Fire of Dreams

An unsettling night

(Stealth elf POV)

"Geez... This river is a mile wide!" Spyro whined. "She is not that heavy, so quit complaining," replied Cynder, "besides, we won't have to do this all the time." While the two bickered, I watched the old fortress we were headed towards. Why would he go here? What's going on? I wanted those questions answered before the end of the day.

The place was abandoned, not a single sign of life, apart from the few insects and spiders crawling along the cold stone walls. Torn and ragged scarlet curtains hung around dusty cracked windows, and the carpet was spewing dust from the slightest step. We could see old worn paintings of an oddly familiar face along the walls, though it was hard to make out who it was. Until we got to the main chamber. The biggest portrait in the fortress, it was faded, yet it hadn't aged as much, and we looked with shocked expressions as we realized who owned this place.

Kaosandra.

"The corrupt Portal Mistress?" Said Spyro. "No buts about it, this was her castle," said Cynder, "why would Flameslinger come here?" "There must be a reason, we just have to figure it out," I said. We gave the portrait one last glance before exploring again.

"We should set up camp in here," said Spyro, "it's going to storm outside tonight." "I'll gather some old wood to make a fire," said Cynder. "What about Flameslinger?" I asked, "What if he left?" "We've been keeping up with him pretty well so far, so I'm confident we can catch up to him again if that's the case," said Spyro, "nothing bad will ever happen to him, I promise." I was still a little worried, but I nodded.

However I couldn't sleep. Apart from the fact we were in an abandoned, dark, infested castle, I wanted to know if Flameslinger was okay. I know he's my friend, but why am I worried this much? I decided to go quietly explore while the others slept. I took a small flashlight and crept off into the halls.

The first room I came across was an old room some of the guards must've hung out in. It was rather large, and had plenty of weapon racks for a small army. It reeked of stale liquor and really old vomit, I didn't even make it an inch inside without having to gag. I soon also found an abandoned library, it still reeked with the remains of booze, but not as bad as the other room. The books that were left were stained horribly with wine, dust, and beer. Just a reminder how much I didn't want to start drinking. It became quite clear to me that many guards in this place were almost always intoxicated.

However, I also found another room. One I didn't really like. A torture chamber of some kind. Mostly used against traitors too. I could tell because of the various troll and drow skeletons still stuck in the old rusted cages and contraptions. One looked like he was even literally tickled until he died. I silently gulped, not wasting any time to leave.

However, I was surprised when I found the dungeon. Flameslinger was laying in the floor in one of the cells, his face in a doll. He looked like he cried himself to sleep. 

It broke my heart to see him like this. I wanted to comfort him so badly, but I remembered my mission, and though it went against everything my conscience was telling me, I slowly walked away to leave him. Just as I turned around, my ear twitched at the sound of him rolling around on the floor. It became apparent he was having a nightmare.

He started flailing and yelling gibberish, though I could make out a few words. "No!" "Stop!" "Have mercy!" Then I started hearing my name. I couldn't take it anymore and laid down on the cold floor with him, holding him in my arms to comfort him in his sleep.

"No one is going to hurt you, I'm right here don't worry..." I whispered. He slowly calmed down, however it surprised me when he wrapped his arms around me. I smiled, we both felt safe in each other's arms, and we drifted off to sleep keeping each other warm.