A Perilous Incline

Whisper gestured to her surroundings. “I'm well capable of taking care of myself,” she reminded him before shaking her head. “Why do you ask questions you already know the answers to.”

It was a conversation the pair had been over, though truth be told she never did reveal her intentions for after she had claimed the Corruptions seat of power, after she granted Balthazar's life back to him. Truth be told she thought, she hadn't given it much thought herself. That was something she would face when she came to it.

"Because you seem to enjoy prolonging my suffering by occasionally doing something dead foolish." Hmph. He may have been rusty, but he had played this game before she was born.

"I think we should kill off the remaining spirits." His stance silently shifted with his feet, hands uncurling with only a creak of the material he was formed of. "From memory there are only a handful. Maybe three or four. It would clean up some loose ends."

Whisper frowned. “No.”

Though Whisper was walking a slippery slope, she was not yet a murderer. “They no longer play a part in this, there is nothing to gain by taking their lives. The swords are scattered, and the vault will never be opened that way, not now.”

"The Vault is an irrelevant matter. Spirits are only confined so long as they think they are. So long as they are too weak. How long do you think it will be before they wander free like I have?" It was time for a test. "I didn't want to say anything, but one of the spirits is missing." Not quite a lie. "And I have no reason not to believe they are working for the Corruption." But not truth either.

"You're not ready to face the Corruption just yet. It would be best for now to take time to investigate leads such as these while we bide our time and wait for the right moment to strike."

“What consequence is it to me if they wander off from their prisons?” she asked. “They are not enemies of mine, and there is nothing to be gained in making them so.” She shook her head again. “I wouldn't then, nor would I now help you kill them.

Whisper slid down from the rock with the crunch of snow beneath her booted feet. Pulling the flimsy bits of cloth from her blouse closer to ward against the cold, she began to simply walk back towards the temple, fading from view with each step.

He nodded. Valuable words to be had, really. He would have to prove these matters furthers, like a needle into a leather gourd of water. A trickle of information here, a word or two there. He could gather a grand picture in time of where he exactly stood. And with that he followed after her quietly, content to spend the afternoon meditating.

Whisper stood atop a rocky outcropping overlooking the steep incline of the mountain face, the cold wind whipping and tugging at her clothing. Frail and pale in the moonlight, the girl had an ethereal quality to her as each gust of air seemed to threaten to send her tumbling from her precariously icy perch.

The sun had set hours ago, and the chill bite of the afternoon air had turned bitter cold and her flimsy attire had been made relatively more suitable by the wool cloak she now wore about her shoulders and bits of wool fleecing that had been bound about her canvas boots. Her months in the cold mountains were beginning to show.

She had been there since noon, and no doubt people would be looking for her, but she paid it no heed. Out in the open air of the mountain, her thoughts were so much more clear, so much more free. The temple was suffocating, tainted with the residual energies of countless magical calamities and cultist activity. Out here she could let her mind slip free of her physical burdens, free of her blindness, of her frail form. She could soar over the landscape, sweep the vast icy planes that lay to the east, explore deep into the frozen pines of the south. Every wolf, bear, elk and eagle became her eyes, her ears, her nose. The smell of a rabbit, the labored breath of a long chase, the warmth of a secure den – it was all hers.

It was on one such foray that she first picked up on it. It was just an impulse at first, a feeling that had her mind wandering to thoughts of old friends and a place far from there. Lazarus. The name came unbidden through the depths of her meditations. She could feel it then, as if a tug on a line that surpassed the material. He was searching for her, and the disturbance drew her out of her meditations, and the distant landscape was swept away leaving Whisper cast back in the darkness of her damaged form.

Tilting her head almost inquisitively, Whisper dematerialize into a wispy apparition that quickly faded from view, drawn by the murmurs of an old friend carried upon the mountain winds.

From the lower reaches of the mountains emerges the shape of a large purple dragon. He soars dangerously close to the cliff face as he scans the mountain with fiery red eyes. Deep anguish scarred his face. Finally the dragon took a sudden turn - directly into the icy rocks - and vanished.

The cold...this was familiar to her. The cold, howling winds felt the same as their cave in the Ruins that they shared. She never bothered lighting a fire in there when he was gone...she was always cold then

The dragon had not stopped walking since the grove, her body knowing no pain or stress despite her wings looking like confetti. Her wings, which had been dragged behind her over rocks and roots and other sharp things had cut the membranes to ribbons but she didnt even feel it. Her heart was shattered...her own thoughts drowned out by the winds

The eyes had now become foggy and hazy as she went on auto pilot, her nose following his scent as she followed it along, unaware of all the dangers around her. Scales were missing from her body from animals that had been biting at her, yet all of this went unnoticed entirely as she made her way to the rocks where he disappeared and vanished as well

Draco had followed Cynder, but was farther behind her than when he had started. Unlike her, he had fought back against the animals that attacked, causing him to fall far behind her. He wasn't fond of the cold, it made him slower, but he persevered and walked on, following what he could see of Cynder's tracks.

The terrain around him started to become more rocky as he climbed, making it harder for him as he had nothing to dig his claws into should he fall. He continued walking, still far behind the other two, his tail flicking now and then to keep itself warm.

The cavern that Spyro vanished into was like a serpentine labyrinth that descended into the heart of the mountain. However, the purple dragon felt no need to venture that deep into its dark depths. Instead he sat adjacent to a rather deep yet narrow pit. He gazed down into the deep shadows, as if it reflected his own soul.

A skylight illuminated this portion of the cavern. Now that his whole body was visible, Cynder could get a good look at him. He had grown considerably since they last saw each other. Spyro was full-sized adult dragon. His scales glistened with scarlet purple rays as the sunlight reflected off them. Large brownish yellow wings tucked themselves neatly at his sides, but one lay slightly loose. This one bore several holes in its membrane. Long spiraled horns stood erect on his head as a large muscular spined tail flopped absentmindedly.

He was facing away from Cynder.

The Dragon stopped and looked down at the being who was there, her glazed eyes shining like a cats with her own dark violet hues barely glowing as they mirrored herself as well. She did not look proud and majestic as she used to be as the walk made her look almost sixty years older with her wings on the ground, though now it could be seen; Her left wing was broken

All manner of speeches went through her mind as she tried to muster something to say. Her emotions coming all at once to her vocal chords but all she could barely manage to squeak out was a simply sentence in a VERY hollow and monotone voice

"You never even said goodbye....."

The being of both storm and shadow came to the mouth of the cavern and stopped, thinking about whether or not he should go. It could be dangerous, even for him. He pushed these thoughts out of his head, proceeding. Luckily, there were shadows everywhere, so only his first four steps echoed throughout the cavern before he had melded in with the shadows and vanished.

Through the shadows he watched Cynder and Spyro carefully, not making a sound, not moving at all. It was almost as if he wasn't there at all. The only way he could have been detected was if either Cynder or Spyro could see into or smell through shadows.

"Time was of the essence..." he rumbled. Spyro's voice was deep, guttural, and piercing. He still refused to look at Cynder, but instead bowed his head and drilled his gaze into the ice. One of his clawed paws was placed slightly foreward, as if he had intended to thrust it over the edge of the chasm. Due to its size, it be impossible for him to spread his wings as he fell. "I didn't..." his voice quivered. "...I thought I would be back soon..."

"You never said goodbye Spyro...nothing" She said as she looked down at him and his actions over the cliff. All of her screams for him to do different things...jump...stay...to come to her for comfort...to die by her jaws but all she held in her soul was nothing

"They are gone...our children. They went to search for their papa....I tried to keep them from leaving but they refused to listen. I told them Papa is coming soon....after they left, I was alone. I wailed...I called...I cried until I was so hoarse I could not speak or utter a word. For so long I laid in that cave, barely eating...no fires as I had no energy to muster a lick of flames. I was angry...I was full of hate. But I was also full of fear...that you were gone forever and before I saw you, I fell" She said, a tear coming to her cheek

"I died...Spyro. I threw myself off of the edge like you are about to now. I impaled myself on the rocks and died....and I saw our children running in a meadow. They had died looking for their father. But something brought me back....and something brought you back..." She said

"Why did you not say goodbye to us?"

Draco of the Shadows silently moved through the shadows so that he could clearly see both of them with little trouble, which meant being in front of Spryo, hidden in the shadows. He managed to make himself grow in size, large enough to safely stop Spyro should he try to jump.

But until that was needed, if it would be needed, he sat and he waited, ready to move at a moments notice.

The dragon slowly turned his head and looked at Cynder. His scar - the one that clung across the eye - sneered at her. A single tear dripped from the tired eye that revealed a soul that had lost all purpose - all motivation. Spyro dug his forward paw's talons into the ice like a hot knife through butter.

"The Swamp was burning..." he finally said. "I was gathering food, and Hunter found me. He said that the Swamp - my home - was being plundered and burned by a rampaging band of gnorcs. There was no time, otherwise I would have told you. When I got there, much of it was already destroyed. Many dragonflies were already slain. Enraged, I slew over a score of their numbers without mercy.

"They're dead, Cynder." his body quaked. "Hunter, Flash, Nina... and Sparx... We were overpowered. I could hear their screams as a tree pinned me to the earth. When they surrounded me, the only thing I could do was save myself..

"I... I... I shut myself inside the Crystal, Cynder. I locked myself in stasis so that I could survive the destruction. I had no idea I would be locked inside for so long...

"I'm sorry..." he lowered his head and sobbed.

She heard the words and took them in deep inside of herself with her eyes looking down at him silently, barely breathing as she turned around and headed back the way she came, however instead of heading for the exit, she went down and down and down until she finally made it to his level and padded towards him, her emotionless face now wet with tears as her cheek moved against Spyro's cheek an gently nuzzled him

"I forgive you Spyro...for everything. Do not cry anymore...do not feel pain. It was not your fault...and Im sure the Gnorcs will pay dearly for their transgressions. If I know Volteer and the other Elders, Im sure they have already dispatched them" She said, lifting his head up with her snout and gave him a lick of affection

"We should talk more...I know your heart hangs heavy about what you saw. Say what you wish to say and then I will say what I need to say....after that, its uncertain my dearest...my dear dear Spyro"

Draco watched, and didn't move, though he knew he should do something. He moved quickly and silently through the shadows and made it look like he just came around the corner.

He cleared his throat to get their attention. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." he said. He looked to Spyro, but did not make eye contact with him. "I am sorry for what you saw, and I promise you that if you forgive me, that you will never have any trouble from me, nor will you ever see me." he said calmly.

He then looked to Cynder. "Cynder, if you are happy with him, then you stay with him." he said.

He then looked to them both. "If you will now excuse me, I wish you two a long and happy life together, and may your offspring be healthy and strong." he said. With that, he gave a bow and turned, heading out of the cavern, down the mountain, and back to his cave.

A weak smile twinged the edges of his snout - the first in a very long time. He let out a long sigh. "After that day, you had became the last thing that drove me on. Inside the crystal, you filled my dreams. Originally I had thought only a few days or a week had passed, but I was oh so very wrong..." his foreleg quivered. "When I saw you... My heart shattered like glass. I lost all purpose - all hope. Darkness filled me. Sorrow, anguish, hate, and rage consumed me. I am very sorry that I abandoned you, Cynder..." Spyro sighed and looked into her eyes. "... Are our children truly gone from this world?"

Out of the corner of his eye he caught Draco. Immediately his blood began to boil. The near fatal wounds were still fresh on his heart, and fury still leaked from them.

Spyro refused to look at him.

Cynder lowered her head gently and nodded with her eyes beginning to tear though now he was so close, he could see a very large scar run down her back, it was vicious looking with a matching scar on her stomach and intestines "I saw them...though I believe they are happy and are waiting for us..." She said

Though Draco's words barely were heard, she understood and moved to nuzzle Spyro affectionately with her paw going to his and rested on it "That is how I felt when I knew you werent coming back...and I am sorry too. Sorry you didnt get to see them grow up into fine young boys. I know their proud of you...of us" She said and looked up at him weakly "Spyro...can we lay down? My body is in agony...and my wing is broken" She asked, mostly wanting him to be close to her again

Spyro finally looked at the rest of her body, and his eyes went wide with worry at her condition. The dragon drooped his head beneath her midsection and lifted her up onto his back. With gingerly care he walked down another passage in the cavern until they got to a rounder chamber illuminated by light that shone through the icy walls. He gently rested her on the ground and laid next to her. His paw rested in the crook of her foreleg while he placed his head on her neck.

From within the dark shadows of depression and bitterness that filled his soul, a glimmer of light surfaced.

"I will never leave you again, my love..." he whispered softly.

Cynder looked down at him as she was carried and then up as she was laid down "Promise?" She croaked out softly as she licked his horns and placed a paw on his neck. She had dreamed of this moment for almost two years...with a happy tear moving down her cheek

"I wont leave your side...no matter what we do, Ill always be right there with you. Though I must say Spyro....I like the new you" She chuckled weakly and licked him over and over and over again, showing him her full love and affection. She never wanted him to go again ever

"I promise..." he replied before returning a lick on her cheek. "Now rest. You have expended yourself. I will get food in the morning."

She would not reliquish her grip on him and weakly tugged on him "Stay here...dont go" She said, her tail weakly moving up and down on the rocky ground, the large spear-headed end hitting the rock with a large panging sound "I want you to help me keep warm...I need your breathing to help keep me calm and I want to help keep you warm too. Like we used to...lay with me" She asked, no...pleaded with him"