The Darksield Chronicles

Chapter 3: City

Wraith POV

It took Wraith roughly two days to arrive at Warfang. He was just glad that he remembered where the secret entrance was to the tunnel through the mountain. He had managed to get inside without much trouble. But he knew that he was going to have trouble getting into the city. The walls were way too high, and the only way in was through the gate. Wraith would have preferred to sneak in at night, but he suspected that they locked the gates at that time. So, he decided to make do with what he had. He set down his bag and checked his gear.

His armor was a little dented from the fight and several falls down hills (long story), but he suspected that the moles inside the city would be able to fix his armor. Other than a side trip to the forge, Wraith pretty much planned to get to the guardian's temple as fast as he could. He then proceeded to chuck his backpack under some bushes. No need to attract more attention than necessary.

Wraith squared his shoulders and walked down toward the main road. He waited until a group of cheetahs passed and then slipped into the crowd behind a cart. Luckily for Wraith, traffic was moving fast. He walked right in the cart's shadow, so he was pretty sure no one would see him. They approached the gates. Twenty feet. Ten feet. The guards were dragons, which made Wraith nervous that they might smell him, but they didn't react as he passed.

Wraith waited until the cart passed by an alley and ducked into it. He waited several minutes until he was sure it was safe, then walked out onto the street. He stuck mainly to the side of the street and made his way toward the blacksmith's shop, unaware that someone was watching.

Cynder POV

Cynder was still mad at Spyro. Why did he have to attack the creature that had saved her? She couldn't understand. The only thing that the creature had done was save her. And Spyro had rewarded it by shooting it with a fireball. Now she had no idea who or what it was. She had argued with Spyro all the way back to Warfang and decided to fly off and relax.

She had flown out toward the city and alighted on one of the roofs, and had been thinking about that creature and trying to figure out what it was, when she spotted a flash of black down in the crowd.

She peered down and spotted the source. She gasped. It was the creature! She was shocked. How had it survived that attack? She had seen the fireball hit! She watched as the creature looked left and right before ducking into the blacksmith's shop.

Just as it crossed the threshold it seemed to flicker. Then it was normal again. Cynder shook her head. Was she seeing things? She flew down and alighted on the roof of the blacksmith's shop. With her acute hearing, she could hear every word that passed between the blacksmith and the creature.

"Hello sir, what can I do for you?" That was the blacksmith.

"Not much," a voice replied. That was definitely the voice of the creature. She remembered it from when he told the apes to back off. "I was just hoping that you would be able to fix some of my armor." Cynder heard the sound of two things dropping on a table and heard a gasp.

"Blimey, I've never seen armor like this before. I might be able to repair it. Tell you what. You tell me where you found this armor, and I will fix it for you for free."

There was a long pause. Then the creature replied, "I found it in the woods, in a cave north of here two days ago." Cynder shook her head. That didn't seem right. The creature had armor on when he had saved her, and that had been east of Warfang.

"Very well, sir. I shall have it done in thirty minutes."

"Thank you very much, sir." Cynder heard the door open, and the creature stepped out.

Now, in broad daylight, she had a clearer view of the creature. It had apparently left its arm armor with the blacksmith. It looked left, then right, then walked to a bench and sat down.

Cynder watched it for roughly thirty minutes while it just sat there, head down. She gave a start and nearly fell off her perch when the blacksmith came out of the store holding the armor.

"Good as new!" the blacksmith proclaimed as he handed the armor to the creature.

She noticed how its paws had fingerless gloves on them like an archer might, but it didn't carry a bow. The creature dipped its head at the blacksmith.

"Thank you, sir." It slipped it's armor on and tightened a few straps. "It's just like new."

The mole chuckled. "Well, I try to do a good job when armor like this comes around. Safe travels, my mysterious friend." The creature nodded once and walked off.

Cynder waited until it was out of sight, then she jumped and landed on the street below. She turned and entered the blacksmith's shop. She wanted answers.

The blacksmith looked up from behind his desk. "Ah, Cynder. Pleasure meeting you here. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I need you to tell me about who was just here."

"Certainly. What do you want to know?"

"Could you see its face?"

"No. It had some kind of cloth covering half its face. I could only see its eyes. They were blue. Bluer than the sky I might add. I've never seen anything like this creature before. At first I thought it was a cheetah, but it didn't carry itself like one."

Cynder nodded. "Have you ever seen that kind of armor before?"

The mole shook his head. "Never. Unequaled workmanship. I've never seen any armor like it. When I was fixing it, I noticed that it seemed to bend back into shape more easily than any other armor I have ever seen. And when I accidently hit it with the hammer, it barely made a scratch."

Cynder was shocked. "Thank you, sir." She turned to leave, but the mole called out.

"Wait!"

She turned and looked at him. "Yes?"

"You're going after that creature, aren't you?"

She nodded. "I want to know how it got that armor." It wasn't technically a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth.

The mole nodded. "If you find out, tell me. Alright?" She nodded and ran out of the store. As soon as she was out in the open, she flapped her wings and shot into the sky.