sure that nobody hears him expect for her

Cynder sighed sadly " it's a long story Flare, and not a very nice one at that"

" But why? You seem to be friends with those guys now, so why you attacked them?"

" Let's just say that I wasn't always so cuddly"

Spyro frowned thoughtfully " Volteer do you have any idea how such a battery would look like?"

The Electric Guardian shook his head " Grievously I have to promulgate that I am unable to propound any fathomable elucidation"

Cynder stifled a giggle, gaining the attention of all the gathered eyes, she covered her mouth with her paw and smiled from behind it " Sorry"

Volter didn't seem to be insulted, in the contrary, he looked amused probably realizing that his_fathomable elucidation_ isn't as comprehensible for everyone as he makes it to be.

" Don't forget that..." Cyril stated finally breaking the distant expression on his snout "... Spyro began to feel the portal just right after the strange white ray invaded the mine our friends visited. I have a feeling that this was some kind of power source we are all looking for, even if it was only a temporary surge." The Guardian's voice trailed off as he began to click one of his claws on the floor, obviously doing a quick math in his head

" Now it all makes sense..." he muttered to a distant listener before concentrating on the present ones " Some time ago there was a day when the sky darkened instantly and there was that powerful thunder, later we could see white rays cracking the sky which we all took for some kind of nature's electrical discharge. With everything that we know now I can't shake off the feeling that the Dark Army was somehow behind all of this"

Terrador nodded " My gut tells me the same thing, but let's not jump to conclusions and wait for Hunter, he will definitely be able to shed some light on the situation"

Spyro frowned surprised " Hunter hasn't returned yet?" he asked worryingly

" Yes but there is nothing to worry about my boy, he has sent us one of his falcons with a massage that he is alright. The strange thing was that two Atlawa arrived together with the falcon, Hunter requested Amela presence and the two lamas were her escort, he said that it was urgent that she would go with them. Sadly the message nor the Atlawa offered any explanation, what we know for sure that they should be arriving later this day, only then we will finally know what is happening. "

The Guardian shook his head and let out a somewhat dreadful sigh "All of this mysteriousness is troubling"

" I've been pondering..." Volteer began his quick speech once again " ... everything is interdependent with your Time potential Spyro, to be proficient enough to predominate the Veils you need to unlock the latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness in our objective. Are you apt of doing such?"

Sparx kept rubbing his forehead " Can't you just say potential?" he whined under his breath

Cynder's eyes widened as she looked at the dragonfly " Don't tell me you understood that"

" Some of it"

" Awwww, our little buggy is growing a brain. About time honestly."

Sparx glared at her " Yeah and since I'm so intelligent now I'm going to share a very important wisdom with you that you have to listen to since I'm just that smart."

He leaned closer and looked her straight in the eyes " Shut. Up."

The dragoness grinned

" Well..." Spyro began his reply " My Time power seemed to awaken by its own, I already used it in the mines in Munitions Forge but I still can't get a hold of it. I haven't been using it for quite a while and I feel so rusty and honestly I have no idea what to do with it, the only one who was capable of developing my Time abilities is the Chronicler but he hasn't contacted me for a very long time"

Volteer opened his mouth to voice another comment but to Spyro's surprise no words came out of his mouth, even if the amber dragon's tongue was forming the sophisticated sentences. Spyro could only make out the tone of his voice and the Guardian's accent but even that soon became like a loud hollow whispering, just like some sort of an echo bouncing off the walls in a completely barren room, as if the dragon would be speaking to him from somewhere else even if they are in the same room just mere meters away from each other.

Then the most awkward feeling filled his being, he could feel literally something pointy nipping at his very essence. The pointy object began to move sending surges of delicate numbing pain as it drew lines that Spyro was strangely familiar with, he could feel the object moving in a very refined way, a way he recognized from his parents lessons, the object was imprinting words and it was doing it on his very soul.

The dragon couldn't shake off the feeling that whatever is happening is violating the unwritten laws of the very aspect of the universe, he felt as the pointy object was trespassing on an strictly cloistered territory, a territory which belong to him, and him alone.

Yet the intrusion wasn't hostile, even if it caused pain Spyro could feel that the strange presence would spare him the ache if it was possible. Moments later the stinging pain caused by the sharp object faded, the moment it vanished Spyro could see flashes of his entire life after Malefor's defeat, for a moment he understood his every act and emotion from the past, present and most importantly for the future, he realized out of a sudden that a bumpy road is waiting for him that will falter his confidence, yet no matter how dreadful the path will look like, no matter how many obstacles will be thrown his way he needs to push forward because in spite of everything some good will come out of it.

Then the pain returned, once again he was invaded, something else joined the hopeful sensation, a cold realization saying that hope is for naught because despite what we do it will always bring change. Every action has a consequence, every being as it walks through its life shudders the world below it, leaving a mark upon it, this is just the way it is and nothing can be done to avert that. He too brings change, the effects of such a change depend solely on how deep his own imprint will go.

For a brief moment he saw a layer of a familiar world shaking under the pressure of cracking white rays that were coming from a dark void, a strangely familiar dark void. Moments later the darkness began to flicker and disperse revealing a set of strangely familiar claws attached to hardly discernable scales. The familiar claws began to turn upside down together with the shrouded in darkness paw, the moment the spin stopped the white powerful rays died down completely, the layer of a familiar world was spared the agony. Then there was a flash, the wounded layer appeared just above the hidden paw, a ring of fire began to encircle the layer, and when the ring locked itself the familiar claws sharply threw themselves backwards.

There was a crack, as if an egg would shatter when the claws connected with the shrouded paw.

An image of a stony snout with fire cracking inside its mouth flashed before his eyes.

*

" Hey Spyro!"

He heard the feminine words, the world was appearing slowly before his sight just as if he would be opening his eyes from a very deep sleep. He couldn't feel his body but slowly the image of the Guardian's looking at him materialized itself, the walls of the City Hall formed themselves just like somebody would be building it at this very time with invisible hands, brick by brick. Sound slowly returned to him, he heard his beating heart, his breath, the breaths of everyone around him, smell followed soon after.

" Hey Spyro!"

He recognized Cynder's voice calling to him, he felt her paw on his shoulder delicately shaking him. He blinked several times, finally recovering authority of his body, then he turned to look at her.

" Yeah?" he asked casually

She leaned closer with her paw still on his shoulder " What happened?"

" Huh?"

" You were unresponsive Spyro"

Terrador's voice boomed loudly inside his skull as if his mind was slowly recalling how it used to process sounds. Spyro turned towards the Guardian, he opened his mouth to form a question but just couldn't force himself to do it, his tongue was still trying to remember how to form comprehensible words.

" Huh?"

Sparx darted in front of his brothers eyes " You dazed off Dude!" he exclaimed while throwing his arms to the side

Spyro jerked his head back sluggishly, his mind seemed already to get accustomed to the surrounding noises since his brother's shout didn't rumble in his head, however his waking body wasn't unable to protect itself from the dragonflies spit.

The purple dragon wiped his snout " I get it Sparx, you don't have to spit on me" he replied, as if his tongue never became numb in the first place

" It looked more serious than that" Cyril stated " How are you feeling Spyro?"

Spyro shrugged " Fine I guess, a bit tired maybe"

Cynder once again shook his shoulder to gain his attention, the moment he looked at her he saw concern shimmering in her green eyes

" What happened?" she asked worryingly

He averted his gaze trying to make sense out of this awkward experience" I...I don't know, I felt like somebody would be poking at my head...or not at my head but at..." he sighed with a shake off his head " I don't know what it was, it was strange, then there was a flash...some images appeared...I don't know it doesn't make any sense"

Volteer poked at his chin thoughtfully " Perhaps it was an an experience in which a personage, thing, or event appeared vividly or credibly in your mind?"

Spyro frowned " A vision? I never had visions Volteer" he rubbed his forehead " Maybe I'm just tired"

" Exhaustion doesn't cause nose bleed" Cyril commented stolidly

Spyro could hear Cynder gasp when he withdrew his paw from his snout, just to run it below his nose moments later. When he looked at it he realized that the Ice Guardian was right, it was definitely blood.

" Coincidence?" Spyro smiled sheepishly when he pressed his paw once again to his nose just to look at it moments later as if making sure he isn't imagining things.

He wasn't.

Terrador rummaged through the papers laying on the wide table before he offered a slightly more soft piece of the white sheets " Here"

Sparx unhesitatingly snatched the paper and offered it to his brother, who pressed it to his draconic nose.

Spyro's eyes travelled from Flare, his brother, the Guardians and Cynder. Every single one of them was staring at him in complete awkward silence. Only when his eyes stopped at Cynder's gaze for more than two seconds the dragoness dropped her head to the ground. Spyro instantly realized what is happening.

" it's all my fault" Cynder hissed and stomped her paw on the ground in a display of guilt, sadness and anger

" No it's not!" Spyro protested from behind the bloody piece of paper

" Cynder?" Terrador gently pulled her teeth

" I killed that worm, and I did that by unleashing a strange power from an even stranger crystal. Which..." she let out a hysterical cackle "... I found because I felt its humming in a wall. When that ray from that crystal reached Spyro it caused him great pain as it would be tearing him apart" her expression once again was twisted by guilt " I fear that the nose bleed and everything might be the consequence of it"

" That's not true!" Spyro exclaimed before he turned towards the Guardians " it has nothing to do with it! I feel fine!"

Cyril eyed the purple dragon with his cold gaze, completely unmoved by the emotions going in between both young dragons " Why do you keep secrets?" he asked agitated " Why didn't you tell us about the crystal and Cynder's intervention?"

" Because we didn't know how to explain this! It is unimportant anyway"

" Unimportant?" Cyril snorted " How can be a power that judging from Cynder's explanation almost killed you unimportant?"

" it wasn't even close to killing me!" Spyro protested even if the pain was horrible and he had no idea if it would kill him but truthfully for a moment there he wished it would, because the agony was so unbearable

" We cannot reprehend our friends because they adjudged that the unrecognized remainedmarked by the habit of discretion. They postulated that the matter required a searching inquiry for ascertaining facts, refraining from a precipitating formal utterance of an authoritative opinion. A sagacious adjudication" Volteer defended the young dragons in his typical sound sizzling manner

" I believe in our friends good intentions but I disagree with the decision to keep things hidden from us" a slight note of admonishment could be hear within the Earth Guardian's tone " Now we at least know what might have caused the odd occurrence"

" it is not related!" Spyro protested again

" Perhaps it's not, but at least we now have an option that can be investigated and don't remain in the dark. Do you understand my point Spyro?" he eyed the group of young companions " Do all of you understand?"

" Yes" they all muttered at the same time, expect for Flare but his_No_ was muffled by the commotion anyway

" Whatever strange things you encounter, whatever strange things will happen, you will share those things with us. I understand your worry and the nudge to protect your friends but I can assure you that whatever you say here will never leave this room. We need to work together to be able to pull through this. Did I made myself clear?"

Terrador's militant voice sounded more stern, more imposing than ever.

" Yes" the young companions repeated obediently

The Earth Guardian nodded " Good, for now that is all we need from you, we will discuss the situation in private and call you if necessary. In the meantime go to the hospital Spyro, let the healers check you out, for all our sake's, and then get some rest, you deserve some free time"

" Before you depart" Volteer's excited shout stopped the young group in its tracks, when every member of the young band looked at him, the Electric Guardian solely concentrated on the group's solitary feminine charm

" Cynder how are you feeling?"

She observed the amber dragon quite dumbfounded, she knew that his question didn't suggest concern for her mental health since he already knew about that, she made sure of it after all.

" Fine, why do you ask?"

The amber dragon observed her intently, his pupils were dilating as if searching for something that was hard to spot. After a while the Electric Guardian's eyes returned to their normal size, probably what they sought was no longer there, or it was never there in the first place.

" My perception fleetingly visualized your presence differently than I distinguishin ordinary practice" the dragon smiled reassuringly " However let my faculty of espying don't perturb you, I frequently identify things by the means of senses that are not perceptible or discernible by the mind of others"

Almost everyone gathered in the City Hall burst out laughing, the ones that stood out were Flare and Sparx.

" Ok Volteer" Cynder responded in between giggles " I think I'll do just that"

The confused, troubled but overall happy group left the Guardians to their pondering, perhaps their wisdom will shed some light on the recent events. The fresh adventures brought more questions than answers, unfortunately for the young companions the answers were currently out of reach. Yet when Spyro looked at his reddish paw soaked with his own blood something told him that when they will finally get to the center of things they might not like what they'll find.