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Legend of Spyro: Gifted Curse

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CHAPTER 4

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News from the Matron was almost forgotten by the time it arrived two weeks later, in the form of Volteer peeking into the little house to find a very explicit scene of Spyro's hinds and tail dangling over the edge of their bed, balls on full display as Cynder happily bounced atop him, her upper body covered in streaks of white cream. There was no mistaking it to the elder's eyes, Spyro's testicles were just a bit bigger than before, and as they pulled up and his tail started flagging with ejaculation, they were still very prominent against his undertail, unlike most males where release would pull them up almost completely into the body. He sighed to himself and closed the door to give them some time to recover, though his mind was racing.

The Matron's news was...potentially good for Cynder, but not for Spyro or their relationship, but one final set of tests was necessary to definitively prove it and bring the news crashing onto the poor purple boy. Volteer wished the final test would disprove things, but they were still balancing on a knife edge and needed to know as soon as possible so they could begin deliberations.

"Such a foul trap..." he growled, too distracted with inner thought turmoil to extrapolate his usual thesaurus verbosity. "They deserve better than this...dear Ancestors please let all this be wrong."

Some laughing and shuffling inside, a few muffled words and jokes tossed back and forth, then the door opened just as Spyro and Cynder were giving each other a kiss. "I'll be back by tonight," he started, then as he stepped out he realized they weren't alone. "Oh, Volteer, I'm sorry, I didn't hear a knock..."

"I refrained, as the duo of you are inescapably conjoined in carnal ecstasy with every sunrise."

They both blushed and Cynder cleared her throat. "I um...have a good day, Spyro!"

"Wait Cynder," Spyro said quickly, holding his tail in the way of the door. "So what are you here for then?" he asked of the still taller Guardian.

"The Matron's siblings beckon your personage to their laboratory facility for finalized evaluation."

Cynder peeked her head out. "And...that means...?"

"Spyro in all likelihood shall not return tonight," he said, more slowly than usual and having to strain to use smaller words. "I am unfamiliar with their procedures and duration of examination so..."

"Alright. Just tell me where they are. Sooner I get there, sooner I get back."

"That's the spirit!" He handed Spyro a map, nodded his head to them, and left. Cynder giggled and whispered to her mate as the Electric Guardian departed.

"I don't think he was just waiting outside..."

Spyro was about to ask when he caught sight of the elder's erection hanging under his belly. "Think he peeked in again?"

"Probably." Giving a small sigh, she added "What's this evaluation about? I thought we were done?"

"You are. I think they might want to test something about...my powers, I guess. Since I'm purple." He winced internally. Technically it was true. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

"I guess." Nosing at him, she inhaled his scent again. "Hey...can I...suck on your balls a bit before you go?" she quietly asked, blushing.

"You have to ask? Usually you just go right for it. By the way, you're still covered in cum."

"So? I kinda like it." She giggled and rubbed at a streak on her neck, then licked her toes. "Mmmm...always so delicious."

Spyro smirked and shook his head, then turned around and lifted his tail for her, showing off his dangling sack and fleshy sheath. Licking her lips at the sight, she pressed her nose against the back of his sack and breathed in deeply. Having washed before their playtime, it was just his own personal smell, no musk or grime or anything, and it was a smell she absolutely loved. Gently nosing at his soft scrotum, letting her sensitive muzzle scales glide over his protective yet flexible scrotal scutes, she let her tongue out to lap at the front of his testicles while she nosed the back, Spyro closing his eyes and huffing a little in pleasure. "You really love my balls don't you?"

"Mmmmmhmmmm~" she slowly churred, taking one into her mouth to suckle fondly on it, then letting it drop free to take the other and give it some love. Peppering his sack with little kisses and licks, she finally stood up and groped him with a paw, fondling those treasures and hefting them to see the contrast of the round swells in his scaly pouch against her black scales. "I don't know why, Spyro, but over the years I've been finding your testicles to be extremely sexy."

That admission was a dual-edged blade for the purple dragon. On the one hand, he was honored his mate loved his assets so much, but on the other...he started to worry about whether that was her...or her possible Matriarch side dictating. She let his balls flop free of her paw and kissed the top of his tail. Taking that as a sign to leave, he smiled over his shoulder and she winked at him with a little kissy blow before turning around to continue her work on some more spice experiments. Spyro took off with a great shove of his wings, hovering for a bit to look over their house from above. Cynder leaned her head out the window to wave at him, then ducked back inside. His heart fluttered in his chest, but then squirmed with nervousness as he unfurled the map and looked it over. "So...almost half a day's flight past the dam?? Geez...and it's already several days' flight just to get to Warfang." He swooped by the window, catching Cynder's attention. "Hey, Cynder?" He held up the map, though she couldn't really read it with his flight stabilization making it bob this way and that. "Volteer kinda didn't tell us how far this is, it's almost half a day's flight past the dam!"

"But that's- holy...that's almost a week you're gonna be gone!"

"Yeah...we need some sort of faster transportation. I'll bring you back lots of good stuff from Warfang on my way back, sound good?"

"You don't have to, but some more venison and calymara spice would be welcome!"

"Love you!"

"Love you more!"

With that he was off, sighing to himself sadly. Almost a whole week of flight...Warfang was pretty far, and getting to the damn with the world fractures was almost half a day again from there. A whole week of no sex with his loved one...he'd done it before with all the restoration efforts, but after so much recent indulgence it felt like impending torture. And that feeling made him cramp up inside with dread, was that normal or was that his Patriarch breeding needs starting to take hold?

Whatever it was, he couldn't stop now, he had to get this stuff figured out for sure before he started really worrying again. His breakdown earlier didn't help his state of mind now that he was isolated with his thoughts, the glimmering ocean below becoming the Silver River inlet beneath him. Memories flooded back, but they kept leading and circling on themselves to this central issue of his power and possible curse.

Warfang was at least three days' flight from the Temple, with good weather of course. He sighed to himself as the Silver River meandered under him, periodically broken by the dark, gloomy forest surrounding it and the occasional fallen Skavenger ship or abandoned ruin. Honestly, he felt a little bad for having to kill Arborick in self-defense, but...realistically, what else could he have done? The more he reflected on his adventures, the more he felt bad for having to kill certain creatures. He had to get clear of the Silver River's domain before he could safely make camp somewhere. Well, technically, for him anywhere was fine, he had power to spare and then some, but he disliked using so much raw power. It made him feel like he'd lose control and destroy something.

"This is so boring...wish I had someone to fly with," he grumbled. Some of the restoration effort trips had been a wonderful treat, once the initial awkwardness of "omg purple dragon" faded away to normal discussion. "Wonder how Flame's doing, wonder if he ever found his girlfriend?" His mind wandered back to three years ago when he'd joined a caravan of essential medical supplies as defensive support, and among the dragons present was a boy maybe a few months his junior, a red-scaled miniature Ignitus named Flame. He'd been a little...antagonistic towards Spyro at the start but after the first week of road travel and some shared stories with others in the group, Flame chilled when he realized Spyro was already happily mated and not any competition for his girlfriend Ember. The two had gotten along rather well after that, with Flame offering to treat Spyro and Cynder to a fancy dinner at Warfang if he found Ember. The purple dragon's heart ached a bit. There were so many hopeful, estranged people desperately trying to reconnect after the war, and Flame was, sadly, just one among many despairing or desperate individuals he'd crossed paths with. It still confused him, though, why Flame and some other males had been so cross with him just for being purple until they learned he was bonded to Cynder. Was competition for female attention really that dire, that irrational jealousy or aggressiveness was practically expected? It made no sense. But, then again, if the Matron was right and casual sex among dragons was normal, it did make a little sense that perhaps the others felt threatened that Spyro's...endowments...and general exotic color and reputation might lead to him stealing their girls' attentions and hearts with his presence.

So far he'd done well for himself withholding his arousal so that no others saw his penis, but of course with his jewels there was no hiding those, he just had to be watchful of his position and tail. But, with his recent arousal surges, he wondered if he could still keep himself in check. Peepshows of shaft heads were common enough to be overlooked but he definitely didn't want other girls seeing how long he was and lusting after him.

Hours ticked by with the wind across his wings and the sun beating on his back. It felt like he'd never clear this forest. At the very least he wanted to reach the general area of the Catacombs, or if he got a good tailwind, the Valley of Avalar, and bed down there for the night. If he could reach the Valley in one day it would shave off quite a bit of flight time, but unfortunately he was fighting a bit of a headwind that kept threatening to subtly shift him off-course. As afternoon started to turn to evening, he allowed himself a dive towards the forest to take a hearty chug of water and try to find some snacks. A few lushberry bushes did the trick, their meaty, juicy fruits dripping with sweet-sour nectar. It almost reminded him of Cynder's juices. Back into the air he vaulted before any foul creatures might suss him out. He was especially wary of the giant spiders that had been trying to establish themselves in the forest.

A harsh tailwind gusted up behind him and almost sent him tumbling as a storm rolled in off the ocean. How long had that thunderhead been building behind him?! Flapping quickly the purple dragon rode the wind, letting it sweep him ahead, finally clearing the forest, but an overhead wisp of the storm started misting rain along his path. The cold, clammy droplets made the wind terribly cold and he gritted his teeth against the chill, flying as swiftly as he could. Technically, he could just use his electrical power to wrap himself in lighting and jump ahead, but it was so unpredictable even with his purpleness. There was Cynder's shadow melting technique where she could hide and move through shadows swiftly, but that required enormous concentration for longer distances and faster speeds, and he really didn't want to exert himself like that if he could help it. Wind too, but again, lots of focus, and it gave him a headache with protracted usage. He really only relied on his elements if speed was of utmost importance for someone's life, at least then he had better motivation to deal with the side effects.

The storm's reach made the land dark well ahead of evening, and Spyro had no real choice but to land and find shelter, even if for a short while since both moons would be in the sky tonight and probably give enough light to fly by, if the clouds let up. Alighting, he darted through the small spit of forest that branched off from the Silver Grove, trying to find anything to use for shelter, but ultimately having to use his earth power to lift up some rock and create a little cave to bunker down in.

The night dragged on with the storm until well past midnight, Spyro deigning not to bother until morning. Pale gold sunrays found him already on his way, with a decent tailwind accelerating him. It was a long, boring day until he reached the Valley of Avalar, and bypassed it for the aboveground riverway that flowed past Warfang...or at least, had once flowed past. With the land shattered the way it was, some of the land had been scrambled, and some small island chunks with trees went past as he flew over the dried riverbed. Instead, the river flowed between some chunks below as if along an invisible chute, carving a new path on whatever ethereal power held it aloft. Swooping in, he ducked through the cold water and caught a rather large fish, snapping its neck to cleanly kill it before ducking in again to take a flyby drink and hurry on his way. If he could see Warfang's territories, he could spend the night walking to rest his wings for the flight past the dam.

With luck, he found some old Cheetah warcamps on their travels to Warfang to help with the final assault, and recycled some abandoned tents and made himself a cosy little pocket and campfire to roast his fish. Lamenting not grabbing his shopping belt to carry some spices from home, Spyro bit into the bland fish meat and scales, crunching the bones between his teeth and decimating them into glop with some contained Earth Shots within his maw. No sharp pointy bits going down his gullet.

Warfang was still a wreck, but was gradually recovering, covered in torchlights as he cleared the forest and looked out across the regrowing plains between Warfang and the distant mountains edging the Burned Lands beyond. He was so tempted to stop in and sleep, but he might get roped into more recovery assistance and he really didn't have it in him right now to decline someone, so he preferred to avoid it altogether. Walking across the vast plain, still broken and trampled and rutted from the vile creatures and war machines but covering itself with grasses and bushes, it wasn't a very easy walk with the deep gouges of siege tower wheel ruts or the deep footsteps of Trolls and other vicious giants, or the occasional small crater from a fireball from Warfang's launchers. A small camp ahead attracted his attention and he made his way over. There was some music and a lot of hammering, and as he drew closer he found they were working on breaking open a number of mysterious dropped Orc artifacts that looked like small lockboxes, tiny little strongholds of thick steel walls and even stronger riveting and banding around them, judging by the appearance of some that had been emptied and discarded nearby.

"Hey! I know you! Spyro!" came a voice from a nearby tent, Flame trotting into view. Spyro gave a weary smile and nodded to him, Flame coming up and punching his shoulder lightly. "Where've you been, dude?"

"Appeasing Cynder's voracious needs," he replied with a weary chuckle, Flame rolling his eyes with a knowing smirk. "Did you find Ember?"

"Yeah! She was here in Warfang all along, apprenticing to the jeweler! Man, you have no idea how great it was to accidentally find her the one day I wasn't looking!" His tail swayed behind him in obvious enjoyment. Some of the others had paused their work to gather around the purple dragon, some younger ones and a few of the Moles.

"What's going on out here?" Spyro asked.

"We're gathering and dismantling some of these lockboxes," Flame explained, picking one up and showing it to him. "All the Orcs had them, but some of these didn't vanish here in front of Warfang when the creatures were slain. The magicians think there's a key to the dark powers Malefor used to generate the beasts, and if we can find that key, we can create a counter to them so others can't easily use the ground itself to generate vast armies. It might also give some insight to creating our own defensive golems like at Tall Plains, the technology for that's been long lost."

"That's...great."

"You don't sound like you mean it."

"Sorry, just...first thought in my head of 'cracking that key' is that someone's gonna take it and make their own army before a counter is found."

Flame smirked and shook his head. "Yeah...that's a big front against the research, but it takes an intense magical power and focus just to make one creature, and Malefor was a purple dragon with power to spare. Unless you suddenly start making your own terran army, I don't think we have anyone in the world capable of something that large a scale right now. Besides, I'm starting to think these lockboxes are a dead end. All we're finding are these tiny orbs." He snatched one off a nearby table, holding it up to the firelight. It was a clear, very silvery gem, across the surface the light was refracted into blues and purples.

"It's beautiful..." Spyro whispered.

"Yeah. Ember wants them for jewelry, and the magicians have verified them as magically inert so, the prettier samples are going to her while a share is going to materials research. Someone thinks these would serve as good resurfacing agents for 'sanding' huge stone or metal fabrications."

"I see."

"You're tired aren't you? You sound exhausted. Come on, flop in." He swept the door flap of the tent aside and Spyro found some spare bedrolls. Spyro did just that, taking the invitation to sprawl on one of the rolls Flame gestured to. "Hey, dude, thanks for the help getting us here safely three years ago."

"Couldn't just let you guys go trundling through unexplored fractured terrain like that."

"Yeah, that fight against the Dreadwing flock was so freaking cool!"

"Heh..." Spyro yawned, feeling the fast travel attempts catching up to his poor muscles. "Hey, do you know where the Screenath Library is by any chance? That's where I'm headed right now. Got a summons."

"Screenath...Screenath..." Flame tapped his chin in thought while Spyro got comfortable, then he peeked his head out the tent flap. "Yo! Adrian! Where's Screenath?"

"Wassup?"

"Spyro's heading to Screenath!"

"Half a day past the Warfang Dam basin, east-northeast at the foot of the Floating Mountains!"

"Oh hey I know that spot!" He ducked back in and grinned. "I can show you if you want!"

"Sure..." Spyro slurred, yawning again. "Sorry, had to fly against a storm just past the Silver River."

"Yeah, rough struggle, you need rest. Unless you wanna shoot the breeze a bit and catch up and just fall asleep talking. Like you did before."

Unable to help a small laugh at that, Spyro facepawed. "Ugh, fuck, I forgot about that stupid thing..." He caught Flame's eyes roving between his legs but didn't say anything about it. Flame had eyed him before on the previous trek. "Guess I could try to talk, but what about?"

"Well where have you been? I tried to get in touch but the Guardians said you were off elsewhere?"

"Oh...right, yeah, that must've been the Tall Plains debacle. I was out there for months. But they didn't tell me I had a contact attempt?"

"They might've forgotten, honestly, they were so busy with stuff I was surprised they paid me any attention. How's Cynder?"

"She's doing very well now that we've settled down and have a home to ourselves, though I'm starting to regret keeping it close to the Temple."

"Heh, cool...Ember and I have been trying for eggs but no luck yet. It's...a bit scary how no one else has been able to get pregnant either."

"The Guardians are on that. They'll find something." He hoped that was enough deflection.

"Yeah...I hope so. Ember's been crying some nights because she wants to have eggs so badly, her heats are getting worse."

"Dunno what to say to that, honestly...Cynder's been manageable."

At that, Flame smirked and cocked a brow at Spyro's loins. "I'll bet you keep her quite full with those."

"Quit starin' at my balls."

"Can't help it dude, what are you eating? You're huge! Those would be big on a troll!"

"Not really anything special...and it's why I've been summoned to the Screenath Library. They want to make sure I don't have some weird power snafu or something that might endanger our- uh...future kids."

"Mmmm...yeah, that makes sense." The topic was getting both of them aroused, despite Spyro's attempts of restraint. "Oh, hey, if I guide you to Screenath, mind if I tag along to the Temple too? Ember wants to ask about these jewel orbs before she commits them to a project, so she's heading there probably by the time you'd be heading back. She wants to go alone first but I'm kinda tempted to follow her and make a vacation of it, she's been pushing herself way too hard."

"Sure, I mean, you don't need my permission to go see the Temple."

"But to follow you and hang out, I'd rather not just invite myself."

"Don't really see a problem with it I guess." He yawned and stretched, inadvertently letting his penis flop free of his sheath, Flame's eyes widening.

"Holy..." he whispered, his own malehood throbbing unabashed against his belly. Flinching at the scruffy fabric against his sensitive male flesh, Spyro rumbled and tensed his loins to try to pull himself back in, but his nighttime habits with Cynder were sticking fast...thankfully at the moment not hard.

"What?" he asked, a bit concerned at Flame's gaze.

"Cynder's real damn lucky..." Shaking his head with another smirk, Flame shrugged with his wings, not bothering to hide his stiffness below. "Time for sleep, after I take care of some...business." He waddled out of the tent and Spyro overhead some bawdy jokes being slung back and forth. The chatter continued with some laughs, Flame's voice still audible. Was he...actually masturbating in front of the others?

"Gotta sit here!"

"Wait you're actually measuring it this time?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Urgh..."

"Bet your paw ain't as good as Ember, huh?"

"Ember's better than everything!" Flame's panting breath increased, then he groaned out and the others made all kinds of noises of humor or disgust or awe.

"Hey, farther than last time!"

Shaking his head, Spyro rolled over to try to get comfortable again, but found that he was sporting a raging hard-on. Why was he so stiff from overhearing Flame masturbating? Rolling so his back was to the tent flap, he struggled to fall asleep, but his pulse was racing with excitement. Why? It wasn't like it was his first time overhearing someone else having sex, but...was it his Patriarch thing again, maybe? The thought of sex in general triggering a need to breed? Or was he just pent up and still on habit from so many sensual nights with his beloved?

He could still hear Flame panting a bit as he cleaned up and moved around to help store things away for the night, then brushed his way inside and flopped onto his sheets with a content sigh. He could hear the others moving around and chattering about random stuff. Soon Flame was snoring. And yet, as torches and lanterns were dimmed and the camp fell quieter with everyone in various states of undress and bedding, he couldn't sleep. At least not until well past midnight.

Teeth flashed in the morning light as the purple dragon yawned for the umpteenth time, shaking his head and trying to clear the fatigue of his overnight nap. "You okay?" Flame asked. "You look like you barely slept."

"Got an awful lot on my mind..." he grunted back. As they strode along the shattered and battleworn causeways across the field outside Warfang, Spyro glared at the sun stinging his eyes. "I need some cold water."

"The dam's more of a giant pool now after the shattering," Flame offered. "You need some relaxation."

"What I need is to get to Screenath and then back home as quickly as I can."

"Trust me, dude, you need a bit of a chill break. Let's swim for an hour at the reservoir! You won't regret it."

"Actually I want some good hot food but that'll have to wait til we get to Screenath."

Flame shot him a sidelong, less playful and more analytical look, but shrugged with his wings. "Alright, we'll get you at least to the dam and you can make up your mind from there, but I'm tellin' ya, you need some fun."

As the sun rose into the sky and Warfang finally started to recede behind them, the cliffs of the Warfang Dam made themselves known, albeit a lot shorter than they had been before. The land dropped off steeply into an ocean of swirling, sparkling magic power of the planet's molten mantle cradling the fallen chunks of the territories beyond. Spyro still felt a pang of guilt as he looked over the horribly damaged giant stone dragon figure that had held back the water, now little more than shattered stone and remnant gears and chains and other mechanisms clinging to the walls. But beyond, the land fragments had clustered, and as he and Flame flew over towards it, he saw that they had smashed together to form a beautiful clear lake, surrounded by large amorphous bubbles of more water suspended on the magic from the planet's mantle below. Flame shot up higher into the air with a loud whoop, then free-fell, spinning lazily with his wings and then streamlining himself right before splashing into the cold water, bubbles foaming a trail behind him as he arced back up and then broke the surface for air. "DUDE!!" he shouted up at the purple, "TRY IT!!"

More to get Flame to stop bothering him about it, Spyro let himself fall, opening his wings ever so slightly to steer his dive. The rush of adrenaline on descending so swiftly made his pulse race, awakening old memories of careening through clouds on his way to various other locales. Bracing himself, he took a deep breath, and plunged into the water. It was so cold! He scrambled up to the surface with frantic paddling and broke the surface with a huge gasp, briefly disoriented from the exciting rush and the shock of the chill, his sheath and balls cinching up painfully against his groin. "FUCK!!!" he finally belted out with a chattering jaw. "That's COLD!!!"

"You get used to it! C'mon, dive down! You've never felt water like this!" With that Flame kicked the water and curved his back at the same time, doing a backflipping curl into the lake with a thick splash and spray. Panting and shivering a little, Spyro took another breath and dove with a sweep of his wings against the water.

The cold fluid hurt against his eyes and made him wince, and it was hard to hold his breath against the deep chill in his hide, but the water was so clear he could see Flame wriggling like a fish and swimming swiftly to the depths of the lake. Spyro wasn't much of a swimmer, having spent most of his life fighting and flying and running around on land, so he awkwardly followed suit, trying to mimic the piscine movements to propel himself. The further down he went, the more he realized the water was warming up...and...glowing? Everything looked brighter as he went down, and Flame's form ahead almost looked silhouetted with bluish light. Then he saw it. Curls of pure etheric power flowing around in the water, like streams of bubbles on currents but without the erratic bubbles shimmering and scattering light. It was much easier to hold his breath, as if a small bit of air was being fed directly to his whole body all at once. The further they went, the stronger that feeling became, until the purple dragon felt cradled by magmatic softness and power leeching into his being. He couldn't help an excited smile at the fire dragon, Flame shooting him a wink and a grin before shooting back up towards the surface. Changing a little of his power, Spyro used his water ether control to rise up faster, his lungs starting to burn and his throat clenching.

With a loud gasp he breached again, panting at the chill once more covering his hide. Flame rose not too far away and slicked back his crests with a paw, grinning ear to ear. "Told ya!"

"The lake's absorbing elemental power! That's so cool!!"

"Isn't it though??"

"I can't feel my balls though! It's so cold up here!"

Flame burst out laughing. "Yeah so dive back down!"

Spyro did just that, taking as huge a breath as he could and diving faster now that he was getting the hang of being in deeper water. The brightness of the natural power at the bottom of the lake was so beautiful it almost hurt his eyes to look at. Where even was the bottom anyway? He couldn't see anything but a brightening blue glow the further down he went. Unless...was there no bottom? Was it directly open to the sea of power at the mantle??

Whatever it was, the two spent a while just swimming up and down, from cold to hot and back up for breath. It was so simple, yet the power surrounding and creeping into his body was an addictive, almost pleasant sensation, and he wanted more! Oh if only he could bring Cynder here and have her try this too! But the power of the ether, while relaxing and invigorating, was not enough to stave off exhaustion for long, and his inexperienced body quickly began to tire of swimming. Hauling himself to the grassy shore of the lake, Spyro flopped and panted, the sun warming him quickly. Flame leapt out and shook himself off with a laugh. "Whoo!! This place is awesome!"

"It is! But why is no one else here?" Spyro asked, rolling onto his back, not bothering to hide himself as Flame similarly flopped.

"Too many superstitions that it's a whirlpool to the heart of the planet, or that the Warfang Golem will reach up from under the lake and grab you. I brought Ember here and we had sex at the bottom, or tried to anyway. It was fun! But water makes a horrible lubricant, and we couldn't hold our breath long enough. So we just did it up here after our swim."

Spyro shook his head and laughed. "Yeah, that was doomed to fail. But Cynder would love it here..."

"You should bring her!"

"I want to, but she...has...trouble flying," he explained, his tone going lame as he quickly realized what he was about to imply or outright say. Flame quirked a brow.

"The Terror of the Skies can't fly?"

"Don't call her that," he hissed back, then sighed. "It's...complicated but not really. But I don't wanna explain it here. Actually come to think of it we should keep going. I don't want to be away from her longer than I need to be."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Flame copped a glimpse of Spyro's assets again and grinned. "Just, damn, dude. No wonder you're so reserved about sex topics."

"Huh?"

"You put other guys to shame."

"Not really my intention, can't exactly choose how big my parts get."

"I know, but still. I bet Cynder enjoys having such a stud."

He felt a bit weird at being called that by another guy. "She definitely does." Rolling to his feet, he stretched and flexed, arching and bowing his back to try to work out the soreness of his swim.

"They hang so low too..." Flame whispered, though the purple overheard it still.

"Hey, quit starin'!"

"Too bad we can't trade parts for a day or two, man those have gotta feel good!" Flame laughed and jumped into the air, and was it Spyro's imagination or did Flame intentionally flash his own pair at him? "Well let's get going then, there's a small village we can stop by on the way for some food if you've got some coin!"

"Do you?" Spyro asked, then vaulted up with a sweep of his wings.

"Nah, but I can nab a deer or somethin' to use as barter. There's tons of the suckers around. Or one of those rock crabs, the villagers love those!"

"Cynder makes a real mean rock crab dish, but I need to stop by Warfang's shops on the way back for more calymara spice for her."

"You've got it super lucky then, Ember can't cook to save her life!" He made a face. "I'm the one doing all the cooking and foraging while she fiddles with shinies and metals all day. Sometimes life just ain't fair, y'know? Just one day I'd like to have a pretty girl make me a delicious dinner."

"So Ember's the hard worker earning a living then?" Spyro jabbed.

"You wound me."

"It's not much better for us though. I hate leaving Cynder by herself. She gets bad nightmares sometimes and I have to help her calm down. Not even nightmares...more like night terrors. She can forage and cook and fend for herself just fine while I'm out fighting or helping fix stuff, but...we're sometimes apart for so long I can't help but worry for her."

Flapping against a thermal that caught him off-guard, Flame grunted. "Sounds rough, dude. I guess those with heavier workloads spend less time together."

"I guess. Is Ember gonna get pissed at you for just leaving like this though?"

"Nah. I sometimes get randomly pulled away too. She has a few guy friends that look after her for me when that happens."

Spyro felt a bit conflicted at that, considering his past interactions with other males. "So...you hated my guts when we first met because you didn't want me getting in your way for Ember's affections...but now you say she's got guy friends. You're not worried about them?"

"No? Why would I be?"

"I dunno, I didn't exactly grow up in dragon culture and there's a conflict here between how you reacted to me and what you're saying for her. I'm missing something here."

"Missing out is what!" Flame rolled in the air as he said that, shooting Spyro a sly smirk as he did so. "Man, your life must've sucked!"

"I don't think so, I did get the most beautiful girl in the world after all the hardship!"

Flame didn't rise to that. "I was...hesitant, around you because Ember and I weren't mates yet. It's...it's really weird, and I can't exactly explain it, but...I guess, until girls officially reciprocate the heart feelings of a guy, there's this...weird pressure in the back of the mind that clouds everything with suspicion and a bit of fear. I was afraid Ember would gravitate to you if you two met. I felt that way about everyone with greater elemental power or brighter colors or bigger balls and dicks...and even though she was having friendly sex with other males before we reunited, she requited my love for her and...that just...seemed to set everything straight in my head. I dunno. And most other guys have had similar experiences. Sure, we fuck around with others here and there but...with that special one, it's so much more, so much better. But I trust Ember, and I know she trusts me, so I know she isn't cheating on me and having multiple mates, just multiple sexual friends. Plus, sometimes she or I will pick up some new fun thing to do together from a casual partner."

It was still hard for Spyro to wrap his mind around all this, but it did, at least partially, make some sense. He knew some of that tension of wanting Cynder to requite him, to return his affections, to want him as much as he wanted her. And everything did indeed feel so much more right with himself when she did. The lack of competition or exposure to sexuality until _after_all the chaos probably helped them in that regard. Although, if he was honest, there were nights he wished they'd been less shy of each other and had explored their bodies together during their time being chained up by that magic collar. It would've made many nights so much easier and far less anxious, just like they were now. Must've been nice for other dragons to grow up exploring each other so freely that they could just mount each other for pleasure and companionship.

"You're awful quiet. DId I say something wrong?"

"No just...I'm not used to it, is all. The Guardians never really talked about sex, and are rather prudish, so Cynder and I...really only learned about stuff with each other. The most we were told was that Cynder would get pregnant if I kept ejaculating in her."

"That's really rough, dude, that sucks. You really missed out on a lot. But hey! There's nothing saying you can't catch back up!"

"Come again?"

"That'd be hard to do this high up!"

Spyro facepawed. "No, not that, what do you mean?"

"What it implies, dummy! You an' Cynder don't have to be cooped up with each other exclusively, if you wanna explore and have some fun there's really nothing stopping you!"

Shaking his head, the purple dragon frowned, beating his wings against an errant gust of headwind. "Cynder's comfort is important to me. If she doesn't want me having sex with others, then I won't. She's really all I need, anyway. She's everything to me."

"Ember's my all, too, but still dude, needs are needs and if you've gotta cum, you've gotta cum, shouldn't ignore your body's needs, especially if someone is willing to help with it." Flame was sporting a very prominent flagpole in the breeze. Pointedly ignoring it, Spyro sighed.

"Still. If Cynder doesn't want me doing it, then I won't. Part of that trust. And I love her too much to violate her comforts for my wants."

"You do you. Or her. But what if she wants to see you experiment with someone else?"

Spyro's confidence wavered at that and he coughed. "I...uh...I...might try it, I guess. For her."

"What if she wants to try it with someone else?"

"With how horny she is all the time? I think it might be good for her."

Flame grinned again and winked. "And now you know why I'm okay with Ember having guy friends while I'm out."

He'd walked himself right into answering his own question. Spyro grumbled, Flame laughing. "And I guess you've seen other girls too when she's away."

"Of course! There's more than enough Flame to go around!" He puffed out his chest and gave a toothy grin, Spyro rolling his eyes.

"Too much spread around means not enough for everyone to be satisfied with."

"Oh shush, you, I'll have you know I make a few girls practically pass out squirting all over. Ember's one of them. She rides me til my balls are dry 'cuz she can't stop climaxing."

"Stroke your ego another time."

"I will tonight," he retorted, lightly patting his erection.

"You're incorrugible."

"Encouragable? Why yes, sex please."

"You'll be flying to the Temple alone at this rate."

"Aw c'mon I'll behave!"

"No you won't, you just said you'd be stroking your dick tonight, but it's a full moon and I plan to fly as long as I can to get home sooner. I'll just leave you to your ego stroking."

"Fiiiine, you win. I'll lay off. Unless I can find someone to lay in the village while you're getting tested for whatever it is."

"You need something other than sex to think about."

"Nah. Sex is good." He fell quiet after that though, hopefully having caught the purple dragon's growing annoyance on the topic insistence. "Should be close enough to dive down and try to catch something to bring with us."

A lake flashed into view beyond some steep hills, and Spyro folded his wings to steeply dive. His ever-alert eyes caught sight of exactly what he needed and he backwinged just as he launched a powerful Icicle Breath shot. It hissed through the air, made the barest of a splash in the water, then bubbles rose up and a rock crab floated to the surface, speared right in the head. Flame landed on the shore as Spyro flew over the water and dragged it with his tail. "This good?" he asked.

"Shit..." Flame gasped, looking over the melting icicle. "I know you're the purple wonder but damn dude, that was one fuck of a shot!"

Spyro allowed himself to puff out his chest and grin a bit. Not as much as Flame would, but enough to indulge in the little surge of pride. He set about quickly clawing apart the rocky shell, carefully prying it from the meat beneath. Using the hard back of the crab's shell as a bowl, Flame collected what chunks Spyro yanked off, his stomach grumbling at the thought of all that meat getting grilled and seasoned, perhaps even blackened with a nice light char. "Hey uh...you said Cynder makes a really good crab dish."

"Yep," Spyro grunted back, carefully separating the eyestalk armor bits.

"If Ember and I visit, think we might get to try some?"

"You'd have to ask her. But she might. It's her own recipe. I don't know if she'd want others to try it or if she'd like to see others enjoy it."

"I hope she would. I love crab, and Ember goes nuts for it."

It didn't take Spyro very long to clean the carcass, and soon they were on their way, Flame carrying the lighter carcass while Spyro carried the shell and fragments. It was a fairly short flight to reach the village, but Flame's paws were hurting and his forelegs were sore from combating the shifting dead weight of the crab as it gradually lost its flotation ability. "Hey!" he called out as the butcher noticed him, a heavyset dragoness with storm-blue scales laced with graying white lightning stripes.

"Well if it ain't Flame," she called back. "Got a nice haul there!"

"Yep," he grunted as he alighted while setting the crab on the hunting landing pad. "Rock crab, freshly peeled." Spyro set the shell down. "Think this'll be enough for a meal and a bed? Well...two meals and two beds."

"I don't handle the shells no more," she replied, already appraising the carcass. "Gotta take 'em over to Whittaker, his apprentice handles 'em now. But I'll give ya forty sylvan for this."

"Oh come on, it's at least sixty!"

"You landed it here, it's on my shop cutting board." He bit his lip at that. "Fifty."

"That's more like it."

"You forgot your cash belt again didn't you?"

"...Crap."

Spyro laughed as the red dragon had to carry the small drawstring bag of coins with his teeth. "Hey, you can be quiet!"

"thut upf."

Some food was in quick order, unfortunately not crab, but Flame did explain that she preferred to slow-smoke the meat with hot spices, which could take several days to cure. When he tried to lead Spyro to the inn though, the purple dragon shook his head. "Thanks, but I don't know if they'll need me to stay overnight for the evaluations or not. Would be wasted coin on an unoccupied room, I want to make sure first."

"Fair 'nuff. Guess I'll hold off too, I have to show you the way there after all. But it's not that far."

Indeed it wasn't. A quick flight down a hilly vale, and there it was. The ruins of an ancient royal library set into the foot of a mountain, still undergoing restorations after the Destroyer's destructive march. Other mountains could barely be seen in the distance through the bluing of atmospheric occlusion, floating in the sky with them. The causeway leading to the library's front doors was shattered slate tiles grouted with powdered lapis cement and flanked by tall granite columns, most of which had been crumbled by time, war, or earthquakes. Brand-new, shiny, oiled wood front doors loomed over them. The two weren't much shorter than fully grown dragons, but the height disparity felt almost comical. The place was full of a piercing watchfulness, and before they could get close enough to knock, the doors were already creaking open with the sounds of stone and metal contraptions. A very elderly dragoness, pale gray and covered in sagging hide clinging to her bony frame, strutted up to them with a fluidity contrary to her old age, made even more confusing with the absurdly thick glasses perched before her eyes. She wore a thick fur robe with a fluffy collar accentuating the brown material, sewn with all sorts of pockets containing various implements. Under her left wing she carried a clipboard with a simple, fluffy white quill tucked into its clip. "Ah...you must be Spyro," she said with a large smile and a dip of her head to him. He nodded back and Flame copied. "And I see you have a companion?"

"Yeah. This is Flame. He helped me find this place faster than Volteer's map would've seen me here."

"Ah...this actually works in our favor," the elderly lady replied. "It was intended to be private but, if your friend here would like to participate in the evaluations, it would greatly help us to have a fresh normative sample to compare yours against."

"Say the what now?" Flame asked.

"You're as dense as Sparx. She's saying they want to you join the testing to give them control samples to contrast mine with."

"Uh...what...kind of testing?" he asked. She turned to her parchment and squinted at it.

"Standard procedures really. Etheric power gauges, strength tests, affinity for elements versus magic... Residual magic exposure levels, hex pattern presence, curse registration detection, ley line connection, flight affinity... tests for allergen reactions...Scale, claw, saliva, blood, and semen collections."

The more the list drolled on, the more Flame's face fell, until that last mention. Perking right up, he coughed into his paw. "Sure sounds like a lot for a normal dragon to undergo, but I suppose a natural super specimen like myself could partake..."

Flame didn't see it, but Spyro caught the old lady's playful grin as she replied, "Terribly sorry, but a super specimen is unnecessary, I suppose we should look elsewhere for a contrast."

Flame's smug grin dropped immediately. "N-n-no I'm good, I'm normal, totally normal, yep, can't get any normaler than me! Flame the Normal, yep, right here, ready to test."

"Wonderful to hear. I shall get things prepared for you. You will be spending the night here with us, to rest and to resolve your systems with a provided neutral set of meals before the tests, to create a baseline. Tomorrow you will be tested, and by nightfall you will be on your way home."

"Cool," Flame replied. She led them to a shared room, a cozy little stone pocket with adult-sized beds in either side wall, nests gotten up with soft pillows and sheets, elemental sigils glowing serenely on the walls for lighting and a translucent stained glass window letting in light from the setting sun. After she left them to settle, Flame sprawled on one bed, stretching his legs shakily as his muscles vibrated from the strain. "Shiiiiit, that was a long flight."

"I'll say. Was hilarious how she dropped you right on your ass like that though."

"Yeah I guess I walked right into that one. Oh well. Hey uh, do you know when or how they'll be collecting our cum? I hope they have some pretty nurses to mount..."

Shaking his head with an exasperated huff, Spyro was about to quip something curt, but then smirked. "Oh, I have no idea. Maybe they'll chain you up and have a Dreadwing mount you instead. Or...maybe she will want you."

Flame's eyes went wide with a horrified look. "Dude that's nasty!"

"The Dreadwing, yes."

"Did you see her though? How is her skin still on her?? Wrinkles everywhere between her scales!"

"That's Ember in a century or two, Flame. I'd not knock it 'til you try it."

"I-..." he started, then went silent when he realized Spyro was right about his viewpoint on it. "Damnit dude, what the hell."

"Honestly though, I dunno how they'll do it. Might just use magic to stroke us off or something neutral to see our responses to sex."

"But that's no fun, I'd rather just use my paw then." Laying on the nesting blankets, he sighed, then shot Spyro a half-grin. "But, it better be the both of us together. Not gonna lie, I'm totally curious to see what Cynder gets to enjoy."

"You've been stealing looks at my balls ever since I got to your camp. You've seen enough."

"And I say again, Cynder's so damn lucky. You know, Spyro, it's not against any rules to appreciate the body or have a little fun with the draconic form. Food for thought."

Shrugging dismissively, Spyro got comfortable on his bed and stretched. "I just hope this doesn't take so long. I want to get to Warfang with enough time to browse and get Cynder a little extra something."

Dinner was a simple but tasty selection of light fruits and vegetables, with some steamed poultry. Nothing heavy, or dripping with fats or crusted with seasoning, and they were also offered some raw steak, which Spyro declined but Flame eagerly accepted. The purple dragon's gut was a little twisted with anxiety, and not just with the impending test either. He'd had a lot dumped on him in terms of sexuality and it was hard to process it all, especially in the presence of someone so open and eager for the topic like Flame. Maybe it was a smidge of his own pride but he felt conflicted, torn between honest curiosity and his natural concern for propriety. Maybe Sparx was right? Maybe he was taking a bit too much after Cyril? But four years of seeing the effects of the battles he'd waged and trying to make things right with the fractured planet had hardened him...perhaps a bit too much, if he was choking this much on his own biology. The more he got out, the more he saw that the Matron and Flame were right...draconic sexuality was indeed very loose, much as Spyro tried to turn a blind eye to it in his pursuit to remain pure and devoted for his mate.

He was, though, very curious. And it was creeping up in the back of his mind. He couldn't deny a certain guilty perverse curiosity that had his eyes straying down Flame's body and trying to focus under his tail. Was it temptation for sexual gratification? Or was it just pure childish curiosity about individual differences with something usually kept so private around the Guardians? He couldn't tell, but he was actually fairly curious about what was "average" for other dragons and how he compared. Glimpses and flashes of Flame's balls and erection weren't quite enough. But that thought alone kept the purple boy second-guessing himself. And it kept spiraling into the fun he'd had with Cynder. Was it...really okay? For him to indulge with another? Would Cynder care? Would she be upset...or would she get turned on by the idea?

At some point Spyro realized he was staring at Flame's raging erection and free-hanging testicles, the fire dragon passed out on his back and snoring lightly. Usually, he'd look away and turn around, but in the warm light of their chamber, his eyes were rooted on that throbbing, drooling length jutting up from his fleshy sheath. Looking back and forth a few times between Flame's bits and his own, Spyro could now clearly see why Flame might be so enamored. His penis was nearly three times the length the fire dragon possessed, and his testicles were massive in comparison as well. Flame stretched and mumbled something about Ember's "tasty little muffin", his shaft straining and squirting a thin stream of clear pre before he rolled to his side. Enough was enough, Spyro decided, rolling away and closing his eyes to try to get some sleep.