Spyro was just frozen in place as he was looking at the three other purple dragons who had just came out of that big portal. All of them were staring back at him as Spyro looked at them with wide eyes.
The first one was the biggest of all of them. She was a female, and she looked down at Spyro with inquisitive eyes, which were of a stunning shade of green. The scales on her body were of a violet-red purple coloration, which contrasted with the deeper shade of purple of Spyro's body. In her underbelly and jawline there was a shade of cream, and her head was crowned by a pair of horns that were sleek and curved, resembling the ones of a gazelle. The membrane of her two wings were of a shade of cream so light that it even seemed to be white. In the end of her tail, there was a tailblade, which looked almost like a scepter, with a round bone with a spike protruding from it. She had a garment around her neck that looked like the ones that the Guardians had, but this one had a symbol that Spyro could not recognize, and there were some tissues coming from it, which fell over her shoulders, and were of a white coloration. Spyro could not avoid to notice just how beautiful she was. Spyro had not seen a lot of female dragons aside from Cynder, and he had to admit that this adult dragoness was indeed beautiful, with a nice body, glimmering scales, delicately made curves, and with a very nice face. Spyro even caught himself blushing as he looked at her.
The second one that Spyro noticed was a male, and he was smaller and younger than the female. Still, he was bigger than Spyro, leading the purple dragon to assume that he was older than him, probably by a few years. He looked at Spyro with an eyebrow raised, with his eyes which were both of a deep crimson coloration, and his pupils were vertical slits that stared back at Spyro. The scales on his body were of a dark shade of purple (mardi grass, to be exact), and it covered his whole body, save for his underbelly, which Spyro could tell as a dark shade of yellow. He also had a body covered in scars, which indicated that he truly had been in battles before, and his body was beef, indicating that he had his own share of combats in his life. He had his head decorated with a pair of horns that projected forwards, seeming the ones of a demon, and his taiblade was decorated with vicious spikes on it, mean and jagged. As Spyro looked at this dragon, he felt a shiver run through his body. The way that the dragon looked at him gave Spyro chills, and something about him seemed just to say that he was dangerous, and Spyro could easily notice it. He was not as scary as Malefor, though, but he was unnerving nonetheless, this was something that Spyro could not avoid noticing.
The last one was the younger of them, and of that Spyro had no doubt. Spyro had almost not noticed her, but it became hard not to notice when she trotted forward and looked straight at him with her wide, baby-blue eyes. She had a shade of purple on her body that was very close to orchid, and which was soft and very welcoming. It covered her whole body, which was smaller than the other two and also smaller than Spyro, what made the young purple dragon be almost completely sure that she was a young one, that along with her very features, which matched someone young. Her head had small horns that crowned her head, and that were all white in coloration, and actually made her look somewhat cute. Her tail had a few horns in it too, but they were still blunt, as if they were just budging out of her tail. She stopped and looked at Spyro for a few moments, and she just opened a smile to him, and waved.
"Oh, hi!" She said, in a young and friendly voice.
Spyro didn't answered, as he continued to look at not just one, but three purple dragons who looked back at him.
This… this can't be… There was supposed to be only one purple dragon each ten generations. The only purple dragons alive were me and Malefor… Who are those three?
Questions popped in Spyro's mind as he just stared dumbly at the three purple dragons who were in front of him, and they looked back at him. Finally, the oldest female was the one who spoke to him.
"Hello." She said, "I haven't meet you yet. You must be the Savior."
"Well, duh." The male said, rolling his eyes, and the oldest female just ignored him, and she continued to talk at Spyro.
"My name is Jocasta. I am the Priestess." She spoke in a calm tone, and Spyro only looked back at her.
"Y-you are a purple dragon…" Spyro spoke, as he continued to stare at her.
"Really? I haven't noticed." The male said, and he continued to look at Spyro, and the purple dragon looked at him.
"You are all purple…"
The male raised an eyebrow, and he looked at the other two. "Please, don't tell me this one is a retard."
"Adamaius." Jocasta said to the male, who just snorted, and looked away, seemingly with no interest in that. "Please, forgive him, he is not very good in dealing with others." She spoke to Spyro. "I guess he still needs to work his skills in socializing, but he will get better once you know him for a while."
Spyro once more didn't answered and now it was the young female who came to him, nearly bouncing as she came to him. "Hi! I'm Shiloh! What is your name?" She asked with a happy voice.
Spyro looked at the younger dragoness, and her happy face made him relax slightly, he didn't knew why. He was about to answer. "M-my name is-"
"It doesn't matter." The male, Adamaius, spoke aloud, and this made all three pairs of eyes turn to him.
"Adamaius!"
"What, it barely matters at this point, right?" The dragon said as he looked at them, his look seeming just as annoyed as his voice was. "I mean, by all I know we could call him just 'Savior', just like the guys around here call me 'Burglar' and like they can her 'Muse'." He said as he pointed at the younger little dragoness, Shiloh. "Maybe there is no point on even sharing names, since these titles seem to be more important."
Jocasta sighed, and she looked back at Spyro. "Like I said, he needs to work his social skills. I guess that he is still nervous about all of this situation, even after nearly three months."
Spyro looked back at her. "T-three months?"
"Yes, three months." Adamaius said, looking beamed, "It was when they took me out of that fu-"
"Adamaius!" Jocasta said, and the dragon stopped what he was saying, instead he just grumbled something.
Spyro looked at them, and his mind was slowly coming to grips to what was happening, even though there were still a lot of questions in his mind. All of these questions seemed to sprout even more questions, all of which Spyro was wishing to see answered, and so, he just felt natural to start to ask questions."
"How are you all purple dragons?"
All eyes turned back to him as he asked that.
"Excuse me?" Jocasta said to him.
"How there are three other purple dragons besides me?" Spyro asked, "I thought there was supposed to be born only one at each ten generations."
Adamaius let out a sound that seemed like a scoff, and Jocasta looked at him for a few moment.
"What do you mean? This is not how it works, purple dragons are born according to the needs of the world." She explained to him.
"But the guardians told me that a purple dragon came only each ten generations!" Spyro said, and he looked at them. "That was one of the things that they told me while I studied with them to master the elements."
Jocasta looked at him, and for a moment, it seemed that she had a realization.
"This guy is older than any of us." Adamaius said, and there was a silence.
"Well… I know that you are confused." Jocasta said to him, in a gentler tone. "I mean, I was too, even after all that they explained to make before letting me out of the room. I felt overwhelmed when everything came to me at once, even with the preparation."
"The room?" Spyro asked, looking at her. "Explained? Preparation?"
"Yes, about how the explained to all of us about the situation. About how we…" Jocasta was speaking, but she stopped as she looked at Spyro, and after a few moments, she asked him. "They… they did explained the situation to you, didn't they?"
"What situation?" Spyro asked, now starting to grow alarmed as the three purple dragons all looked at him. "What are you talking about? What room? Are… are you talking about that room with the false Warfang?"
Jocasta looked at him with worry now, and Spyro could hear Adamaius' voice.
"Oohhh, he knows nothing…" The male had a smirk on his face, almost as if he was finding it funny. "You convinced them to let you out without the need to explanations?" He asked, and looked at Spyro.
"They thought you could handle it?" He asked again. "… did you broke out of the room?"
Spyro flinched very slightly as he said that.
"Oh, you did broke out of the room!" Adamaius said, his smirk now turning into a grin, and he had a very dark connotation in it.
"What was that place I was in?" Spyro asked them, once more growing nervous. "What is this place? Where am I? What is going on? Is all of this some kind of trick!?" By the last line, Spyro was demanding more than asking, and the other dragons all looked at him. Jocasta with worry, Adamaius with a smirk, as if the whole situation was funny, and Shiloh looked at him with the curious look that children usually had, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the purple dragon.
"Man, this is gonna be good." Adamaius said, and Jocasta was now approaching Spyro slightly.
"I-I think…" she spoke to him. "I think that maybe you should not have broken out." She was speaking to him in the gentlest tone that she could. "Look, why don't you come with us, and then we will take you back there so they can-"
"I'm not going back!" Spyro nearly screamed, making Shiloh yelp and run to Adamaius leg, holding in as if for safety. "I want to know what is going on! I want to find Cynder! I want to get out of here so I can return to Warfang!"
"Cynder?" Jocasta asked.
"Sorry to tell you pal, but you are already in Warfang." Adamaius said to him, "It might look a lot different, but it is Warfang." He had a smirk on his face as he spoke that. "And you will have to deal with it, along with all of us."
"What are you even talking about!?" Spyro demanded at him.
"Adamaius! Please stop! He is already nervous enough as it is!" Jocasta demanded at him, and this actually had made the dragon flinch a little as she spoke that. Adamaius just "hump"ed and turned his head away.
"I bet twenty red gems that he is going to throw up when he knows everything." He spoke, and Spyro could nearly feel the smirk that the dragon still had on his face, as if it was all very funny to him. This only served to fuel Spyro's worries.
What did he meant by "everything"? What was that he was going to know? Spyro wanted answers!
"Where. Is. Cynder?" Spyro said once more, and he looked at each one of the dragons when he asked that, including the younger one, who flinched a bit. Spyro knew that he should not talk to a young one like that, but he was currently too nervous to worry about that in the moment. He just wanted answers, and he wanted to have them now.
The other dragons looked at him, Jocasta, the older one, looked at them, she seemed to ponder on what to say to that younger purple dragon, and finally, she spoke:
"This friend of yours… this 'Cynder', she was with you when you came here?"
"They told me that they brought her here." Spyro said to the older purple dragoness, "They said that she needed medical attention, so they were giving it to her." He explained what was explain to him earlier, but he was now with certain doubts if these words were actually truth.
"I see… so she must be in the medical wing." Jocasta said, and now Shiloh finally spoke.
"Oh! Is she that black dragoness who is sleeping all the time?" Shiloh asked.
Spyro perked at this.
"Yes! Cynder is a black dragoness!" Spyro said, the others looked at him, and Adamaius started chuckling.
"What is so funny?"
"Man, that dragoness is more to the other side than to this one." He said to Spyro. "I took a look at her when I was in the medical wing, and she did not look okay."
"Adamaius! Stop! He is already nervous enough!" Jocasta demanded, and this actually made that dragon flinch. He looked away, and she turned back at Spyro. "Look, we can solve this whole situation. If you follow us back to the room and let everyone explain-"
"I'm not going back!" Spyro roared, and he got into fighting position. "I want to see Cynder! Now!"
There was a silence as the other dragons looked at him. Shiloh had actually yelped and run to seek shelter behind Jocasta's leg. While Adamaius looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he smiled a little. "I'm starting to like him." He spoke, but Spyro simply ignored him and kept his eyes on all of the three purple dragons.
Jocasta looked down at him, and she sighed, "Okay." She said, as gently as she could, "We will take you to the medical wing. Please, follow us." She said, and she turned around and started to walk.
Spyro was hesitant for a moment. Where they really going to take him to Cynder? They had been insistent for him to return to that room. What if it was all a trap? Would they lead him to a dead end and then attack?
These and much more questions popped in Spyro's head as he looked as the dragoness walked past that portal, which opened once again as she just walked closer. After a few moments, he was brought back to reality as Adamaius voice resounded.
"Hey! Do you want to see your friend or not?" He asked him, sounding annoyed, and he continued to look at him. Shiloh was right by his side, and she was looking at him expectantly too. Spyro looked back at them.
Spyro was worried about Cynder, and he wanted to see her to know that she was okay, and maybe to help her escape, if she was being kept prisoner in there too. Of course, he was still not sure if he could trust these purple dragons who he never saw in his whole life, however, at the present moment, he had absolutely no other choice.
He started to follow, and soon was walking right behind Jocasta, while the two other purple dragons were behind, closing the line behind them. The purple dragons now were walking across the hallway, and soon, they were getting into more and more doors, which opened as soon as Jocasta approached.
"How do you open them?" Spyro asked, and Jocasta looked down at him.
"Oh, is because they gave me clearance to walk around." She explained to him. "They made sure that the doors recognized my presence, so they would open up for me with only a thought."
Spyro looked at her surprised. "The doors… recognize you? These doors are alive?"
"No. Not really… It is… a bit complicated…" She said to him, and she sighed, "I really wish Muddlin was here, he really can explain this way better than me." She said, more to herself than to Spyro, and the purple dragon only continued to look up at her.
He almost felt like asking her more questions, but he would be diverging from the important thing at paw: finding Cynder and rescuing her. All the questions could stay for later. Even because, by what Spyro knew, he was not sure if the answers that she would give him would be truth…
As Spyro walked by Jocasta's side, Adamaius and Shiloh both walked behind them, and Adamaius seemed to be smiling to himself.
Man, I really need to see someone freaking out today. This is gonna make things a little bit better.
As he smiled, Shiloh was walking by his side, and she was looking at the purple dragon ahead of them. Suddenly, it was like something clicked in her mind, and she started to hop in place as she walked, and to make excited noises. Adamaius looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"What? Need to go to the bathroom again?" He asked, and she looked at him.
"Its him! Its him!" She said, pointing at the purple dragon walking by Jocasta's side. Adamaius looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and he asked:
"Well, it surely is a him, otherwise, it would be a very ugly her." He said, and Jocasta continued to hop as she walked by his side.
"It is him!" She said, "He is a purple dragon with golden horns! And his friend is a girl with black scales named Cynder!"
"What are you-" Adamaius started to ask, but he trailed when his mind wrapped around what exactly Shiloh was trying to point out. His eyes widened when he got a hold of that thought, and his head whipped at the dragon that was walking ahead of them.
Could it be…
No.
It could not.
There was no way.
He was too young!
But… The appearance, and the black dragoness named Cynder…
Could there be any possibility that…
No. No, it couldn't be.
"It is him! It is him!" Shiloh continued to say, hopping in place as she looked at the dragon ahead of her. Adamaius remained silent for a few moments.
"No… It… it can't be. Must be a coincidence."
"It is him! It truly is-"
"It is not!" Adamaius said firmly, causing Shiloh top look at him. He continued to look forward, and now he was no longer smiling as he looked at the younger purple dragon who walked right by Jocasta's side.
"It cannot be. It is a coincidence." Adamaius said, more to himself than to Shiloh. "It is just a coincidence. It has to be…"
More ahead, Spyro and Jocasta were both oblivious to the words exchanged between Shiloh and Adamaius, and they just continued to walk into the hallways. There were hardly any words exchanged between the two of them, and they just continued to walk.
They made some turns in here and there, and doors opened as Jocasta walked close. Soon, they were into another part of the building that differed from the rest. It was in a softer tune in the walls, from white to baby-blue, and it made the place look a bit more welcoming than the cold grey that was the rest of the place.
As they walked, Spyro could almost notice that the place somehow felt different. As if the very air in there seemed to be somehow different from the rest of the place, as if the place itself seemed to want the ones in there to feel better and more comfortable.
"Here is the infirmary." Jocasta said, "They usually bring someone here when they are sick or when there is an accident. They also treat the soldiers in here if they get hurt during their missions."
"Is Cynder here?" Spyro asked, and Jocasta looked down at him.
"If she is in need, she will be in here." She said, and turned her head around. "Adamaius, you said you saw her in here?"
She was asking the other male purple dragon, but he seemed to be lost in thought, and his gaze seemed to be focused on Spyro…
"Adamaius?" Jocasta asked again, but was ignored, "Adam!" She called out, and this seemed to make the purple dragon snap out of it, as he looked at her, and she asked: "You said you saw the black dragoness they brought. Where you saw her?"
Adamaius looked at her, and he sighed, walking forward, and passing by both her and Spyro, as he said: "Follow me."
When he walked forward, he nearly bumped into Spyro, and meanwhile, their eyes meet very briefly.
Why is he looking at me like that? Spyro thought as that male purple dragon passed by him and took the lead, and the others followed him. It took only a few minutes, and soon they were entering into a part of the infirmary that had several beds in there.
Spyro looked around at the beds, all of which seemed to have a certain circular design, and were grey in color with white sheets. Some of the places were the bed would be seemed to be covered into some kind of dome that came from the wall and involved them, leaving behind only a certain silhouette of the bed, almost as if it was some kind of curtain.
Just what was this whole place?
As they walked, they could see other creatures in there, one cheetah, a two-legged yellow dragon, and a two legged light-grey dragon. The former two were wearing white garments, while the four-legged dragon was only wearing something around his wrists and neck.
As they approached, Spyro could hear the bigger dragon saying: "… even though her state is still very fragile. We need to keep a watch over her to make sure that she won't have another episode." Said the four-legged dragon, and the cheetah soon spoke:
"I really wish we could ask for help to the Sage, I mean, if someone could solve her problem it would be him."
"I agree, but he is far too busy with the others." The four-legged said again, "We need to do the best with what we have."
"But we couldn't help her in the past three days." The two legged one said, "And her heart already stopped seven times since she arrived. What if next time we can't bring her back?"
Spyro perked at this. Were they talking about Cynder? They said that her heart had stopped beating seven times!?
"Where is she?" Spyro asked before anyone else could call their attention, and that did the job. The three ones in there turned their heads at them.
"Oh, it's you!" They said as they looked at the four purple dragons who had just walked in, and they didn't seemed to be surprised by the amount of purple dragons, but their eyes focused into the one that was with them. They gazed at him for a while, and one of them said:
"I-its this…"
"Where is she!?" Spyro demanded, "Where is Cynder?"
They all shared looks. "Huh… s-shouldn't you still be in the room?"
Okay, that was it, Spyro was officially sick of everyone telling him that he should be in that room and that he should come back there!
"Where. Is. Cynder!?" Spyro demanded, and now he was actually baring his teeth, and this made the three medics give a step back. They looked genuinely scared of that young purple dragon. The four-legged one raised his wrist, and tapped a few buttons in it.
Immediately, there was a sound as the dome that was around one of the beds seemed to just vanish in the air. In there, in the bed, there was a familiar black dragoness.
"Cynder!"
Spyro immediately rushed to her, and as he approached the black dragoness he could see that she did not looked okay. She was pale, and her appearance denoted that she was sick. Looking over, Spyro noticed that she had a few string-like materials coming out of her legs, and some attached to her chest and to her neck. Next to her, there were some things, one of them were bags filled with liquids, and they seemed to be dripping and leaking something. The other one was some kind of box that was emitting sounds.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
As Spyro was next to the black dragoness, the other ones in that room looked at him, and slowly, the medic grey dragon started to approach him. Once he was close, he spoke:
"Her condition is very delicate." He was saying that as kindly and politely as he could. "It seems that when they took you two out of there she somehow took it harder than you."
"Took us out?" Spyro said, still looking at cinder, worried for her looking so sick. His head turned to the doctor, and he asked: "Out of where?"
The doctor hesitated for a moment, as if he was deciding if he should or should not tell him something.
"Out of where?" Spyro asked again, and the doctor looked at him, and he seemed to have taken a decision.
"Well… according to captain Watercrest, both you and her were found inside a great crystal. Being in there preserved both your lives as it keep you both on a state of suspended animation. However, it seems that the time you spent in there somehow took a tool on both of you." He explained, and Spyro continued to look at him. "You were less affected, maybe because of your condition as a purple dragon. Cynder, however, took it worse. Her vital force has been greatly affected."
Spyro looked from him back at Cynder.
"Couldn't you use some crystals on her?" He asked, the doctor sighed.
"Well, actually, it was the first thing we did when she arrived." The two-legged dragon doctor said as Spyro looked at him. "But, it seems that her case is more serious than that. The crystals are miraculous for dragons, but even they have some limitations. It is like her own spirit was wasted for being inside that crystal. It seems that her life goes away fast and she needs to receive constant flux of mana only to keep breathing." As the dragon said that, he gestured to one of the bags that was attached to her, and Spyro took a look at it. For the first time, he realized that it was filled with some kind of liquid that glowed, and it actually made the purple dragon remember a lot of the crystals…
It was like they had found a way to liquefy the crystals and somehow turn them into something that could be put straight into the bloodstream…
Spyro looked at Cynder, seeing her breathing slowly. She looked so fragile and so sick.
Was he responsible for that? It was because he used so much energy to save the world that it actually affected Cynder?
Why didn't she left when he told her to? Why she had to stay?
She couldn't die now. If she died because of his actions, Spyro knew that he would never be able to forgive himself…
Spyro thought about what the doctor had told him earlier, and he wrapped his mind around it.
"You said 'the time we spent in the crystal'…" Spyro said, looking again at him. "Was it a lot of time?"
There was a huge silent, and the doctor looked away. Spyro also noticed that the other two doctors seemed very nervous all of sudden, as if that subject was a very delicate one.
All that Spyro could think about was about the last time that he and Cynder were inside a crystal. They had come out to discover that three years had passed since they had last saw the light of day. Now he had a feeling that he may have spent more years inside a crystal, and that the world could have moved on while he was in there. That would actually explain a few things…
That was, assuming it was truth. Spyro had not yet ruled out the possibility of that all being a trick of Malefor.
"Look…" The doctor said, "I really can't really explain everything to you… maybe you could talk with the captain… I mean… he was the one who was supposed to keep watch over you…"
"Aquarius Watercrest." Spyro said, looking at him once more, and the doctor nodded.
"Yes, Watercrest is a good dragon, and he is a very good soldier, truly someone admirable." He spoke that as if he was trying to convince Spyro. "Look, why don't we call him and wait for him to come? Once he arrives we can all talk this out, and maybe he can explain to you-"
The doctor didn't have a chance of finishing, for in that moment, the machines that were attached to Cynder started to emit sounds. At the very same time, Cynder was started to shake in the bed, emitting what sounded like strangled gurgles and gasps, as if she was trying to breathe, but as if breathing was physically painful to her.
"Oh, no." The doctor said, and Spyro, on his end, went to her.
"Cynder? Cynder!" He cried out as he held her, she was cold, and her body seemed as if it was covered in sweat. She would not stop trembling, and her trembling seemed to be evolving into some form of convulsion.
The cheetah came near, and she checked on the black dragoness, before she said: "She is going into shock again!"
Immediately, the dragon doctors walked forward, and they were soon around her.
"Increase the amount of mana essence, and add some mana stabilizers!" The four-legged said as he stood very close to Cynder, checking her body. Meanwhile, the other dragon, the two-legged one, used his hands to handle the dripping material and he seemed to increase the flux of the liquid that was leaking from it into the black dragoness. At the same time, the cheetah picked up a syringe and filled it with a purple fluid from a flask.
The other purple dragons watched, and Jocasta seemed to be trying to make Shiloh look away from that. The young dragoness looked at the scene before her, while Adamaius was one that actually looked neutral.
Spyro, on his own end, was freaking out.
"What is going on!?" He asked, "What is happening to Cynder!?"
"Please, let us work." The yellow dragon said, gently pushing Spyro away, and Spyro, for some reason, found himself unable to do anything but to comply with what he asked. Meanwhile, the machines attached to Cynder were going crazy.
"Her heartbeats are out of control!" The cheetah said.
"Add 30 milligrams of pressure regulator!" The four-legged said, "We can't let her heart stop again!"
A-again...? Spyro thought, and he could only stand back and look as the doctors were doing things to Cynder.
Spyro had no idea what they were doing, as his mind seemed to have gone into shock. He looked as the doctors continued to handle Cynder, applying injections into her, using some devices, and also sometimes they seemed to do things to her, in particular the yellow dragon, who seemed to have the element of electricity.
"Her heartbeat is out of control! At one moment it is too fast and at another it is almost stopping!"
"Maybe some medicine to make it go slower?"
"It could stop beating!"
"Something to make it go faster!"
"Then her heart could explode!"
"We could put the medicines in succession, to help in each moment!"
"The strain could make her heart give out! We can't do this kind of thing!"
"Oy! Focus, you two! We might lose her!"
She was not going to die…
"She is entering shock!"
She was not going to die.
"Increase the amount of mana!"
"It is not working!"
She was not going to die!
"Nothing is working! We will lose her!"
SHE WAS NOT GOING TO DIE!
Spyro finally snapped, and he moved forward, startling the doctors as they got on their way.
"Cynder!" He said, as he placed both hands in her chest. Her body was still shaking and was growing colder by the moment. Her breathing was growing more and more ragged at each passing moment. "Cynder, please, hang on!"
The other purple dragons looked at the scene before them, and Jocasta was now using her wing to cover Shiloh, to prevent her from witnessing what she knew that was coming. She was far too young to have to deal with something like that…
Adamaius continued to look as he had a neutral expression in his face. This kind of "freak out" was not the kind that he expected to see to cheer himself up. He could only look ahead, and he was having a strong urge to look away as the scene continued to unfold.
"Cynder, please, hang on!" Spyro continued to beg, as he was seeing Cynder's life slip out of her as he held her, before his very eyes. He could feel moist forming on his eyes, but he didn't care.
"Cynder, you can't die now!" He said, nearly begging. "We have survived so many things together! We passed by so much! Please! I already lost Ignitus! I… I can't lose you too!"
Tears started to slip by his face, and no one dared to do or say anything.
"Don't die… please… Cynder…" His tears fell.
"Don't leave me alone!" He cried out, and immediately, his paws, which were touching Cynder, started to glow. This startled everyone in there, including Spyro himself.
However, his paws continued to glow, as Spyro could feel energy flowing from himself to Cynder. The effect was nearly immediate. Cynder seemed to almost relax, as her body was stopping to tremble, and her breathing was becoming less ragged. It was as if her body was receiving what it needed from Spyro.
"W-what is going on?" The tow-legged yellow dragon said, stunned, and the grey dragon was the one who answered.
"H-he... he is healing her…" He was absentminded as he spoke that, for he was far too surprised, as well as everyone else around him.
Spyro was able to register what he said, and he decided that this was what he needed to do. Spyro pressed his paws harder into Cynder's chest as she focused, and the glow became stronger as the flow of energy from him to her increased.
"Cynder… please… you have to live." Spyro said, as he continued to give Cynder his energy… his life…
"I can't lose you too…" Spyro said. "Cynder… I own you so much… I care so much about you… I… I love you… Please, stay with me…"
The others around continued to look, and after a few more seconds, Spyro winced, and so did the black dragoness. The machines let out some more alerts.
"It is not working!" The cheetah said. "He does not have enough power!"
Spyro winced again, and he tried to put more energy, but it seemed that he didn't had much of it left in him. Cynder was starting to look paler, and Spyro was about to enter in despair, when another paw came forward.
Spyro looked up, and he saw Jocasta in there. She held her paw just above Cynder's body, and it started to glow, in a way very similar to the one that Spyro's paws were emitting. The glow emanated from her paw and washed over Cynder in a way that almost seemed to be waves of pure light. Immediately, it was like that light was having the very same effect that Spyro's glow was having.
Spyro looked up at her, and she just looked back at him. That look in her eyes was more than enough for Spyro. He just nodded, and went back into what he was doing.
It seemed that the combined effort of the two dragons was having a positive effect. Cynder's appearance was becoming better, and the machines attached to her were making signals again, and the cheetah looked at them.
"I-its working…" She said, as she looked at the machines. "She is stabilizing."
The others around just looked as the two purple dragons worked their magic into the black dragoness. After a few more moments, the color was returning to her features, and her breathing was becoming more regular. She seemed to be turning better only through the efforts of the two purple dragons.
A few more moments, and they both stopped. Spyro stopped first, because he let out a gasping breath, as he now used both of his paws to support himself in the bed, his body nearly leaning in the bed as he took deep breaths. Upon seeing him like that, Jocasta herself stopped, and looked at him.
"Are you okay?" She asked, but Spyro barely heard her, as he was now looking at the black dragoness in the bed. He appearance was much better now, with the color having returned to her and her breathing was normal and calm. Spyro reached a paw to touch her, and upon touching her face, it felt warm.
"Cyn… der…" Spyro rasped through jagged breaths. As if on cue, the eyes of the black dragoness fluittered open, and Spyro's purple eyes could meet her green ones.
"Spyro…" She said, and the purple dragon was able to smile at her.
"Yes, Cynder, it's me…" The purple dragon said, and he smiled, as Cynder's eyes soon closed again and she rested in the bed, but she was alive. Spyro knew it, and this made him relax. He felt tired… so tired… Cynder was okay, and so, he found himself relaxing more and resting… Spyro was asleep before he realized it.
However, around him, the others were looking at the two sleeping forms, but in particular, they were looking at the young purple dragon.
"S-Spyro?" Jocasta said, sounding stunned.
"Spyro…" Adamaius said, his voice somewhat distant.
"Spyro!" Shiloh said, she sounded excited.
"Spyro." Said a new voice, making everyone turn around to look at the owner of that voice. Aquarius walked in the room, looking at the sleeping forms of the two young dragons in it…
Spyro groaned, and he stretched his muscles as he stirred himself awake, feeling like he had run several miles in a row. For a moment, his mind was blank, as he tried to wonder where he was and what had happened.
Suddenly, flashes came into his mind.
Spyro blinked, and he slowly opened his eyes, and saw Cynder.
She was laying in the bed, along with him. They were close to each other and, due to the position they were laying, Spyro could look right into his face as soon as he opened his eyes. He blinked to clear his vision and see better her face, as the memories came back to him…
"Cynder…" He said tiredly, as he outstretched his arm and close the distance between him and Cynder, so he could gently touch her face. It felt warm on his paw, and he could feel her breathing. She looked peaceful. She looked fine. She was fine.
Spyro smiled as he let the memories just pass by him as if they meant nothing.
"It was a dream…" Spyro said, calm. "It was all just a dream…"
There were a few moments of silence, as Spyro simply enjoyed being so close to Cynder as he let all that he went through be forgotten as a dream.
However, this was denied by a familiar voice:
"It wasn't."
Spyro's eyes widened, and he was able to raise his head, to look above Cynder's face, and he could see a familiar dragon standing in there. A dragon who wore a golden armor, and who looked at the purple dragon with a serene, but serious expression. By looking at that dragon, more memories came crashing down to Spyro, as he simply looked back at the dragon, a look that soon turned into a stare.
"You…" Spyro said, and the dragon in armor only continued to look at him. "You." Spyro said, more firmly, his expression hardened, and his body tensing as he almost seemed to be getting ready to fight. Aquarius was quick to try calming him.
"Don't do this, please." The indigo dragon said. "It is not the place nor the time for something like that. Besides, you still need to recover."
Spyro looked at him, and he looked around. The room was different. It looked different, even though it had pretty much the same style of appearance of the previous room.
"Are we in that room?" Spyro asked him. "The room with the false Warfang?"
Aquarius looked at him, and after a few moments, he just sighed, and nodded, not saying a word, but it was more than enough answer for Spyro, who groaned and tried to stand.
"Please, just listen to me." He said, and Spyro continued to glare at him, but stopped in mid action. "I know that you are nervous after what happened, and I don't blame you. I guess that in your place I would not trust me either. But I just want you to hear me out."
Spyro looked at him, and after a few seconds, it seemed that he had decided to listen.
"What is this place?" He asked, and Aquarius looked at him, before saying.
"We call it 'Simulation Room'. We often use it to train the cadets and to practice all kinds of situations." He spoke. "But, in this case, it is serving to another purpose."
"To deceive me." Spyro said, and the dragon in armor was quick to correct him:
"To protect you from the shock." He said, "To get you ready."
"Ready for what?" Spyro asked, and Aquarius looked at him for a few moments, and after a while, he sighed, it was as if he had just taken a decision, and he looked at Spyro, and he soon started to say.
"When you and Cynder saved the world, your actions somehow caused both of you to be trapped in a crystal." He spoke, and this seemed to rekindle something inside Spyro's memory. "This crystal preserved your life and your youth, while the years passed out here."
Years…
Spyro looked at the older dragon, and he was able to form words:
"How many?" There was no answer, and Spyro asked again. "How many years we spent trapped in a crystal this time?"
Aquarius looked at him, and his expression was almost one of pity, and he sighed. "More than the three years of the first time." He looked at the purple dragon, and he continued, "During the time you two were trapped, the world moved on." He spoke, "Things have changed. Dragons were born, and others died…"
"My friends!" Spyro said "Hunter! The moles! Sparx! The Guardians!" Aquarius looked at him.
"They have long departed. I'm sorry." Aquarius said, "There are new dragons who are currently exercising the duties of Guardians."
For a moment, Spyro felt numb. He looked away from the indigo dragon, and just stared at the distance, as if his mind was trying to register what was just said to him.
There was a long silence, as Spyro seemed to have forgotten that Aquarius was even there, while Aquarius didn't felt like saying anything to him just yet. After a while, Spyro seemed to regain his presence of mind, and he lowered his head, looking at the bed. Aquarius seemed to have decided that it was time to talk again.
"The world has changed a lot while you were inside the crystal." He explained. "So much that you could possibly not understand it. If you went out there and saw what Warfang has become… Well, maybe your mind would not be able to process it. At least that is what our scholars say."
Spyro didn't answered, and after a while, Aquarius actually thought that maybe Spyro had really not listened to him. However, the purple dragon looked up at him, and he asked:
"This is a trick?" Spyro looked at him as he asked that question. "This whole story is just a trickery?"
It was an honest question, and after a few seconds of silence, Aquarius answered to him:
"No. This is really happening. I'm sorry."
There was another brief silence, and Spyro asked. "Are… are we really in Warfang?"
"Yes." Aquarius said to him. "This building is located in the city of Warfang. However, the city itself has changed a lot since the day you last saw it." He explained. "In this room we could recreate Warfang as it was in your days. We decided to do it because, if you woke up and found out the Warfang that 'we' know, maybe you could flat out reject this reality."
Spyro looked at him, and he pondered at what the indigo dragon had told him. There was another silence. Before Spyro raised his eyes to look at him again.
"You said something about 'getting me ready'." Spyro asked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean getting you ready to face the world as it has become." He explained to him. "To explain to you how things have changed. This way, you can receive the information little by little, so the shock will be smaller when you know everything."
Spyro looked at him, and after a while, he just sighed, as if resigned, and he looked at Cynder, knowing that she could probably be all that he had left now…
"But… that can wait for tomorrow." Aquarius said. "Right now, you need to rest. Both of you."
Right now, after all that had happened, Spyro could not help but completely agree with the adult dragon, suddenly feeling even more tired…
Spyro has a meeting with some dragons who have a lot in common with him, and he meets Cynder, but finds out that her sittuation is worse than they told him...
