Spyro struggled to pull the cart, the taste of the bit filled his mouth. He strained his muscles, the cart moving inch by inch.
The slave driver stood over him, yelling in his face, “move lizard!” he spit, the saliva hitting Spyro’s muzzle, he struck the ground with the whip near the dragon. Spyro's front legs slipped out from under him, and he bent down, panting heavily.
“Useless beast!” the slave driver screamed, he slammed his foot into Spyro’s side, knocking him over. Spyro immediately doubled over in a fetal position as the slave driver loomed over him.
“Please…don’t,” Spyro begged as the slave driver raised the whip, the dragon pulling his forepaws and wings over himself, trembling.
Suddenly a flash of yellow fur appeared and Hunter was standing over him as the whip made impact with his shoulder, Hunter grunted but held his ground.
“No! Hunter!” Spyro screamed
The slave driver struck again and again, all the while Hunter stood there like a statue, refusing to move, blood pooling at his feet.
“Stop!” Spyro yelled.
His eyes flew open and he found himself back in his own room, the sun creeping through the bedroom window. His breathing began to slow, I’m ok, I’m ok, just a bad dream. He brought his paw to his neck, carefully touching the tender rough scales. He sighed and rolled over to find Hunter sitting up on his own bed.
The cheetah could immediately tell something was wrong. He got up, walked over and quickly knelt down beside Spyro’s bed. “Hey,” he said with worry in his voice. “You ok?.”
“I’m fine,” Spyro said, trying to sound casual. “It was just a nightmare.”
Hunter put his head down on his arms on the bed, “I know, we both get them, do you want to talk about it?”
Spyro hesitated before speaking, “I…I just feel so powerless in them…what those mutts did to me…” he considered his next words, “I’m supposed to be the hero. I saved this realm multiple times, I beat Ripto, I beat the Sorceress, I feel like everyone thinks I’m broken.” By now, he had tears in his eyes.
Hunter smiled. “You're still that hero Spyro, and I promise, you’re not broken, but you’ve been through a lot, we both have.” He reached out and ruffled the crest on Spyro’s head. “No one expects you to bounce back right away from something like that.”
Spyro pushed Hunter’s hand away with his paw and spoke. “Are you ready to talk about your nightmares?” he asked.
Hunter’s smile immediately disappeared, “I uh, I don’t think that would…”
Spyro shot Hunter a disappointed look. “Fine, so much for ‘we’ve both been through a lot together’ he said annoyed and turned over in his bed. He felt the bed give as Hunter got up and heard the cheetah’s footsteps move away, followed by the click of the door..
“I guess I can’t really blame him”, he said to himself twisting, trying to get comfortable on the bed, “it’s not like I really told him what the nightmare was about” he looked up at the ceiling , maybe we’re both broken, he thought.
---
It was afternoon and Spyro was practicing his glide. He climbed to the top of the hill. “All right, I’m getting to the bottom this time”, he said under his breath. He shook the grass off his scales from his crash landings. He turned around as he reached the top and took a running leap, spreading his wings.
The young dragon soared through the air, he closed his eyes for just a second, feeling the wind through his scales. In those few seconds of flight, nothing mattered except absolute freedom. He could feel his wings growing tired, still not used to gliding this long after over a month of disuse. “Come on, just a little more” he mumbled.
Finally, he couldn’t hold his wings up anymore and he dropped his legs, landing with a stumble. He turned around, he’d made it to the bottom. “Yes!” he said aloud, flexing his wings.
Suddenly he heard Hunter’s voice. “Hey Spyro, look who’s here,” Spyro turned to see Hunter approaching. Elora was walking beside him.
Spyro smiled at the sight of Elora, he excitedly ran over. “Hey, ya see that? Best glide so far!” he said, quite proud of himself.
“Yeah buddy you’re really coming along,” Hunter said with a smile.
Elora looked Spyro over, clearly disturbed by the sight of the dragon. Her eyes drifted to the large scar on Spyro’s chest.
“Yeah, that was...great, Spyro,” she said, unable to take her eyes off the scar.
She’s looking at it. He immediately lowered his head to block her view. “Thanks,”
Hunter gave Elora a nudge and a small grunt, she turned and nodded to him. “Alright,” Hunter said, "I'm gonna head back up the hill and let you two catch up.” He turned and left.
Spyro lay down, keeping his head low and curling up to keep his chest out of sight. Elora followed suit, sitting cross legged next to him.
“So,” she asked. How are you doing?”
“You just saw me make that glide, I’m clearly fine,” he said defensively, slapping his tail on the ground.
“Yes, it was a nice first effort,” Elora said politely.
“First effort!” Spyro snapped. "I've been working on that glide all afternoon!”
Elora stammered “Spyro, I didn’t mean…”
“Just forget it” Spyro said, “how are things back in Avalar?”
“They’re fine, everyone’s fine,” Elora said delicately, tilting her head looking down at Spyro's neck. “What caused that?” she said, reaching her hand toward the blackened scales.
Spyro’s eyes darted, looking for an escape. He glanced towards Hunter at the top of the hill. “It’s nothing, it’s healing fine,” he said nervously.
“You mean it was worse than that?” Elora said horrified. “Here, let me take a look at it.” Her hand got closer.
For a brief moment Spyro didn’t see Elora's hand, but the collar held by the hyena slaver. “Don’t touch me!” he yelled, raising his wing and blocking her hand. His forepaw instincting grabbing at his neck
Elora's eyes widened in shock, she spoke slowly. “I was just trying to…”
“You think I’m weak now, don’t you!?”, Spyro spit, getting up on all fours. “Think I...I need to be pitied?” His breathing was starting to get heavy. “Can’t…breath” he gasped, falling onto his side.
Elora watched in horror as Spyro began to hyperventilate, she reached out to touch his shoulder.“It’s ok Spyro, I’m sorry I…” The second her hand came in contact with his shoulder, the dragon froze up.
Spyro curled into himself. “Don’t touch me, don’t touch me, don’t touch me” he whispered.
“Spyro, please it’s me, I’m not going to hurt you,” Elora said, her hand still on his shoulder. She was clearly at a loss as to what to do.
Suddenly a furry hand gripped her wrist. “Please, let go of him,” Hunter said firmly.
Elora nodded and released her hand from Spyro’s shoulder.
Hunter kneeled down and pulled Spyro’s head to his chest. “It’s ok, you’re safe, everything is fine.” He spoke calmly like he’d done it many times before.
Slowly Spyro relaxed, his breathing returned to normal and he stopped repeating the same words.
Hunter relaxed his grip and spoke, “are you feeling better?”
Spyro nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine Hunter, thank you.” He could see Elora out of the corner of his eye, but avoided looking at her, instead, focusing his eyes on Hunter. She’ll never understand, he thought.
“What don’t you get back to your gliding practice, and I’ll have a talk with Elora,” Hunter said, standing up.
Spyro thought for a moment. Maybe I’m not making as much progress as I should be? “No,” he said quietly, "I think I’ll lay down and rest there.” He pointed to a place at the base of the hill with his fore paw.
Hunter crossed his arms, clearly not liking the answer before speaking. “Alright,” he said, I’ll see you in a bit.
Spyro nodded and walked off. “Still weak,” he said under his breath.
---
Hunter watched Spyro walk off and then lowered his eyes to Elora. “I warned you not to touch him,” he said, trying to hide his frustration.
“I just wanted to take a look at his neck, it looks terrible,” Elora said
Hunter put his hand to his head.“Of course it does,” he says annoyed. “The collar they forced him to wear did terrible damage to his neck.” And I’m the reason why.
Elora looked at Hunter shocked. “I had no idea,” she said, crossing her arms.
“How could you?” Hunter said, annoyed. “It has been two weeks since we were rescued, and you never visited once.”
Elora tried to find the words, “I…I didn’t want to see him like that. He’s always been so strong, so fearless.
“What about me? Hunter said exasperated, “You’ve known me longer than anyone, you didn’t want to see me either? Or do you think I wear these bandages for fun?.” He pointed behind himself.
“Hunter….,” Elora said softly
The cheetah took a deep breath. “You have no idea what it was like in there, Elora,” he said with disdain, his hands balled into fists. “What they did to him…to me”
“I’m so sorry,” Elora said, she reached for him. “I really should have come sooner,”
Hunter’s hand shot up shaking, his eyes pleading with her not to try, causing her to back down.
“They…treated him like an animal,” Hunter said angrily, lowering his head. “...forced that collar around his neck, choked the fire out of him, made him haul carts until his body gave out.” He brought his head up, looking at Elora, hatred in his eyes. “They beat him, they whipped him, just to be cruel, you didn’t see how he looked when we finally got out of there.”
Hunter was now breathing heavily as he spoke. “He wouldn’t have survived without me, and I wouldn’t have survived without him.”
Elora could only stand there in stunned silence looking at Hunter. She brought her hand to her mouth.
“You come here, acting like you still know him,” he said, glaring at her. “He’s not that kid anymore, not right now,” he continued, “I heard that bit about the “first effort”, you knew his confidence was shot, did you really think that was the right thing to say to him?”
Hunter wasn’t done. “And now, look at him,” he said, gesturing to Spyro lying near the bottom of the hill, looking depressed. “That glide was the happiest I’ve seen him in forever ” he said with frustration. “He’s been working so hard to get himself back to where he was before those monsters turned him into a pack mule, and now you may have set back his recovery.”
“I…” Elora could barely get the words out, “I’m sorry,” she said with sincerity. “You told me I needed to be careful with what I said and not to touch him, and I ignored both your warnings.”
She lowered her head and spoke, “he’s always been so strong, like nothing could touch him, I just thought that Spyro was still in there.”
Hunter blinked several times, processing her words. He shook his head, trying to contain his anger. “That Spyro is still in there,” he said, speaking carefully, “It’s just lost right now in a sea of misery and pain.”
“Elora,” he said sadly. “I say this as your oldest friend, you need to give him space, especially after what just happened.”
Elora stared at him for a second. “I…I…I should apologize to him,” she said, looking over at Spyro.
Hunter took a deep breath and spoke calmly. “I can’t stop you, just…don’t be surprised if it doesn’t go well.”
Elora nodded and walked off.
---
Elora walked toward Spyro, the dragon immediately spotted her and jumped to his paws, already on guard. He watched her carefully as she approached, what now he thought.
The faun lowered herself down, kneeling about a meter away from the dragon, who stared at her in silence.
Spyro looked her over, and then sat down, still saying nothing.
“Spyro,” she began, “I am so sorry for earlier, I made a mistake, can you forgive me?”
For a moment the two stared at each other in silence, until Spyro finally responded. “You still think I’m broken, I can see it in your eyes.” There was no emotion in his voice. He got up, turned and walked away, leaving Elora alone in the grass.
