FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 7

She has been soaring above the greenish ground, the mountainsides calm and breathtaking, with the sun slowly hiding behind the horizon giving this place an invigorating touch for all these people who enjoyed and loved sightseeing. She wasn't one of them, the tranquility of this place made her sick, the silence rang in her head in its annoying and unending high- pitched tone that seemed to torture her just for fun. She flew past by a huge tree arched from the end of a tall slope, one look at it was enough to feel despise, hatred and contempt radiating from it, she was so consumed with rage that she mistook genuine compassion for something far more dreadful.

Good, they should fear her, they should loathe her, after all she worked hard for it. Every tree, every bush, animal and a living being has to know, WILL KNOW, that she won't be trifled with. She had her orders and she will carry them out, that was her Master's wish and she will comply, but as every living creature who works almost all day and night she needs a break, a moment for herself to cool down, relax after all day of grueling endeavor and wash away all the memories from yesterday just to start a new dawn with a clear mind.

Nothing was better than good old fashioned destruction, the sweet smell of burning houses just like the scent of the most beautiful flowers, the screams of her victims music to her ears just like the best song of the finest bard, their blood caressing her throat like the most exquisite wine, their flesh just like a delicious meal prepared by the most talented cook, their threats and will to fight just like the icing on the cake. This is going to be a good day.

One breath would be enough to tear off the tree from its long roots ending the annoying taunts once and for all. When something else caught her attention she decided to leave it alone, this is a lone tree standing in the middle of nowhere after all, it's not going anywhere. The thick black smoke raising above the many crowns in the distance was far more interesting. She smiled, the best moment of every break is just about to happen, not only it helps in boosting her reputation but also it's a most gladdening sight for her green eyes. Without hesitation she made her way towards the appealing image grinning mischievously.

The smell of something burning intensified, with it came distant roars, cheers of joy and the sound of ongoing battle. She landed near the village with its wall burning and front gate laying in ruins allowing free entrance, she swaggered into the settlement looking around carefully. On both sides there was still some fighting going on, two cheetahs with their backs to the wall of a building managed to kill three apes attacking them, it didn't bother her, they are only cannon fodder anyway. The feline's looked at the new arrival, frowning and with a loud yell they charged her with their spears pointing at her chest. She didn't move watching both cat's running at her with incredible speed, they were getting closer with each passing second but she stared at them with bored and unconcerned eyes.

She yawned, her mouth opening wide showing many sharp teeth, clicking her tongue she looked again at the charging felines. The moment she did that two apes tackled each cheetah throwing them to the ground, but the cats were agile, they broke free from the mercenaries grasp with ease just to thrust their spears into them. They didn't have the time to renew their attack as another group of apes attacked them, the cheetahs were fighting bravely, killing or wounding quite a number of enemies in this unfair fight. But the felines had no chance against overwhelming waves of opponents heading their way, blood was spouting in every direction when the spears managed to find a chink in the apes armor, but just when one of the cheetahs prepared to stab an incoming enemy he was cut with a sword in the chest, with a cry of pain he fell on his knees. Seeing this, his companion tried to punish the soldier who did that just to receive a slash across his shoulder, his spear fell on the ground when the pain ran through his arm. With both cheetahs defenseless the mercenaries raised their weapons for the final strike.

"Stop!" she shouted with a demanding tone and preserving the same walk made her way towards the cheetahs.

The apes looked at their approaching general with eyes full of respect and palpable fear and took a step back for every step she made forward. It was a moment before there was no soldier near the cheetahs allowing her enough space to walk without interruptions. The cats were tightly gripping their wounds trying to prevent any more blood loss, but even with their bodies weakened they eyes remained strong, they were staring with despise at her, their heads and pupils following her as she circled both of them

She chuckled "You know, it always surprises me that even after all this time you struggle, as if you believe you have a chance against me and I'm curious who or what gives you this blind hope, care to tell me?" She stopped and gawked at the cheetahs in return

Their mouths didn't even twitch as they looked at her with fiery eyes.

She smiled weakly and began circling the cheetahs again " I understand your resolve and I admire it, after all you keep fighting even if you know you can't win, that is something you are proud of. Am I right?" She shot them a quick glance but just as before they didn't say anything.

She laughed "Oh that reminds me of something, and I'm sure you will find it amusing as well" Regaining her composure she continued with a cheerful tone " Once I found myself in some other village, something like this one in fact, it was pure coincidence of course" She winked and continued " It was filled with cheetahs just like here but they had that... that... " she scratched the silver choker on her neck thoughtfully "What was it again?"

"A fang" a smirking ape reminded her

" Exactly!" she exclaimed " They had that little fang on their shirts or armor, it was a-" she pointed her claw at the ape who spoke previously

" A bear fang" the soldier added with the same grin on his face

" That's right" She looked at the helpless cheetahs " Do you know them by any chance?"

The cats snarled but didn't say a word

"Just as I thought" turning her head away she continued " They were pretty sure they knew you, some of those guys were screaming something about revenge, or were they yelling something about being avenged? Anyway they were quite mouthy just like you two, you should really meet up with them I'm sure you would get along just fine" She stopped and slapped her forehead with her paw " What am I thinking? You won't get acquainted because they are all dead " She shook her head and lowered it " Silly me, I always tend to forget such trivial things" With her head low, she looked at the felines with a corner her eye and smiled under her nose.

The cheetahs stared at her with burning eyes, shaking and with their fists clenched so firmly that blood was dripping from their hands, trying not to get provoked by her insults. They both wanted to shut that poisonous mouth of hers but they knew there is no chance for it to happen. They decided to stand down, they won't give her the satisfaction.

She began to circle the cheetahs adopting an even more cheerful tone" Thanks to our little chit-chat I completely forgot about the thing I wanted to tell you, enough of digressions, listen" She cleared her throat " There was that little kid in the village running through a street with his father chasing him yelling at the cub to stop. I was just in time to catch him, with the little brat in my paws his father fell on his knees and started begging me not to hurt him and to release his son." She chuckled " Asking me for mercy, can you imagine?"

Without even looking at the cheetahs she continued " It gets funnier just listen. The guy just wouldn't shut up so I proposed him a game, I will consider his pleading only when he will create something special for me using some unique parts that I will provide , I like resourceful people. To encourage the guy I promised that his son will be watching us all the time. He accepted almost instantly but how he could know that I'll use his kid for the parts?".

She smiled " So I cut the little brat into pieces, the father only managed to blink and almost every limb of his boy was lying in front of him, I only kept his head. Placing the head on a stone I turned its shock filled eyes at the father, and urged him to fulfill his side of the bargain, after all I kept my promise." She burst out laughing " You should see the look on his face! Priceless!"

She coughed and continued, chuckling " Instead of playing along the crazy fur rag charged me, but I'm not without a heart you know, I even managed to shed a tear, he really loved his son so I decided to let them get closer in this final moment. Grabbing the kids head I smashed it across the crazy cat's mug, when he dropped to the ground he extended his hands just as if he wanted to grab his son. This was the moment when I told him why I hate kids, eventually they will be the death of everybody, and to make sure he won't forget this lesson I cracked his skull using the brat's head"

The cheetahs were looking at their invader with such contempt and hate that even in this afterglow it was clearly visible that they were both red from rage, the color of their fur only seemed to intensify with the usually atmospheric glow.

She dumped the previously cheerful tone and replaced it with cold sincerity while stopping and turning towards the felines, watching them with a murderous and a full of disgust gaze " You cats are really a filthy people, you stink and won't even allow the little me some fun, nevertheless I seriously admire this trait of yours, you just won't die, clinging to your pitiful existence with all your might. But that's good at least you give my boys some entertainment while they test their weapons on you checking if they are sharp enough" She looked around and stated with a assured tone " It looks like you served your purpose"

The apes surrounding her cried in joy, the sound of many yelling throats echoed throughout the remains of the village, while she herself looked back into the felines eyes and began moving closer towards the wounded one in the chest.

" Enough fooling around, you bore me, I have a reputation to keep and I make sure you will remember me before you die, also don't forget to pass the news to whatever place you cats are going to. After all everyone should know who cut you down, even those dead ones"

With that she shoved the wounded cheetah onto his back, he gasped faintly when she forcefully placed her paw on his chest to keep him in place, he couldn't utter a single word with his lungs squashed below her black paw. His companion made an attempt to stop her, but a nod of her head was a clear signal for the mercenaries, they grabbed him and forced the feline on his knees. He yanked and growled but he couldn't break free from their grasp.

She looked at the struggling feline " Simply killing you would be too easy, where is the fun in that? This is my free time and I deserve some entertainment. Trust me you won't forget who was the main actress of this show, it will be glorious, with music and cheers from the crowd." She shot a quick glance at the nearby ape and said with a demanding tone "Make sure he won't miss a thing."

Hearing that the ape moved behind the held feline and placed his thumbs just below the cat's brows and stretched his skin so his eyes were wide open while a second mercenary jerked his head forcefully towards her and held it in place. The cheetah snarled and tired to break free but with no luck, the apes didn't budge.

She sneered "Good" her smile only grew wider while she turned her head towards the feline below her paw "Where were we?" she pretended to think for a moment "Oh, yeah" With that her sneer was gone only to be replaced by a menacing expression "Showtime"

She thrust her claw into the cheetahs chest not to deep avoiding more serious injuries and moved it backwards tearing off his skin. He screamed in pain and started thrashing, wanting to escape from this horrible suffering. The sight didn't allow the second feline to remain calm, he roared and began jerking with all his might, he put so much strength into it that an another ape was necessary to hold him or else he would break free.

He kept growling and thrashing relentlessly but to no avail, the cheetah kept doing so until his whole strength escaped him, panting heavily he stopped fighting. The apes forced the feline to look again at the scene in front of him, seeing that vile creature towering above his companion roused some hidden strength in him, allowing the cheetah one more roar.

She looked around and smiled triumphantly " We have the music and a sincere applause from the crowd no less!" she exclaimed and began bowing her head quickly in every direction "Thank you, thank you" she adopted the same evil look when she focused again on the laying feline "I'm just warming up, I can promise you one thing though, this will be an unforgettable moment."

She shallowly thrust her claws into the cheetah's shoulders, he gritted his teeth and hissed not letting her any more satisfaction from his suffering. But even a toughest soldier will howl in pain when there will be enough pressure applied. She lowered her head towards his hand just to clamp her teeth on his forefinger, with the finger between her teeth she swiftly and powerfully jerked back her head tearing it off from his hand.

A stream of blood shot from the wound, the cheetah screamed at the top of his lungs, he hit the ground with the back of his head several times and arched his body upwards as far as he could when the almost unbearable surge of pain ran through his every limb. She raised her head and looked directly at the cat just to swallow the finger in front of his eyes. He turned his head and closed his eyes not wanting to look at her, the moment he felt the emerald stare leaving him he opened his eyes just to see a black head heading towards his second hand. When he felt her breath on his fingers he began curling and twitching them in every possible manner, in a pitiful attempt to defend them from her sharp teeth. That wasn't enough, since she clamped her jaw on his forefinger seconds later. She repeated the same move as before, and just as before the same full of agony scream accompanied her.

She watched the shaking feline and waited for him to catch some breath, after all she wanted him to feel every single thing. The moment he calmed himself a little her teeth sank into his abdomen, not deep but it was enough to drag the skin and bits of flesh with them when she jerked her head backwards. He screamed and began thrashing once more, but the firm paws didn't allow him to move. She munched the skin with utmost pleasure just to take another shallow bite at the other side of his belly.

The cheetah held by the apes began growling, shouting and screaming at the dragoness the moment she raised her head. His companion is being eaten alive and he can't do anything to help him, he wanted to turn his head as far as he could just to not watch this horrible scene, but even this was taken away from him, he saw and heard everything clearly. After swallowing another piece of his body she moved lower to take a small bite of his thigh, she was making sure the cheetah will feel every single bite before he expires, the show must go on after all.

She kept biting the cat, picking the spots on his body that allowed her victim to survive for as long as possible, every time she tore off of him a piece of flesh, the cheetah screamed shouting himself hoarse eventually. She kept chewing the cat again and again until no sound escaped the feline's throat, swallowing the last bit of his flesh she wiped the blood from her snout and leaned closer towards the cheetah's face.

His eyes were wide open, some tears were flowing down his cheeks, a piece of a tongue was hanging from his opened mouth, he had to bit it accidently during this torture, severing a tongue using your own teeth is no small feat, but when circumstances demand everything's possible, the feline's ruptured teeth a proof for that. The cheetah wasn't breathing, life has finally left him, but the palpable agony plastered on his face was a sign for her of a job well done.

"Gotta say that he was a good performer, his constant singing pushed me into a trance, I felt just like I could do it for the whole day, but like everyone else he couldn't keep up with me" She sighed proudly "Damn I'm good" With that her green eyes focused on the restrained feline " Hell of a memory right? But I can see you are eager for more and the well-being of my fans is my biggest concern"

The cheetah didn't say a word, he was just trembling involuntarily, with some tears flowing down his face. She dragged the corpse closer towards him while she laid down on the opposite side, with that she had a good look at his wide opened eyes.

"Let's consolidate this memory shall we?" She licked her snout and opened her mouth ready to take the bite, but just when her teeth touched the body she stopped and looked at the trapped cheetah "Where are my manners?!" she exclaimed loudly just like she realized she forgot about something important " All this time I've been eating alone completely forgetting to offer something to my most devoted fan, here, allow me to correct it"

She plunged her claw delicately just beside the dead feline's eye, made a little circle around it, the eye was close to falling out when she was about to finish it. The moment she saw that, she thrust her claw deeper and with a careful but confident motion he plucked the eyeball from its socket. She knew what she was doing, the eye was pulled out intact with a long, bloody and disgusting optic nerve attached to its horizontal section, every surgeon would be full of admiration.

With the eye in her paw she extended it towards the restrained feline, just when she was close enough she shot a quick glance towards one of the apes and nodded her head. The mercenary recognized the signal instantly, he wasn't the only one, the trapped cheetah also knew what this is all about. Suddenly new strength awakened inside him, he jerked so forcefully surprising the apes holding his eyes and head, they lost the grip and he began shaking his head from side to side gritting his teeth as hard as he could. The apes growled angrily and moved to restrain him again, one of them grabbed his head with such force that he almost squashed it in his hands, a second one opened his eyes while the third one tried to pry open his mouth, he placed one of his hands below his nose and grabbed his chin with the other one. The ape began pulling with all his strength but the cheetah's mouth was kept tightly shut, shouting furiously he clenched his armored fist and punched the cheetah with such power that the apes holding him lost the grip again, the cheetah's head went to a side after the blow, some teeth shot out from his mouth and blood started to flow down his chin. The apes restrained him again but this time the third mercenary had no problems opening his mouth.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk , your parents never told you that its impolite to refuse food and drinks from your host in such a manner? " She placed a paw on her chest "I'm deeply hurt" Moments later she lowered it and sneered "Luckily for you I forgive easily"

With that she shoved the eye into the cheetah's mouth just between the teeth with its nerve dangling from his chin, the moment she withdrew her paw the ape shut his jaw forcefully. The cheetah's sharp teeth pierced the eye's vitreous body momentarily, it's white gelatinous structure spread out down the feline's throat and mouth. The effort to keep his teeth clamped was futile against the strong ape's hands, the mercenary forced his mouth open and made him to chew on the eye while an another mercenary arched back his head forcing him to swallow its contents. With the nerve almost halfway down his throat he began to tremble and started to grumble as if choking. Knowing what's about to happen the ape's released his head, the moment their hands withdrew his head flopped towards the ground and he began vomiting. It took a while but eventually he finished with all of today's food laying on the ground in a repulsive pool. The ape's burst out laughing while he panted and coughed heavily, the mocking didn't last long as he was restrained and forced to look upon the "host" again.

She watched him with a concerned expression "You should have told me that you don't like this kind of food, nobody forced you to eat it after all" Her words made the mercenaries around her smile and chuckle. " I suppose you won't have any objections if I continue my dinner?" She shot a quick glance at the spew on the ground "Since obviously you are not hungry" Focusing her eyes on the cheetah she stared at him in complete silence for a while " I'll take that as a 'no'"

Opening her mouth wide she sank her teeth deeply into the dead cheetah's chest tearing off quite an appreciable bit of flesh. She looked directly into the restrained feline's eyes while she slowly began chewing the meat in her mouth. Blood started to flow down her snout and bits of flesh stood out from her maw as she clumsily yet intentionally turned it inside her mouth. With the last loud gulp she licked her snout and lowered her head for another bite.

This time however her teeth sank just above the feline's waist, with an audible snap she began raising her head upwards pulling out the intestines from his body. She kept doing so until she couldn't raise it anymore, only with her head at its peak she started biting the organ and swallowing some of its tiny pieces. Every time she did that she jerked her head upwards pulling out more bowels until she couldn't feel any more pressure, meaning there was no more of this organ left inside him. After it was all out she suck the remaining intestines, when no more could fit inside her mouth she began chewing the organ. She renewed the motion when she swallowed a piece, just like she would be eating a spaghetti .

After finishing with the organ she prepared for another bite, this time however she made her way towards the cheetah's arm. Her teeth sank deep into his flesh and found their way into the bone, her powerful muzzle was big enough to hold all of his limb inside. She thrust the claws on one of her front paws in the cheetah's body while she jerked her head back forcefully tugging the arm. After the second attempt a sound of breaking bones and ripping skin could be heard as she tore off the limb from the feline's body. Blood spouted in every direction when the limb left the cat's shoulder , she didn't mind, raising her head she looked back at the restrained cheetah with the arm in standing out from her mouth, blood was dripping onto the ground in streams and a bone protruded from one side.

She craned her neck towards the feline and smiled before taking a bite on the arm, the cheetah could hear every sound, the blood dripping onto the ground, the ripping of flesh and the cracking of bones as the limb was slowly disappearing down her gullet. When the arm was gone she reached into her mouth and pulled a small claw from it, she ran her tongue across her teeth until she found something stuck between them. She began poking at her teeth with the claw until she managed to pull out some bit of skin, she looked at it with contempt just to flick the claw away moments later. With a smile she returned to her dinner.

She started to bite the corpse, violently ripping the skin, shattering the bones just a predator who caught his prey. She kept going until there was nothing left of the cheetah expect for some tuft of fur and tattered pieces of cloth. She looked at the restrained feline with a satisfied expression, his eyes spoke volumes. The fiery warrior full of verve and a will to fight for his people was gone, replaced by a weathered person who experienced something close at hand, something nobody should have gone through. His will broken as realization clouded his mind, a feeling of defeat and pain with a vision of a black dragoness at the lead.

"I can see you enjoyed the show, I'm glad and I hope you will spread the word of my great performance" She smirked and looked around the village " As much as I would like to entertain you further I can't, more pressing matters you understand" She leaned closer and whispered into the cat's ear "But don't worry, I'm leaving you in good hands" with that she turned around and shouted "He's all yours!"

A cry of joy filled the street as the bloodthirsty mercenaries surrounded the cheetah, ready to have some fun for themselves. After she took some steps she stopped and yelled without even looking at them " And boys, take your time!"With that she began walking and smiled mischievously when a sound of an armored fist hitting a jaw was heard.

Burning or destroyed buildings surrounded her, the acrid smoke hanging in the air didn't bother her at all, in fact it was pleasantly addictive. She couldn't stop smiling as she inhaled it realizing that another village has fallen and every new one added to her collection only made her reputation worse. Everyone in the Realms will hear about her, everyone will tremble at just the sound of her name and what's more important she will leave a mark on this land, a mark so deep that she will be a main topic of a conversation for years to come. That's exactly what she wanted, let them remember the dragoness who ruined them, let them remember her as one of the curses of this land, after all she worked hard for it.

She swaggered through the street moving her head from side to side examining the destruction, there was practically no house left standing, almost all of them laid in ruins. Blood flowed down the roads in streams and bodies littered the streets, both feline and ape. There was nothing more satisfying for her eyes than the sight of a carnage, a desperate struggle to cling to life by the people of this land that always ended with their defeat, only thinking about it filled her tainted heart with joy.

Sounds of ongoing fights could still be heard as some stragglers made their final stand most likely cornered in a remains of a building. She turned around a corner and stopped when she heard a couple of angry mercenary shouts coming from ahead. A cheetah popped out from the smoke, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him while looking behind his shoulder. After a few meters he turned his head to see what's in front of him, the feline only managed to goggle when a blade-like tail ran through his chest cutting him in half, sending the upper part of the body slightly into the air. She wiped the iron end of her tail on the cheetah's remains, just when she finished a group of apes stopped near her and looked at the corpse completely surprised.

"Report" she said coldly

A bulky ape stepped out from their ranks " The village is almost completely under our control Mistress, only a handful of the defenders remain but we will finish them off soon"

" Casualties?"

"Plenty, but we are ready to advance again if that's what you wish Mistress"

"Survivors?"

The ape winced " We... we found one of our own tortured by a pair of cats, before he died he told them about our plans. You killed one of the torturers Mistress, the other one can't be far ahead"

"Anyone else?"

The ape gulped " Some civilians but I already ordered to send the hounds after them"

She remained silent for a moment, and began walking " Leave the civilians" After some steps she shouted "What are you waiting for? A small fortune for the first soldier who brings me the runner's head!" A cheerful cry from the group echoed as the mercenaries began their hunt.

She lead them with a firm paw and most of the time failures ended bloody, but after time she learned that failures lead sometimes to something far more better than the previously set plan. They feared her and they should, but cannon fodder or not armies require good morale and nothing boost it better for the mercenaries then a vision of being overwhelmed with glittering gems. She sauntered through the streets admiring the destruction until a sound of nearby fighting caught her attention, just out of curiosity she decided to check who is still resisting his unavoidable fate.

A roar that only one kind of creatures emitted came from a nearby building, creatures she is very familiar with. She rounded a corner and took a peek inside a huge ruined building, she didn't care about what purpose it served previously, what it contained was really important. A terribly wounded adult green dragon with filled with pure hatred brown eyes, a dun underbelly , green wings with mottled grey membranes and two long yellow horns on his head was driven back into a corner. His whole body covered in long deep cuts, almost all of them bleeding profusely, some deep wounds on his side, front and back paws just like something bit him and tore off his scales, the membranes on his wings tattered completely preventing the dragon from leaping into the air. Swords and spears protruded from his body, some of the blades sank so deep into his flesh that only a hilt could be seen, it looked like he kept breathing only thanks to his arrogance that chased away even Death itself.

Or it might be something else, just beside him on the ground she saw a dragoness of similar colors laying completely still, she was beautiful once even she could see it but now she was nothing else than a lifeless corpse. The natural beauty stolen forcefully from her, the carcass gnawed practically everywhere and in some places no scale and flesh was left revealing white bones . One of her horns broken in half, claws on her front paws shattered completely, one of her wing laying unnaturally on the ground, it was almost completely torn off of her body, just like a door barely held by its hinges. A huge pool of blood covered the floor under her, it didn't take long to notice from where it came from , a long gash on her neck was the reason. The cut was so deep that it was surprising that her head was still attached to her neck.

It seemed that he didn't want to accept that she was gone protecting her body just like a zealot protects something very sacred and dear to him, or he did realize that she was dead and driven by rage he went berserk, either way it looked like he lost his mind. That wasn't arrogance that was something else, something she didn't understand but whatever it was she was sure about one thing, there is no force in the whole world that can stop Death. You can chase it away for a while, you can stall it but you cannot cheat it, she had experience in this matter, after all they were like a family since she's been calling for it almost every day. She could feel and even smell Death when it was reaching for its victim and now the cold steel of its scythe was hovered just above the green dragon's head ready to release him from all this torment.

She wasn't the only one who noticed it, many glowing yellow eyes penetrated the dense smoke still hanging in the building, the eyes focused on the dragon, watching him intently and seeing how life was slowly leaving him through the many wounds. Patience in some cases is a virtue, allow it to call the shots and sometimes you get what you want without even making an attempt to claim it. Not everyone could appreciate it, a snout revealing itself as a proof of that. The hound snarled as it watched the dragon and drool started to drip from its mouth when the smell of a fresh dragon blood invaded its nostrils. The hounds eyes narrowed and moments later it roared smelling an easy kill. The hound pounced at the dragon opening its gaping maw and stretching it to an enormous size ready to make a proper bite.

The beast completely forgetting that the dragon had some strength still left in him, as the creature approached the dragon slapped it with his tattered wing sending it crashing on the ground. The dragon's teeth clamping on the hound's chest, with the beast in his maw the dragon began flinging his head quickly in every direction. One final turn and he will hurl the body at the beasts ahead, as he prepared to release the carcass he saw a black snout with green eyes staring at him. His eyes sparkled with hate as he opened his mouth , the punctured and crushed hound's body hit the ground.

"Lightbane!" the dragon roared deafeningly

"Owww, stop it, you flatterer!" she giggled and waved her paw shyly

" You are going to pay for all of this one day!"

She dropped the cheerful attitude "You know I keep hearing this every time when I'm going to play and in the end it's always you who keep dying"

The dragon roared once more " Remember that I'll be watching you. Every scratch, every burn, every single pain, you experience will be directed by me. I'll make you suffer just like you made me but this time I'll be laughing!" the male coughed up some blood

She sneered " A friend's advice ,you should really save your strength you don't look too well"

"I'll be joining the Ancestors soon" he looked at the body of the dragoness and whispered with palpable guilt "I'm sorry" with a shake of his head he focused his eyes on her black snout again "At least I'll die with honor, knowing that I don't have to kill innocent people to satisfy my overgrown ego"

He roared once again and ran towards her. After a few steps his paws bent under him making his belly touch the ground, groaning he pulled himself up renewing his advance. With each step the dragon became weaker, he stopped and inhaled the air preparing to unleash his elemental powers, but just when he was about to release it some powerful teeth clamped on his neck, he gurgled as they sank deep not allowing the hound to fall while it dangled above the ground holding tightly to his flesh. Two more beasts followed soon after biting the dragon's front and back paw, bringing him to the ground.

She craned her neck closely towards his head "What were you saying? The dragon only gurgled while he looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry but I don't understand you, could you repeat that?" she moved her head closer almost to the point when their noses touched and focused only on his eyes just like she was reading from them.

"No!" she exclaimed "Your telling me that there is no one else in the village?!" she asked with a shocked and dreary tone. There was a flash in the dragon's eyes, it happened so fast that an inexperienced watcher would never notice it, she wasn't one of them "Your lying" she stated coldly " I have a knack for these sort of things, I can tell when someone's trying to protect something very dear to him, just want to tell you that I'll find it. Anyway I see that you are leaving us, just don't forget to mention my name to the Old Guys" she winked.

The dragon kept staring at her all the time, his eyes cursing her with tremendous hate until his pupils became wider and lost their fiery color as the last portion of life finally left him. The dragon's body fell lifelessly on the ground and the hounds who helped him in leaving this world released his flesh. Some other beasts joined them soon after and with a jubilant roar the creatures began their feast.

Smirking she continued onwards, this one had a secret and nothing made her happier than an surprise waiting somewhere nearby. She walked around the building looking for anything unusual but couldn't find anything, she decided to check the nearby houses. One side of the road was covered with ruined buildings that had nothing interesting in them, while there was nothing on the other side, whatever was there previously was completely destroyed now. Just as she began checking some other houses she heard a hoarse laughter, her gut told her that she just located the surprise.

She rounded the corner just to see a sight that confirmed her hunch. She stood near a ruined house, one side of it was completely blocked by rubble while the wall that protected it from the streets was completely destroyed, revealing an interesting sight. This was probably some sort of a dining room, long and small tables covered almost all of the floor and broken chairs were scattered all around the place. What really caught her attention was a sight of four apes covering each side of a long table, occasionally hitting their axes on the ground while laughing hysterically. She hunkered down and focused wondering what gave them so much fun, as one of the apes hit the ground she heard a squeaking sound and a tip of a little green tail stood out from under the table.

"Oh my, I hope you are a dragon of your word" with that she pulled herself up and began strolling towards the apes with a smug smile on her snout.

She stopped near them but they didn't even notice her as they were completely lost in their little game. She cleared her throat and the apes jumped and spun around swiftly to face their general with terrified faces. She nodded her head towards the street giving them a clear signal that the fun is over and she wants to be left alone, the apes complied without a word.

She hunkered down and scanned the surroundings, her eyes sparkled when she saw a green shape under a table on the opposite side of the building. She made her way there and laid on the ground, there was a very young small light green dragon still considered as a hatchling with dun underbelly and mottled grey membranes huddled up in a ball in the corner. The child covered himself with his wings just as he wanted to create a protective barrier around him, blocking all the horrors of the outside world, but it wasn't strong enough as the little dragon was trembling and sobbing terribly.

"Hush little one , you are safe now" she comforted the child with a charming and soft voice. The hatchling acted like he didn't hear a thing as he continued to tremble. "No one is going to hurt you anymore" The dragon took a peek from behind his little wings just to cover himself with them again. " Do not be afraid, I'm here to help" The dragon continued to sob for a while but after some time he took another peek just to hide again moments later. This time however she didn't say a word giving the child the chance to overcome his fear, the hatchling repeated the same move for a while to finally reveal his wet snout from all these tears. A charmingly smiling black dragoness was everything he saw.

"B...b...bad peop...people" he sobbed

"They are gone, you are safe little one"

"They... they...wan...wanted...to...to... hurt....m....m....me"

"They will never do that again, I swear"

The child wiped a tear from his snout " they....they are re....really g....one Miss?

"Yes, there is nothing to be afraid of anymore" She extended her paw towards him "Come, you are safe now"

The child froze in place but after a while he reluctantly stood up. Whimpering he made little and slow steps towards the smiling dragoness, just when he reached the end of the table the hatchling craned his neck just to hide it seconds later and look at the dragoness. She gave him a slight bow and whispered "It's safe". He craned his neck again and looked around quickly just to hide just as fast, trembling he looked at the black paw ahead, whimpering he took some steps back, looked around and dashed towards it. She grabbed him and moved her paw to her chest giving the hatchling a light embrace while covering him with her black wing just like a loving mother. The hatchling burst out crying and started to tremble even more violently.

"Hush little one, hush, everything's going to be alright" she said with an affectionate tone while caressing gently the young dragon scales

"T..th...the bad people t...t...they h...hurt e...every..o...one" the dragon sobbed

She squeezed the hatchling tighter "Hush"

"Th...they h...hurt my...my fr...fr...friends I...I...I-"

"Don't think about it little one, they won't hurt anyone else anymore"

He kept whimpering and another stream of tears started flowing down from his eyes. She kept caressing his scales delicately without saying a word, allowing the little drake to calm himself.

He wiped a tear from his eye " W...why did t..they do t...this Miss?

Her paw stopped moving as she absorbed the unexpected question " I...I don't know, I really don't know, I shouldn't-" she blinked unconsciously several times and started to caress the hatchling again as she regained her composure "Maybe because they are just evil"

"Th...thank you Miss" the little dragon said after a moment of complete silence and cuddled to her scales

She gave the hatchling a tender kiss in the head " Tell me little one, what I can do for you?"

"Mommy...Daddy" the young dragon sobbed again

"You want me to take you to your parents?"

The young drake shifted and looked her in the eyes "Yes, please!" he exclaimed excitedly

She shot a quick glance at the ceiling and smirked "If that's what you wish"

A muffled squeak penetrated the sound of burning houses, she couldn't stop smiling as she raised her paw to look at her claws, there was an young, innocent and crimson blood dripping from them.

Cynder gasped and her eyes snapped open, the sound of cracking wood echoed in the dark cave. She was looking at a stone wall illuminated by the fire, her own shadow and dancing flames visible on it.

"Fuck" she muttered and rolled on her back placing a paw on her forehead. Sweating and panting heavily she stared at the barely visible ceiling. She kept gawking at it listening to her racing heart, it pounded at her chest forcefully just like it wanted to tell her what strenuous effort it had to overcome. She closed her eyes just to open them again seconds later, trying to slow her rapid breathing and to apologize to her heart for everything it had been through. It took a while but eventually she managed to calm herself down, when everything returned to its normal pace she shot a quick glance at the purple shape laying on the opposite side of the fire just to stare at the ceiling moments later.

"Spyro your sleeping?" she whispered and without giving him the time to respond she continued " I've had one of the weirdest dreams ever, I've been in some kind of a cheetah village and..." she closed her eyes, the still fresh images crossed her mind, she swallowed "And I did some really bad things there" she started to stare at the ceiling once more.

"It was so real" she continued after a brief pause " I could see every single detail, a rock laying on the ground here and a twig there. That's not all, I also felt every single thing..." her voice trailed off as she moved her paw to look at it while she touched her sharp teeth with the other one. The images of destruction and death flashed before her eyes, the taste of flesh, bones and blood aroused her palate and the wrong but yet pleasurable sensation of taking somebody's else life filled a portion of her heart. Cynder shuddered and shook her head.

" I can't get this out of my head, I see the images every time I close my eyes, crazy right?" She asked while staring at the ceiling rubbing her forehead. He didn't respond "Spyro are you even listening to me?" Still the same thing, she turned her head to look at him and raised her voice "Spyro?" Nothing.

She rolled over on her belly and pulled herself up, her eyes focused on the purple shape on the opposite side of the fire. "Spyro?" she tried once more but there was still no response. Cynder began moving towards him, he was laying on his side with his back facing her. "Spyro?" she tried again after some steps until she stopped just right behind him.

"Spyro?" she asked again, louder this time. "Good, I'm trying to talk with you and you are just ignoring me, I know you are tired but at least you could say something!" she exclaimed, pretty agitated. He didn't budge, after a while worry took the place of anger as her heart slowly was beginning to race "Spyro?" Nothing. She raised her paw "Spyro?" and began extending it towards him" Spyro?". When her paw touched his scales Cynder called his name again but there was still no reaction.

With a frantic pace of her heart Cynder rolled him over onto his back so she could a good look at him. Cynder's blood froze and her heart jumped up to her throat when she saw his closed eyelids and the terrible deep wound on Spyro's chest that was bleeding profusely.

"No, no, no, no, no, this can't be happening, Spyro!" she yelled and placed her paws on the wound trying desperately to stop the bleeding "You can't die your hear me! You can't die!" Cynder screamed on the verge of tears as she squeezed the wound with all her might, just to prevent any more blood from escaping.

Her paws were completely soaked with the crimson thick red liquid in seconds " Don't leave me, wake up" she sobbed and placed her paws on both sides of his head while she looked at his closed eyelids. "Wake up, I beg you" Cynder closed her eyes and lowered her head crying loudly. Streams of tears were flowing down her eyes, as a feeling of defeat, resignation, guilt and anger filled her entire being. "WAKE UP!" Cynder screamed at the top of her lungs while she opened her eyes and shook his head.

She jerked back in surprise as his filled with hatred brown eyes snapped open, and yelped when his growling mouth with many sharp teeth headed for her throat.

Cynder gasped and opened her eyes to look at a stone wall illuminated slightly by the sun. She quickly looked behind her just to see the fire completely extinguished with only a small black smoke hovering above it and a purple shape laying on the opposite side. Cynder swiftly pulled herself up and ran towards Spyro, she stopped behind him and extended her paw but when she was about to touch his scales she froze. Cynder's heart began to race when she remembered that horrible sight, she wouldn't be able to bear it for the second time. Cynder decided to try a different approach.

She withdrew her paw and leaned almost to the point when her cheek touched his and began to listen intently. Cynder sighted in relief and felt like a huge weight was lifted from her heart when she heard and felt his calm breath. She quickly circled him to check his chest and exhaled loudly when she saw that there was no deep wound on it. Cynder looked him over, Spyro seemed more bruised than before but he was alive and that's what mattered.

"It was just a dream, a stupid dream" she thought to herself and shook her head. Cynder focused her eyes on his calm purple snout and a warm sensation ran through her entire body when she realized that he will still be here, just beside her. Not that she made it easy for him, their fights and her weird behavior must have startled him and adding a strange dream to the pool wouldn't be much helpful. She was afraid that she will push him away and lose this precious friendship and that was the last thing she wanted. Her romantic feelings towards him were the reason for all this, she pushed him too hard but for a good reason, at least Cynder thought so. Besides it hurts too much, her heart almost screamed in pain when she thought that he doesn't think the same way about her. She made her decision, never again she will give him hints about her feelings, it's all up to Spyro, if he cares about her the same way she cares about him she can wait for him to finally reveal his feelings, if not... well then, she would rather lie to herself that he will change his mind eventually than hear the truth.

With a sad sigh Cynder turned around and made her way towards the bright exit. She squinted when she stepped out of the pitch dark cave, there was no sign of the rain and the dark clouds, a clear blue sky with a slowly raising sun taking their place. The sound of the howling wind was replaced by a whizzing soft breeze and bird's song. It took her a while to adjust her eyes to the sun's bright rays, it almost fell like her eyes haven't seen daylight for weeks. Cynder yawned, stretched and with fully opened eyes made her way towards the refreshing pond.

As she lowered her head Cynder saw her own reflection, thanks to the dragon's extraordinary regeneration process she looked like she never been hurt in her life, every single wound was healed completely. Cynder began drinking and as the water was flowing down her gullet she felt a slight pounding in her head that was pretty annoying. She groaned softly and closed her eyes while she began rubbing her forehead. The weird dreams had to be the reason of this pain, the rubbing didn't help so she decided to continue her drink. The moment she opened her eyes and looked at the pond a blurry reflection ran alongside its surface and it wasn't hers.

She spun around quickly narrowing her pupils and adopting a defensive stance ready to repel any kind of attack, none came. A tall slope, some rocks, a cave and the occasional tree was everything she could see. But where her eyes had failed Cynder's instinct didn't, she could feel something, something dark and sinister somewhere around here, she kept moving slowly looking around trying to find the source of this eerie sensation. Cynder didn't find a thing and when she was just about to give up taking this whole thing for a simple misgiving a barely hearable laughter coming from the pretty empty terrain caught her attention.

Cynder ran to the wall and started to edge alongside it towards the sound, that way at least one side was protected, after some steps she stopped and winced while she rubbed her forehead, the headache intensified in a very bad moment. There was no time to worry about that now, as she heard another noise coming from ahead, concentrating she continued on her way. Cynder kept moving and the sound only intensified with each step, just when she was about to reach the end of the tall wall a feeling of dread ran through her whole body sending a chill down her spine. She could now clearly hear it's low laughter, whatever it was it was close, just around the corner. Cynder pressed herself to the wall and moved silently until there was no more space left for her to hide, with a silent sigh she jumped out from her hiding place ready to face the source of this luridness.

Her emerald eyes went wide open when she realized that there was nothing in front of her besides the small slopes, trees and green grass. _"_I'm going crazy" Cynder muttered. She was glad that she didn't wake up Spyro when there was still the chance, he had seen enough of her lunacy already, more was not necessary. Cynder rubbed her painful forehead once more and turned around ready to head back to the cave. Just when her tail faced the open space another sound reached her, Cynder spun around, she saw something with the corner of her eye, the moment she focused a shape moved behind some trees in the distance casting shadow on their hunks.

She ran towards them and groaned when she was just about to reach the trees, Cynder touched her head once again but this time the pain was more severe just like something was pounding inside her skull. A laughter and a passing shadow on the ground caused her to focus anew, low on her paws she began slowly moving in its direction but whenever she got close enough the shadow seemed to appear some distance away from her. Cynder tired of this stalking ran after the shadow but she couldn't catch it, whenever she made a couple of steps forward the shadow vanished just to show itself farther ahead out of her reach.

After a while Cynder got extremely dizzy, she leaned over a nearby hunk and placed her paws on her head, groaning she began massaging it trying to ease the pain somehow but it seemed only to intensify with each motion almost to the point when she felt her skull was just about to crack from the inside. Another low laughter was heard in the distance and a shadow ran alongside the green ground, mocking her, provoking the black dragoness urging her to follow it. Gritting her teeth Cynder done what she was told, whoever is taunting her will get what's coming for him.

She ran after it for some time but suddenly she was out of breath, Cynder leaned again on a nearby hunk panting heavily as she tried to regain even a slight portion of her strength. Another laugh reached her, raising her head and looking in the direction it came from Cynder began her chase once more. This time however she couldn't really start running as everything swirled before her eyes, she lurched for quite a while following the sound bumping into every rock, tree, wall and who knows what else. Sometimes a very close object with a blink of an eye seemed to appear farther away while a distant object was just about at paw's reach. Cynder couldn't really tell how much time has passed but eventually she found herself pressing against a cold stone wall with a familiar opening in it, a powerful feeling of dread ran through her when she was about to reach the cave's entrance. Without really caring for her own safety she entered, looking around the cave with her blurry eyes.

Cynder's focus returned instantly when she set her eyes upon a strange being standing near Spyro. It was a pitch-dark unsubstantial creature its body covered in dust, it looked like a living shadow. It turned its head towards her, a pair of completely white eyes met her emerald gaze, Cynder stared at it completely frozen not wanting to provoke it but just then the creature raised its arms above its head while staring at her all the time, it was holding something. The moment she looked at it her eyes went wide, the thing the creature held had the same shadowy structure, it looked like a weapon, a sword to be more precise.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled at the top of her lungs and dashed towards the shadow. She saw Spyro shifting as he was slowly waking up, the creature seemed unconcerned slowly turning its head to look at the purple dragon laying on the ground at its feet. Cynder felt she was running as fast as the wind when she saw the sword heading down ready to be thrust deep into his back. Just when the dark tip was about to reach his scales she jumped, momentarily Cynder found herself close enough to the creature, it was time to strike. She slashed with her claws reaching the shadow, a howl of pain echoed in the cave as the creature dissolved into a black mist. The moment her paws touched the ground Cynder couldn't stop herself thanks to the speed she gained making her to stumble over something, She landed on her belly and slid on the ground for a while.

"Cynder? What's gotten into you?!" Spyro shouted and hissed moments later

She quickly pulled herself up " Spyro you should really sleep with one eye open I barely made it, how is it possible that you didn't feel a thing? It should wake you up!" Cynder shouted back at him with concerned anger

" Next time shake me when you try to wake me up" Spyro touched his back with his wing.

Cynder furrowed her brow "What are you tal-" she didn't finish the sentence when she saw him raising his wing stained with fresh blood. Momentarily she felt that her paw was damp, Cynder raised it to get a good look at it. She gasped when she noticed her claws, crimson blood dripping from them.

Her expression turned to that of anxiety and worry " Oh no, Spyro" she muttered and ran quickly towards him. He watched her with surprised eyes as she looked him over, Cynder gasped once more when she saw some cuts on his back exactly the size of her claws, she touched the wounds with shaking paws just as if she tried to heal them " We...we need to patch you up, there...there has to be something here " Cynder said with a wavering voice and turned around, trembling.

Just when she made a step he grabbed her tail " It's ok Cynder" Spyro said caringly

A tear formed in the corner of her eye when she felt his touch, she spun around quickly and hugged him, squeezing him so tightly almost making his eyes to pop out from their sockets "I'm sorry Spyro, I'm so sorry" tears started to flow down her cheeks

"There is nothing to worry about, it's just a scratch" he tenderly started to stroke her back with his wing and paw

" I never wanted... It was.... I don't know what happened" she sobbed

"Cynder relax I've been through worse, besides I probably deserved it anyway" he smiled

His little joke made her smile weakly " You did, but I never wanted it to be this way" she raised her paw that was placed on Spyro's wound to look at it, his blood forced her smile to vanish instantly " I'm beginning to see things, I could swear there was something standing just beside you and I tried to stop it, I tried but it was only my imagination. I think I'm going crazy" Cynder hung her head from his shoulder and closed her eyes

"You are not crazy, there has to be a reason for all of this, don't worry we will figure this out" he said with a comforting tone stroking her back even more gently

His words made her feel happy beyond imagination, he was the only friend she had and no matter how many troubles she caused he never thought about leaving her "Thank you" she whispered.

They have spent quite a while in this embrace but after some time Cynder shook off all this bad feelings and with new determination she raised her head, slowly opening her eyes. The moment they were fully opened she gasped when she set her gaze upon the entrance of the cave, there was a clearly visible shadow on the ground which was getting bigger with each second.