Post-Apocalypse Paradise

2: Regalement

"C'mon, Cynder! You're never going to catch me at that rate!" Came a young male's voice, echoing through the air with jubilance.

"Does your small mind even comprehend how screwed you are?" Retorted a young female, voice filled with focused irritation. "Malefor was nothing compared to what I'll do to you!"

Like two birds chasing each other in a kind of aerial dance, Cynder dogged after Spyro, the two of them nothing but blurred shadows sailing through the air. Spyro dashed through trees, missed incoming boulders and branches by a split second and took dramatic sudden turns mid-flight, but nothing could shake Cynder off. The black dragon stayed hot on his tail, her eyes fixated on his movements like a hawk after its prey.

"Last warning. Stop now and your queen may show you mercy, dragon boy!" Cynder called, effortlessly dodging a mossy stone even at her blinding speed.

"Flirting won't get you anywhere, Cynder!" Spyro taunted, taking a sharp turn into a grove of trees.

The towering Dragon Temple rapidly faded into the distance as the two dragons approached the opposite end of the valley. While Spyro maintained the lead for now, it was a diminishing one. What Cynder lacked in power, she made up for in agility. Nothing was wasted in her movements, and with every obstacle dodged, she grew closer and closer to her prey.

"You doing okay back there Cyn-whhaaa!"

Spyro's mocking was cut short by a sharp gust of wind slamming into his body from behind. He was nearly thrown into a tree trunk, and after recovering, he glanced back to find Cynder sneering evilly - eyes lite with a white light.

"Wait, was that a wind blast!?" Spyro shouted, unsure how he felt about dodging obstacles as well as attacks from behind.

"Whoops. Your butt just looks so cute from back here." Cynder said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Thought I'd use it for target practice."

With a powerful roar, another transparent blast of air shot from Cynder's gaping mouth, hurtling towards Spyro.

"And to think we were cuddling not even fifteen minutes ago!" Spyro yelled, dodging pressure blasts of air through a series of impressive aerobatics.

"A true dragoness knows when to be affectionate, and when to show her boyfriend when he's being a brat." Cynder stated, firing off a more concentrated blast. "Guess it just goes to show that you really know how to pick em', huh, hero?"

His cockiness having been knocked out of him, Spyro made a desperate roll in mid-air, watching the potent blast of air soar right by his wing. This was bad. Cynder was serious, now. If he didn't watch himself, he was going to get blasted into a tree or rock - and that would be the least of his problems. It was time for evasive action.

Spyro took a steep upwards turn, and darted out through the top of the trees, out into the open sky. Cynder's dark form followed suit, legs close to her body to cut through the air as effectively as possible. Just as Spyro reached a plateau in his ascent and began to change direction, Cynder fired off another blast of air. Not enough time to dodge it, Spyro instinctively curled his wings together as a shield, bracing himself for the impact.

"Wrong move, Spyro." Cynder muttered under her breath. The hazy spear of wind collided with the male dragon, and sent him spiraling helplessly through the sky. Cynder wasted no time - she shot forwards and tackled the purple dragon before he could regain his bearings. Together, the two of them plummeted rapidly towards the open grass fields below.

With a muffled thud, Spyro's back collided with the ground - acting as a cushion for Cynder, who made sure to immobilize her prey with her weight the moment he landed.