FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 16

He opened his eyes.

The world swirled into focus the moment his yellow eyes adjusted themselves to the surrounding light, his cat-like black slits dilated and shrunk repeatedly, until the blurry bouncing images joined into one, full picture.

He was in his room.

And strangely everything looked like it was turned upside-down.

And then his head was filled once more with that painful ringing.

He winced and with a groan pressed his red paw to his forehead that dangled from the edge of the thing that he slept on.

Here we go again.

The pain was agonizing, it felt like someone would be drilling through his brain using a chisel. His paw dropped down towards his eyes, hiding them. The light was partially responsible for this pain, it happened every morning, whenever he woke up beneath the rays of the sun. There weren't many such days in his life, there weren't many mornings in his life to be precise.

As he shielded his eyes for a brief moment he could feel the cold, cracked walls of his prison surrounding him, and he felt that through his scales. It was impossible to see anything, it was just too dark, and he spent many hours like that, daily, until they finally called him. Locked in a black pit, not knowing if you woke up during the day or night.

Later it stopped to matter.

Eventually his eyes adjusted to the night, discerning faint, dim luminance of his surroundings, a basic version of nocturnal vision. Hours spent in a completely dark cell had also one unpleasant consequence.

His eyes became weaker.

He wasn't the brightest of dragons, he knew that himself without people constantly reminding him of that, yet he wasn't entirely dumb. Surviving on sheer instinct taught him, brutally, some intermediate and crude lessons of medicine.

This is why he knows that his eyes suffered from the years of imprisonment, this is why he knows that he will be blinded by every bright ray until his eyes won't get used to light, this is why he knows that every morning will be a pain.

But he will bare through it.

This is the price of freedom.

If there was anything valuable he learnt during his ugly, young life is the high tolerance for pain.

There was something else behind the pain than the simple vulnerability of his eyes. It was burning his brain like a fever and eating him up like a cancer.

It was like that from the day he was born, it was impossible to remember your days as a freshly hatched child, this was common knowledge even he could understand, yet he remembered.

Flashes of course, but they were there nonetheless. It was still more than most people, or even all of them could ever experience.

Not that this was something to be proud of.

Those flashes were mostly filled with images of pain, his crying and purple paws slapping him, ordering him to shut up, demanding his obedience. Flashes full of agonizing screaming. Mostly his own, but there were also different, full of suffering blares.

If not for the pain he maybe would have smiled.

The scream of a purple dragon he will recognize everywhere.

Just like he recognizes the fiery bubble accompanying his every brief vision.

Just like the cracking sound of a fire and the scorching heat of a flame.

Really similar to the ringing vibrating inside his head, noise of which got more and more recognizable by the second, as if little fires popped all around his brain and spat flames.

He groaned loudly when a strong bolt of agony pierced his skull.

Little doesn't cover it, they were little years ago. Now it was a fully grown fire, burning his brain like it was made of wood. With each passing year the fire spread farther and farther, it covered his whole mind when he was very young, now each next year intensified the painful feeling and it was getting worse.

It was like someone would dip his brain into a blazing forge and squeeze it forcefully with a pair of pliers, trying to push out all of the fluids as if his brain was a fruit.

As a very specific fire dragon he was used to high temperatures, however his body heat was beyond even his boundary of tolerance. He was boiling from inside, with almost steam hissing from his nostrils. He felt like he was going to explode.

Waking up is a bitch.

Flare opened his eyes, the light hit him fiercely, only intensifying the ringing sound inside his head, as if a gust of wind would stir the already tremendous fire within. His black slits adjusted themselves relatively quickly, already having to deal with the light some minutes ago helped immensely.

When the picture that formed in front of his eyes stopped being just a huge, bright, pulsing splotch he noticed that something was dangling in front of him in this upside down world. It was a drop of his saliva, hanging on a sticky, wet natural rope of his mouth that was attached to the tip of his lolling tongue from his opened maw.

With a slurp he wiped his snout, getting rid of the drool, yet that wasn't the only wet thing his paw had to deal with. Something started to drip on his red leg, he moved his paw back, to get a good look on it. When that happened more and more red spots started appearing on his leg.

Blood.

And they were falling from above, in quick succession, one after the other, like drops of water from an insecure faucet.

Flare immediately knew what was happening, after all this wasn't his first time. He pressed his paw to his nose, its toes immediately started to soak on blood. Sleeping on the bed on his back with his head thrown out of the edge, not only made the world look silly but also didn't help with the bleeding at all.

He arched his neck up and made a roll, he groaned in pain when his head returned to its natural position, the quick spin made the ringing sound turn into a loud rumble, just like a fireball would explode inside his brain.

He jumped from the bed, landing on the floor on three legs while balancing himself using his wings, the fourth was clenching his nose tightly. As he turned around, he made a quick scan of the room, looking for something, a perfect solution for his condition. He found many such things, drawers, flowers or lamps, anything here would do, yet even now he decided that he won't ruin any of those things. He already destroyed one bed, another missing furniture would draw attention and he doesn't want that, especially not after last night.

He'll figure something out, this was not the time for this anyway.

Flare hobbled towards the balcony door as fast as he could, even the slightest jerk made his brain crack from the heat. He shoved the door open, luckily for the glass the door didn't open wide, as if they were deliberately designed that way.

He didn't really care, the gap was big enough to fit him through. That was all that mattered currently.

He hopped onto the railing, placing his hind legs firmly on the balcony floor, while both his forepaws, even the bloody one landed on top of the commonly used barricade. He yanked his head over the edge and started to retch.

Blood never stopped dripping from his nose, but he didn't care about that at the moment. All he wanted to do was to get rid of the burning bulge in his throat. He retched for some seconds before finally managing to properly throw up, leaving some of the recently consumed food in the bushes below in a pile of spew.

Blood kept on dripping.

Just to think that years ago all he had to deal with was just a delicate nose bleed, only a small rope of red streamed down his nose, all he needed to do was to wipe it off and he was ready to go. Now not only he bleeds like he was stabbed but also vomits, the latter being rather new in this painful addition.

However not the newest.

Flare reached to the corner of one of his eyes and slid his paw across it, just to look at it soon later, already knowing what to expect. His eyes were bleeding, delicately for now, as his nose in the beginning. It all started a year ago, he had no idea why but didn't really care, for him it was as normal as morning chores for a priest. In the next two or three years he most likely will start crying bloody tears.

He will deal with that when the time comes, for now he had other things to worry about.

Like getting rid of the agonizing pressure on his brain.

With his snout wrinkled in the typical grimace of pain Flare looked around the balcony. Besides the railing there was nothing here. He groaned, the ache is getting insufferable and the only thing in close proximity was the railing, the room was excluded now, it was too far away. He would avoid doing this if he could, but without any other option he is forced to draw attention to himself.

And then, suddenly, two avian creatures landed on the railing, making him jerk his head back in surprise.

What were those things again?

Birds!

Those were birds!

Living creatures that nobody will miss, so much different from the inanimate railing.

Both birds squawked, only making the fire in his skull to spit more fiercer flames.

With a growl of anguish Flare reached for the avian creatures, the pain made his so fast and desperate that the creatures didn't see him coming. He clenched his paws around the feathery beings strongly, already feeling fragile bones snapping, way before he landed with on his clenched paws on the balcony floor with a thud.

He let it out.

Flare exhaled a wavering moan of ecstasy as he unclenched his paws, the birds weren't there anymore. He lifted one of his legs to his head, dragging a stream of ash behind, the pressure on his brain noticeably weakened.

With all of his muscles getting numb from the pleasure of release he sat down on the cold floor, observing the ash as it was scattered by the wind. All of his blazing parts pulsed like fiery hearts until eventually they adopted their normal structure.

The pain was mostly gone by now.

Only a delicate stinging remained, it was always there, in his younger days that feeling annoyed him greatly, but now he got so much used to it that he barely notices it during the day.

This was a beautiful morning.

A night spent in bed couldn't be compared to anything else, he drifted away the moment he got comfy on the sheets. He was never so rested before, this was simply amazing, if the rest of the day will look like this morning everything will be great.

He lifted himself on the railing again, in the distance spotting a slight crowd of people moving about, he wasn't sure for certain but it looked like the neighborhood where he destroyed the house. If he focused he could already here the dim sounds of hammering, people were already working, already rebuilding what he has destroyed.

So much death happened that night.

Flare yawned loudly and stretched, keeping his front legs on the railing while pushing his whole body back, straightening like an arrow.

There was nothing better than a proper stretch in such a beautiful morning.

His eyes once more landed on the small crowd of builders and workers, wondering if he will be able to wash the blood off his paws someday.

Speaking of which...

He leaned towards his bloodied leg and started licking his paw scales. Many years ago he would cringe at the sole thought of licking his own wounds, cleaning them like some wild animal, he would retch at the taste of his own blood.

Now it came naturally to him.

He was a survivor, that demanded some sacrifices.

Flare cleaned his paw without any interest, scarcely remembering the times when his tongue wavered moments before it touched the blood. Now it was just as boring and normal like drinking water.

His long draconic tongue made short work of every droplet of blood. He then moved towards his nose, automatically finding the moist spots. Years of experience taught him where to look.

Same thing couldn't be said about his eyes.

Flare moved into his room, reached into the drawer right below the standing mirror resting on top of the furniture. He withdrew the cloth he borrowed from Amela and wiped the floor of his room of every droplet of blood.

Next he sat in front of the mirror, not shocked, scared or even intimidated by his look. Just curious. He leaned forward, turning his head slightly so his eyes were just inches from the reflective surface.

His yellow eyes were exactly the same.

Driven by an impulse he reached towards one of his eyes and stretched the scales around his eyelid. Only then he spotted a delicate discoloration in the corner, normally hidden below the thin layer of scales.

The blood vessels on the sclera expanded, looking like tiny swelled veins, yet there was something odd about them. He leaned even closer, his eye taking almost the whole reflective surface of the mirror. He was used to seeing his bloodshot eyes, but this was new.

Two of those tiny veins were broken, snapped like twigs.

Suddenly the corners of his vision started to darken.

Flare let go off his eyelid, the scales smacked into place as he withdrew his head from the mirror, he shook his head fiercely and looked at his reflection again.

Everything was normal once more.

He snorted dismissively, different traumas haunt him already, another childish fear isn't welcome. There is no foreshadowing here, just another discomfort that he will have to deal with. He survived through worse things, he will survive this one too.

This is a beautiful morning after all.

Flare licked the blunt side of his claw and ever so gently got rid of the small, thick red lines in the corner of his eyes. He looked himself over in the mirror, checking if he cleaned everything, it seemed ok but for his own peace of mind he rubbed his recently bleeding nose again.

His nostrils stung but nothing besides that.

Then suddenly his stomach woke up with a loud rumble, only now he realized that he hasn't eaten anything practically whole last day. It has to be corrected, but first he needs to see how his friend is doing, he hasn't seen her for the last couple of days and when they finally met that purple dragon was once...

Flare shook his head fiercely.

No.

Cynder sees something in him, and he looked like he was defending her from Iris, Amela wouldn't lie.

Screw it.

This is way too beautiful of a morning to ruin it with thoughts about that purple guy.

With a content sigh he directed himself towards the door, with a joyful smile patted the bed he slept thankfully. The last one met a rather gruesome fate, it collapsed under his bouncing weight, he really got scolded when he had to explain what happened.

Yet here he is, with a brand new bed that gifted him with a rest he never experienced before. It was all so great that he just had to repeat himself once again.

This is a beautiful morning.

"Get away!"

Flare jerked his head back in surprise when he opened the door, a muffled, excited shout echoed in the corridor.

"Stop it!"

He cocked his head as he stepped into the hall, the happy laughter was coming from the room ahead. From his friend's room.

The door burst open.

"It tickles!"

Cynder jumped from the room with a happy, squeaky giggle. Her head was titled in such a way so she could see behind her shoulder, not caring what's in front of her or the fact that she bounced off the door frame. She shoved the door open as if her room was on fire.

And yet she was laughing.

Until her eyes landed on him that is.

Cynder froze at the sight of the fire dragon in front of her, her green eyes widened in sincere shock the laughter died with a squeaky whizz, leaving her mouth hanging open, paralyzed.

"Hi Cynder!" Flare blurt out happily

She cleared her throat, pushing through the first stadium of losing her voice.

"Hi...umm...Flare" she put up a weak attempt of a smile.

She began to sway her tail in the doorstep vertically, the blade tip shivered in the air, dangling like the tail of a rattlesnake.

"You think that tail is gonna stop me?"

A playful teasing shout came from the room. Then suddenly Spyro pounced from the interior, paws extended like he was a cougar leaping on his prey. Pushing through the barricade her tail formed like it was nothing more than a thing bush.

"Gotcha!" he laughed when his paws landed on her waist with a delicate smacking sound

Her body didn't even shiver.

He raised his eyes, laughing triumphantly, till his vision wasn't filled with the image of a burning dragon ahead.

His eyes shot wide open, the laughter turned into a pitiful groan. The shock of such unexpected encounter welded him to his partner's rump.

The three dragons looked like statues, all frozen in dumbfounded postures, a perfect fit as props in some lousy comedy play.

Flare was the first one who shook of the shock, his yellow eyes narrowed themselves on the stupid snout of the purple dragon.

He is everywhere where Cynder is!

He is stealing his friend away!

Who knows what false promises and fake sweet words he whispered to her when they slipped without him to that village or whatever! That dick was undoubtedly swaying her to his side! Her laugh was sincere!

He was swaying her like he was once swayed!

He won't allow that to happen! He will spare his friend the cruel fate!

This was such a beautiful morning.

If he only knew that prick was in that room! He would barge in there when he woke up, touch that ugly purple hide and the morning would be beautiful once more.

No!

Not the morning, the whole DAY!

And every day after that!

There is still a chance to make things right, just look at that surprised idiotic mug. He won't know what hit him!

The temperature in the room increased making Cynder wake up from her trance. It was a magical spike, she felt it pulsing through the already hot atmosphere of awkwardness, that some people wouldn't even recognize.

She wasn't one of them.

Her conversation with Amela regarding Flare put her on higher pedestal of awareness. She is the only one who might have any control over him, especially when it comes to dealing with Spyro. It's up to her to prevent them from killing each other. The delicate bead of sweat appearing on her forehead told her that she is running out of time.

"It's great to see you!"

Cynder exclaimed, sincerely yet with a note of fear in her voice as she swayed her body from side to side, shaking off Spyro's paws, making them land on the ground with a numb thud before she leapt at the fire dragon.

She clung to him tightly, the force of her jump making him totter back and slam his rump into the door of his room as she embraced him into a caring hug.

Cynder clenched her teeth, fighting off the burning pain coursing through her flesh that was caused by the closeness of his unnaturally heated body. Especially from the wings she gripped so tightly.

Luckily her move obviously caught him by surprise or perhaps he instinctively felt that he was hurting her. Whatever the case may be her impulsive plan worked, the magical heat wafting from him vanished, he was his naturally warm self again.

Spyro straightened up, for a brief second a tiny, senseless bolt of jealousy hit him. There was his girl wrapping her paws around the neck of another guy, or perhaps it was Flare, him only, who triggered such unreasonable emotions in him.

It was him who made things difficult for Cynder in the hospital after all, it was Flare who attacked him, putting her in collateral danger, it was him who was a step too close to Cynder for his liking when they weren't a pair yet.

That dragon was a threat, he felt that in his guts.

Spyro shook his head.

Ancestors...

Are all males so crazy and territorial about their loved ones as he is about Cynder?

It's insane!

That dragon is a threat.

Flare returned the hug "I'm so glad that you're all right. It's been a while since I last seen you"

She broke the embrace and smiled "Too long"

"I've heard people talking about some strange indestructible golems and weird ruins. It was the Keepers, am I right?"

Cynder scratched the back of her head "Yeah..."

"Why didn't you take me with you? I would help and protect you from..." he looked at Spyro, a spiral of tiny flames flashed across the black slits of his eyes

"...danger"

Spyro noticed Cynder shifting nervously, undoubtedly she noticed the same murderous spark he did, not that it was difficult to understand the meaning of Flare's words without it.

He gulped, he felt those yellow eyes drilling into his skull. He tried to the best of his ability to ignore the stare but caught himself throwing glances at those eyes every now and then. Some deep dark part of him wanted to snarl at the fire dragon, unexpectedly and fiercely, knowing exactly that it would make him whine in fear despite whatever brave show he is putting up right now.

The moment she saw that ferocious spark in his eyes, full of murderous hate directed at no one else but the love of her life, she wanted to smack Flare across his snout. How is it possible that someone can dislike a dragon like Spyro so much was beyond her comprehension, especially when his golden heart bled and still bleeds for many people.

Yet she like no one else understands Flare, his mistrust is misguided but it doesn't mean that in some cruel, ironical way it isn't fair. How can he see the other side of Spyro when he received nothing else but violence from purple dragons, when nobody showed him any kindness.

Yet all that horrible fate didn't break him completely, there was room for amiableness in his heart, there was room for trust. She just knew it, they share a similar dark past after all. The ability to accept, to see behind the veil of hate, he has it in him.

If he would be a lost cause he would never try so hard to at least tolerate Spyro.

Good has walked through the door of sadness and pain of her life. If she can spare someone else a similar suffering she will do it. She will guide Good to the right door.

Cynder rubbed Flare's shoulder tenderly.

"I know you would. We went to the place where we found you, we didn't want you to go through the painful memories. You escaped from that place, you suffered enough, you earned your peace. Knowing our luck there will still be a chance to earn a couple more bruises. We have to avoid fighting when we can, violence is horrible, we both know that Flare"

He instantly dropped his head down, aiming his full of aggression eyes at the floor, feeling guilty. She doesn't like fights and violence, the aggressive look he gave Spyro would only lead to that, he would betray the wishes of his friend. He can't sacrifice that.

She moved her head down to meet his eyes, smiling lovingly "Besides it's not like you wasted your time, you were spending much of it with Volteer from what I've heard"

He jerked his head back up instantly, the move was so fast that the top of his head almost crashed into her nose, she was saved only by her natural reflex.

"I have to show you something!" Flare exclaimed excitedly and turned swiftly towards the door to his room

Cynder looked behind her shoulder, shrugging and winking playfully with an eloquence of false modesty of a person knowing his value.

Spyro rolled his eyes teasingly.

All that sympathetic cockiness was gone with the surprised feminine yelp bursting from her throat when a powerful tug on her leg pulled her into the room across the hall.

Flare instantly jumped towards one of the nearest cabinets while unfurling his tail from around Cynder's leg, he began rummaging through every drawer he laid his paws on like a maniac.

"Where did I put it?" the fire dragon mumbled as he slammed another drawer shut before starting working on a different cabinet

"It has to be here somewhere"

Spyro cocked his head, intrigued by the slight commotion going on inside. He stopped at the doorstep and peeked inside the room.

Cynder feeling his presence looked behind her shoulder gently and smirked.

She started to swing her tail around, what at first seemed like completely natural movements. At least it looked like this for Spyro, he kept jerking his head from side to side, up and down, trying to keep Flare in his sight despite the swaying tail blocking his view every now and then.

Cynder started to move her tail faster, biting on the lower lip to quench the giggle building up in her throat. He looks so cute and silly when he succumbs to his natural curiosity, failing to see what is truly happening. By now she was tilting her blade tip in such a way so it blocked even more of his vision.

It was that what made him see the true intentions of her actions. After another jerk he looked straight in her direction, aiming his friendly indignant eyes at her.

Cynder muffled down a giggle and moved her tail in front of his eyes, this time purposely stopping the tilted blade tip in front of his nose, like an aerial metallic blindfold.

He jerked his head down, her tail followed suit, his neck moved to the side, her tail did so too.

A jerk to the right, she kept with his pace.

Another one to the left, she followed him closely.

Up, down, right, left, quicker and quicker.

And then suddenly he stopped with her tail frozen in front of his nose.

She giggled quietly, with playful anxiousness awaiting his next move.

After a short pause he moved his head to the right, she blocked his view, then he swiftly jerked to the left.

Before she caught up with him he moved his head in the opposite direction and took a gentle bite on her tail right behind her blade tip, making Cynder bleep in amusement.

"There it is!" Flare exclaimed triumphantly throwing on the nearby cabinet a thick sheet of paper with ink and quill following soon after

Spyro spat out his partner's tail, receiving an endearing gentle pat on his shoulder before finally the two of them focused all their attention on the fire dragon.

The fire drake immediately dipped the feather and started to scribble on the sheet. Cynder and Spyro craned their necks forward, admiring with honest fascination Flare's work. Even Spyro whose relations with the fire dragon are barely tolerable was happy to see Flare fighting with his limitations with such enjoyment. He was glad that he found some happiness.

Flare bit on his tongue as he with immense concentration trailed with the feather the lines he was pretty familiar with. Slowly, letter after letter started to appear on the sheet, all of them capital.

Finally he pushed away.

Five crooked letters were visible on the paper, with thick ink smudges at the ends as a result of too much applied pressure.

FLARE was written on the paper.

The author snatched the page fervently and presented it to Cynder, clenching the top of it in his paw.

"Look!" he blurt out, almost choking on his own excited quick breaths "That's me! This is my name!"

Cynder stared at the paper in awe, proud about Flare's accomplishment and silently praising Volteer, the miracle worker.

"This is awesome!" the enthusiastic mood marked her "Flare, you can write!"

"Only my name for now and only in big letters"

"Doesn't matter, this is a win here. You're a fast learner" she smiled happily "Come here"

Flare began to move but it was her who made the first step, despite what she said. She embraced him in a friendly hug. The paper swayed down onto the ground like a leaf. Completely unimportant.

He felt himself melting within this sincere display of friendship.

"I'm so proud of you" she whispered softly and broke the embrace

He has never felt so great before, there was someone who seriously cares about him, his little victory made her happy.

She was so pretty when she smiled, he couldn't get enough of it. He will never do anything that will make her sad, he won't allow anyone to steal or kill that smile.

Never.

"Congratulations Flare" Spyro added "I mean it"

The fire dragon looked towards the door, meeting the amethyst gaze. He saw kindness in those eyes and something else. He compared it with the memory of a flower that just recently blossomed, its sweet aroma filling the room, the scent not entirely dedicated for him, but it still overwhelmed his senses, bringing peace and sympathy with it.

That dragon felt sorry for him! And was sincerely happy!

But he is a purple dragon!

Thanks to Cynder he recognized this honesty, and Spyro was radiating the same aura as her, with a bit of...apology in it?

He was too deeply scarred to give to that feeling of acceptance, it wasn't enough to heal his wounds, if that's ever possible that is, but it was enough to sooth the pain.

"T-t-t-thanks" Flare stammered, surprised himself by the nervousness in his voice

Cynder's smile grew wider, she took that stutter for a good sign.

"So, what are your plans Flare? What will you do with your new set of skills?"

"I'm going to write your name next" he replied automatically

She was surprisingly awe-struck by his blunt determination, a slight blush crept on her cheeks.

"My name? You don't have to"

"But I do! You're amazing, I've never met anyone like you before. You're like the best friend from a group of best friends"

"He is right you know" Spyro added

Cynder spun around, aiming her eyes at the balcony window so they couldn't see her eyes that were flooded with tears once more. As she stared at the azure sky she wondered if this is really her life or just a beautiful dream she can't wake up from.

People care about her.

They love and accept her.

She has friends and a partner.

Is this really happening?

After all she has done?

"You" Cynder cleared her throat, bottling up the emotion as best as she could. She cried enough already "You should focus on something else than me. On something far more amazing. I'm just a name, you write it and it's over, you can do it even now"

Flare shook his head "Oh no, I will only ruin it. You're name has to be perfect, I will only try when I feel I'm ready"

Spyro smiled at seeing Cynder shiver, perhaps all those sweet words and overall all-loving, all-caring atmosphere was cheeky, indigestible for some even. He had a different opinion on that matter, he could watch and listen to Cynder's happiness for whole days and he would never get tired of it.

Why?

Because she deserves every bit of it and no one has the right to say it's enough.

Cynder pressed her paw to her chest, it felt like her heart was about to explode from the excess of blissful joy.

"I'm flattered, let's say you write my name perfectly. What then?"

Flare shrugged "I dunno"

She looked behind her shoulder gently "Come on, everyone wants to do something cool after they learn some wicked skills"

The drake looked around the room, lost in thought.

"I think I'm going to write a book"

She turned around, eyebrows risen high in surprise "A book? What about?"

Flare shrugged once more "Don't know yet, but it's going to be about something great"

The dragoness smiled kindly "I'm sure it will. Claws crossed"

The drake looked at her paws, the toes from which her claws protruded to be exact.

Cynder understood that clueless, curious stare immediately. It triggered a merry giggle from her throat.

"Don't ever change"

"Ok!" he replied instantly, not understanding what she meant by that but that was a request and he will see her wishes fulfilled.

A loud rumbling sound filled the room unexpectedly.

Spyro reared his head back in surprise "What was that?"

Flare cringed in shame "Sorry, I haven't eaten in a while"

"We were going to get some breakfast, you can come with us" Spyro scratched the back of his head "I mean if it won't be a problem"

The fire drake looked at the purple dragon first, at first wanting to starve than dine with him, but then his eyes landed on the only female in the room. Even he could see how important Spyro is to her and he is no perception expert.

He will never betray his friend even if it meant spending some time in the company of his life nemesis.

"Sure" Flare answered emotionlessly

"Great" Spyro threw a quick glance at the door leading to his room "Before we go I need to check something first" he disappeared from the room, the sound of his claw clicking in the hall the sign that he was on the move

Cynder nodded her head at the opened door as she followed her partner. She noticed Spyro creeping to the door of his room, silently working up on the knob.

"Why all the stalking? Just open the door, everyone is awake already"

Spyro smiled "I can't. If he's in there, and I hope that he is, I don't want to wake him up. Everyone might be awake but Sparx surely isn't, he usually sleeps till noon in days such as these"

"What a lazy ass"

"That's not laziness as he says it. He's working with his head, all that neurons need their rest to be at their best"

"What a quote. He made you believe in it, right?"

"For the sake of our..." he looked at the ground, seeing the light of flames dancing on the floor "...relationship I pretend that this is the only stupid thing he made me believe in"

Cynder snorted in amusement, smirking teasingly "Don't forget about the brush"

Spyro chuckled "Ok. Two"

"By the way, I forgot to ask you. You think last night or this morning can win against a wet brush? The slurping can't be fake"

Flare cocked his head in confusion.

"Shut up" he replied endearingly

Cynder giggled.

He put more gently pressure on the door and they finally opened with a barely audible creak. He dropped on the floor and pushed the wooden obstacle with the top of his nose, just enough to fit his head through the crack.

His eyes widened in surprise.

"Sparx?"

The dragonfly turned around, the glow he naturally emits was more brighter under the sun rays that were pushing through the window to which he turned his back.

"Sup' dude"

"You're awake?"

Sparx looked around startled as if checking if somebody is listening then he covered his mouth with his hand.

"What gave me away?" he whispered

"You know what I'm talking about, you never been up so early"

"Buddy pay attention cos' what I'm about to say will change your life. You can't sleep when somebody is so loud"

Spyro winced in guilt "Sorry, we shouldn't be so loud in the hall"

The dragonfly narrowed his eyes on the dragon "Oh yeah, I forgot about that"

"Huh?"

Sparx shook his hand dismissively "Never mind, I'm just screwing with you. I've been up for a while now"

"So since you're wide awake..." Spyro entered the room wrinkling his nose at the peculiar scent in the air "...where have you been all night?"

"Dude, from the two of us I'm in our room. Where have you been?"

"I asked first!" the drake protested, his nose kept twitching, adapting to the smell that wasn't in this room. Ever.

"I've been all around Warfang looking for you!"

"Thanks dad"

"Answer the question! I was worried sick!"

Sparx folded his arms on his chest "You were devastated from what I've heard"

"What that supposed to mean?"

Spyro sniffed the air a couple more times, not able to ignore the scent any longer.

"What is that smell?"

"I don't smell anything" the dragonfly replied confidently

His draconic nostrils kept flaring in steady succession.

"It smells like..."he moved forward, his nose directing his legs "...dirt"

Sparx began to push back delicately from the advancing, sniffing brother of his

"Bro you should really put away that wine"

Spyro pressed forward "It's coming from..." every step he made brought him closer to the source of the smell

The dragonfly gulped when he felt his back pressing against the balcony door.

The purple dragon stopped in front of him sniffing at his right side before turning his head slowly so it eventually faced him. Spyro frowned and craned his neck forward, stopping inches from his glowing aura.

"You!" the drake exclaimed as he threw his head back "You reek of dirt, or something similar!"

Sparx laughed half-heartedly and darted across the room, away from his brother.

"I don't know what you're talking about"

He chased his glowing brother.

"What you've been up to!?"

The dragonfly dashed to the side.

"Dude you're paranoid"

"You stink, you're not going to fool me!"

"Troubles in paradise?" Cynder looked inside the room with a teasing smirk

"Look!" Sparx exclaimed as he pointed at the door "It's Cynder!" he swiftly dashed in the direction of the dragoness, hovering just next to her head as he pointed at her "You like Cynder don't you?"

"Smell him Cynder!" Spyro shouted irritated "Tell me if he stinks"

"Smelling Sparx, now that's a reason to wake up in the morning" with a smile she took a sniff "Yep, he stinks, surprise, but that's not dirt"

"It's clay" Flare added

"Clay?!" Sparx let out a hysterical laugh "Crouton, you always have the best ideas"

Spyro cocked his head "Clay? What were you doing with clay Sparx?"

"You're listening to Flare? Seriously?" he darted towards the red dragon and patted the his head "No offense"

"That's the smell of clay. I'm certain" Flare assured the group

Sparx snorted disdainfully "And how exactly can you know that? You've been a lab rat"

"I was always a dragon"

The dragonfly rubbed his forehead "I don't know if I'll ever get used to this"

"Fire can be used for more things than just burning stuff"

Cynder grinned mischievously "I think our Sparxy found a hobby"

Sparx's face twisted in a grimace of protest, from his mouth was coming a defensive groan but then all of a sudden his arms dropped to his sides in a sign of complete defeat.

"You got me" he sighed "I'm so embarrassed"

"Clay and hobby?" Spyro furrowed his brows "You started playing in pottery?"

"Exactly! Pottery" the dragonfly clapped his hands together "Can we stop talking about this now?"

"Pottery is about building and work. You're not a fan of either one"

Sparx rolled his eyes "I had a change of heart. What's the big deal anyway? Do I ask you what you did yesterday?"

"Pottery is a convenient excuse and you sold yourself out pretty quick. I think that's just a cover, you're hiding something"

"All right, how about this. I tell you everything about my night if you tell me about yours. Right here and now"

Spyro's eyes nervously shifted at Flare, however the rest of his body kept the appearance of indifference.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk then don't"

Cynder narrowed her eyes on the dragonfly suspiciously.

"He knows?" she asked herself inwardly

"Give it a rest bro" Sparx dashed next to his brother's head, leaning against his right side. The dragon's purple pupils eyed him attentively

"We have bigger problems now" he whispered "Zombie mole is on the move"

Spyro's eyes widened.

"There was talk about the recent killings in Boven, dark dragon and stuff, the explosion and even Flare"

"How do you know this?"

Sparx rolled his eyes "Doesn't matter. What's important is that there is something really wrong with some of the guys in the temple. And I'm not talking about being solely crazy about religion. There's something else"

Cynder snorted indignantly "Did your parents didn't teach you that whispering is impolite?"

Both brothers swallowed, meaningfully nodding with their eyes at Flare.

"He's a part of our group, he has all the right to know"

She looked at the fire dragon "Am I right? Do you want to know Flare?"

The red drake frowned curiously "Know about what?"

Cynder aimed her gaze at the brothers meaningfully.

Spyro licked his lips, understanding the signal.

"Troubles"