Mary and the children came out of the house, she walked up and greeted them.
"My, don't you both look pretty, I remember when I got my first headdress. The kids and I were going to do some training, and I was wondering if you wanted to help teach some things."
"Sure, but where are we going to do it?" Spyro asked
"Michael offered us the old training grounds at the dock, so I thought we should use those." Mary answered, calling the kids over.
Jake walked out of the house with a satchel around his neck, and the group took off. The kids couldn't fly yet, so they rode on the older dragon's backs, spreading there wings wide to feel the air rushing through them. Sunny rode on Spyro's back, he glided the airstreams, smiling at Cynder. They flew over the dock, looking for the training grounds. The flew over Michael, who looked up and nodded his head in the right direction.
"Is he everywhere?" Cynder asked Spyro, who shrugged in response.
They landed at the abandoned training grounds and the kids jumped off to look around.
Jake set down his satchel and looked at the dummies that were still there.
"I thought this place was unused" he said
"They're indestructible, when you destroy them, they reconstitute themselves" Spyro answered
Then, for affect, Spyro pulled his sword out and flung an electric blast at the nearest dummy. It exploded, sending wood and straw flying. Then, suddenly, the dummy sprang back up as if nothing happened.
"Wooooh" The kids said in unison
"Can you teach me to do that" Storm asked
"When you're older" Spyro answered "When you can actually lift this sword"
"Let's start with your elemental exercises" Jake said, lining the kids up with their own dummies.
The young dragons started practicing, Storm was shooting lightning bolts, Ray was using light beams, and Sammy was trying to throw water blasts. After a while of practicing, the kids stopped and took a snack break. Then Mary took them and started teaching them some basic fighting moves. The kids were struggling to see the point of the exercises.
"Maybe I should find a sparring partner to show how it's done" Mary turned to Spyro "How about you?"
Spyro looked surprised, then smirked "Are you sure?"
"A full duel, element powers and fighting moves, let's do it" She answered
Spyro got up and entered a ring, then smirked again. Mary charged forward, but Spyro leaped right, and she flew past. Then she flipped around and launched a fireball. Spyro blocked the move with a simple blast of water. When the steam lifted, Spyro was gone. Mary looked around, then leaped forward as Spyro landed behind her. But Spyro was too fast, he blasted Mary with an air stream and she flew out of the ring.
"I had to fight apes and other evil creatures since I was younger than them." He told her, reaching out and helping her up "Cynder and Michael are the only ones who can beat me in a full duel."
Cynder chuckled
"Wow, maybe we should just try some simple examples" Mary replied
They began to set in certain positions, and explained how to defend and attack with them. Then they taught them basic attacks and element blasts. Exhausted, Spyro walked back to the others, and laid down.
"You are a really good fighter" Jake told him, watching the kids start playing around with wooden swords, chasing and screaming
"Yeah, I've had a lot of experience, In the worst ways" He answered, looking over at Cynder
"Yeah, I was trained by the same ones that gave him experience" Cynder said, blushing "Then we fought, and I gave him the rest"
Spyro picked up his sword and put it in his storage, then started eating his lunch. After the kids were done playing. Jake packed up and the group returned to the square. When they got there, they went inside and relaxed in the living room. Then ember popped her head through the front door.
"Hey, your stylist is here and wants to check your armor" she said
"Let her in, I'll show her" Cynder replied, then led the stylist into her study.
"Things ramping up" Jake asked Spyro
"Yeah, I guess Michael went to hunt down Cynder's aunts and uncles today" He answered
"What about Jade, Sam, and James?" Mary asked "I haven't seen them since our ceremony"
"Michael sent a message out to them, but hasn't heard anything back. He said he wanted to go and find them after he gets back" Spyro answered
"I think I should go with them; it might make convincing them easier." Mary replied
"That sounds like a good idea" Spyro said, looking out the window at the sunset.
Outside, a portal appeared, and Michael appeared through it. He sighed and cracked his neck, then he walked into his house and sat down at his study. He projected a communication with his general
"Do you have a status report?" Michael asked
"Affirmative" the general answered. "The forces you called arrived in Bermutha this morning, they are awaiting orders. Some scouts have detected an increased amount of dark magic activity in some of the dark zones. Also there have been some rumors of a void dragon being spotted somewhere on the Endo Homeworld."
"Dispatch some hunters to find him, monitor all portals. We may need his help in this fight. Anything else?"
"Two more things; first, we found a stash of fear cores on Preo, were working on finding the source, but we have found no leads. Second, we have begun the reactivation of Demos, its factories are set to be up and running tomorrow"
"Get the element cannons produced from those factories to Genrir, they're needed in Warfang. Send 40 of the new fortresses to the Catar outpost, make sure they are on high alert because they will be the front line if there is an all-out attack. I can see that the Demos only has a few defenses, so send 15 fortresses. Finally, send an order out to Preo, make sure those fear cores are destroyed so they can't be reacquired and used against us" Michael ended the communication.
Michael got up and looked out the window into the square, he saw that lights were still on across the street at Spyro and Cynder's house. He watched as the stylist exited the house and flew off, then he turned and went to bed.
Back in his house, Spyro was in bed waiting for Cynder to join him. After a few minutes, he heard the stylist leave and watched as Cynder snuck into the room.
"I'm still awake" he said, making Cynder jump
"Oh, good" Cynder replied, jumping into the bed with a sigh
"I wanted to talk to you" Spyro said, curling around her
"About?"
"Us, I wanted to talk about us. Things have been moving so fast after Michael woke us up, and he seems to be doing this on purpose"
"Why would he do that?" Cynder craned her neck to look at him
"Well, he has been saying that the Dark Authority has been growing again, and that it has done this before. I think he has been rushing things so that we don't have to wait to do them after the war."
"How long could the war last?"
"The last one only lasted six months, but they have been known to last up to a decade"
"Well, then Michaels doing the right thing. I couldn't imagine spending a whole decade with you without being your mate."
"I thought so too" Spyro looked at her "I want to ask you something, and you don't have to answer right away, but I want you to think about it, and get back to me"
"Okay" Cynder replied slowly
"Do you want kids? I know it's a basic question, but I don't want you to feel pressured into answering. We have a lot of time to have kids if we want, but that's what we have to figure out; do we want to? Now, I know that you have worries about this, that's why I said to take your time, I want you to make this decision from the heart, and let nobody influence it."
Cynder sat silent for a long time.
"Yes, I want kids, I don't know when or where, but I want them. I still have my doubts, but with you, I can do anything. I can't wait to start a family with you Spyro" She flipped over and kissed Spyro, then nuzzled against his chest.
"I can't wait either" Spyro replied, nuzzling her back.
The next day, Spyro and Cynder woke up to the sun streaming through their window. Finally, they didn't get any interruptions and were able to enjoy each other's company for a while. After a while of cuddling, they got up and stretched. They walked out and noticed that the house was empty. A note was left on the dining table explaining that while Mary went with Michael, Jake was taking the kids to get cleaned up for the ceremony. Enjoying some silence and peace, the two sat down and relaxed on the couch. Suddenly a letter bursts into existence above Cynder's head. Sighing she grabbed it and read it.
"What is it" Spyro asked
"Michael wants me to come by the fortress later because the decorator keeps bothering him" She answered
"I guess Ember was all over her ceremony" Spyro said
"Yeah, so much so that it bothered the same decorator. She already knows what to do, I don't know what else she needs, and the ceremony is in two days" Cynder rolled her eyes.
"Probably some minuscule details, like how they turn the element cannons into confetti launchers" Spyro replied
"No that's easy, they fill the barrel with confetti, and fire an air blast through it"
They relaxed for a few hours, then Cynder left and Spyro went to talk to Flame and Ember. But he was interrupted by a grey dragon carrying a big leather satchel.
"Mail for Spyro and Cynder?" He asked
"I'm Spyro" he told him
The maildragon pulled a massive cloth bag of letters out of his satchel and handed it to Spyro.
"We have more stuff for you, but we had to limit it due to our system being strained, were very limited since we just got started back up again" he told Spyto
"Take your time, I'm in no hurry" Spyro replied
The dragon walked over to Flame and Ember's house, and dropped a small pack of letters at the door, knocked, and flew away. Flame answered the door and noticed the pack. He looked at Spyro and his cloth bag, confused.
"Where did this come from?" he asked
"A maildragon" Spyro told him
"Why do you have so many?"
"I have no idea, I'm gonna go find out"
Spyro walked back into his house and sat down at his study. He began to open the mail and gasped as most of it was fanmail. He opened letter after letter of art, pictures, poems, and songs. He spent the next few hours reading all of the letters addressed to him. Digging into the bottom of the bag, he pulled out a very small parcel of paper. This letter was written smaller than the others, Spyro grabbed the magnifying glass from the desk and read it.
'Dear Spyro
We got your letter and are very glad to hear you're okay. We received a letter from Michael yesterday telling us about you and Cynder's ceremony. He told us that he will be sending an envoy to escort us to you, so by the time you read this, we will likely already be on our way. Sparx was happy to get his letter and is with us here, and he will be bringing his girlfriend with us. I hope to see you soon and make sure to thank Michael for the envoy and telling us how to message you. With love, Nina'
Spyro sat back, relieved. He had been wondering how he would get his adoptive parents here from Genrir. There are a lot of threats in between the swamp and Warfang, so Spyro had resigned to go get them himself the day before the ceremony. Now he won't have to worry about making the all-day journey out to the swamp and back. Spyro walked out to the square and basked in the afternoon sun. Ember flew in and landed next to him.
"Flame told me you got a massive bag of letters." she said
"Yeah, most of them were fanmail for me" Spyro replied
"You get fanmail?" she asked
"I do now" He answered
"I got a letter from my mother that I had to answer, but had no idea where to put the outgoing mail, I ended up flying all the way to the dock to put it in a bin."
"You could have handed it to Michael and he would have taken it the next time he went by"
Ember rolled her eyes "Well, that information would have been useful. At least I talked to Cynder while I was there"
"You did? What's she up to? She's been gone a while" Spyro asked
"Just some simple stuff, flower types, music, which way they should be facing" Ember looked over, and saw Jake land with the kids.
The kids ran over to Spyro
"We got polished, see" Ray announced, spreading his small wings and showing off.
"Look at you, all shiny" Spyro replied, and the kids ran back to Jake, giggling
"I can't to have my own" Ember said, sighing at the thought
"Did you talk to Flame about it?" Spyro asked
"Talk? Yeah we talked, we had long conversations about it, we spent hours talking about it" She answered, laughing. "Have you two?"
"We have, and we decided we wanted to" Spyro told her
"Your kids are going to be sooo cute" Ember smiled
Spyro blushed and walked back to his house. Then he settled down on the couch and took a nap. He woke up to Cynder talking with Jake about his time in the Triad army. He sat up and stretched, then walked into the kitchen to eat. Halfway through his meal, Spyro heard a knock on his door, he heard Cynder answer the door and jumped when he heard a familiar voice. He ran to the living room and saw his parents.
"Mom, Dad, Sparx, you guys came" Spyro exclaimed
"Of course we came, wouldn't miss it for the world, or galaxy" Nina replied
"How did you get bigger?" Sparx flew up and landed on his snout "Let me introduce you to my girlfriend, June"
A pink dragonfly lands next to Sparx, on Spyro's nose.
"Hi, nice to meet you" she said
"Nice to meet you too" He replied, crossing his eyes to look at her.
"How was the trip?" Cynder asked
"Michael sent an envoy to bring us to Warfang, he practically carried us there, after that it was a quick flight here" Nina answered
"Yeah, I just got your letter this morning, the mail system is a little stressed right now." Spyro told them.
"We sent our letter right after we got ours like 3 days ago, congrats on the engagement, by the way" Flash said
"Aww, thanks" Cynder replied "It's nice to finally meet the people who raised Spyro"
"Its nice to meet you too" Flash replied "Sparx told us a lot about you"
"All good I hope" Spyro shot Sparx a look.
"Of course" Nina replied
They entered the living room and Nina immediately took to the kids.
"Oh, I remember when you were that small." Nina said, looking over at Spyro, smiling
Flash and the others sat down at the table; the dragonflies looked exhausted. They talked for a while, before everybody went to bed. Curled up together, Cynder looked up at Spyro, who was smiling.
"You look happy" she said
"I am, my parents are here, I got to meet some of my family, and I'm about to be mated to you, the most beautiful dragoness in the world." Spyro smiled, blissful
"You know just the right things to say" Cynder kissed him "How am I so lucky"
"I'm the lucky one, to have your love" Spyro replied
"No, I'm serious. You found me in my corrupted form and instead of hating me, you cared about me, and you saved me, and after that, you still fell in love with me. I feel like I don't deserve this" Cynder looked down
"No, don't EVER think that. I love you, I LOVE YOU. Even the most powerful spells can't separate us. You deserve me, fate brought us together. Nothing can change that, nothing. I know you think you have done some unforgivable things, some things that make you feel like you should be punished for the rest of your life. But you deserve happiness, and I'm going to make sure you have it. You shouldn't be punished for what you did while you were under the control of someone else." Spyro made direct eye contact. "My beautiful queen, you are the one I love, nothing in the universe can change that"
Cynder kissed him, crying a little at the beauty of his words. They settled back, nuzzling, and let sleep lure their eyes closed.