Chapter 1

It had been four days since the orcs attacked Warfang. Charlotte, Zephyr, Spyro, Sting, and Cynder avoided contact with Fang, Flare, and Twitch. Charlotte and Zephyr even slept in Sting's room, so the only time they had to see the other three vanguards was during their classes. Crystal tried her best to hang out with both groups, so that she did not seem to favor one over the other. None of them told the council what had occurred in the dining hall that night; however, the council knew something was wrong with their children.

"So, the hearing's today?" Crystal asked as she, Spyro, Cynder, Charlotte, Sting, and Zephyr walked down the cobblestone streets.

"Yeah." Cynder replied apprehensively.

"Are you nervous?" Charlotte asked.

"Very." Cynder replied.

"And what about…him?"

Cynder knew of whom she was talking about, "He's not afraid of death…I don't think a simple hearing's going to make him the least bit nervous…if anything…he's interested."

"I heard the council is keeping the doors open so the entire city can hear their decision if they want to." Zephyr said.

"Yeah, and that's what scares me the most." Cynder began, "I can only hope that the only dragons there will be the vanguards and the council, and I'm not even comfortable with that."

"So, has anything changed with the others?" Spyro asked turning to Crystal.

Crystal sighed, "Well…not with Fang or Twitch…" Crystal then turned to Charlotte, "but Flare can't stop thinking about what you told him."

"I didn't like talking to him like that…but I meant what I said." Charlotte said.

"Are you guys that you're making the right choice?" Crystal asked.

Cynder was about to answer, but Zephyr beat her to it. "At first we weren't…but that night when we found Cynder with him…it was weird…it was like…like…" Zephyr couldn't find the right words.

"L-like he d-doesn't want to k-kill the d-dragons, but he f-feels like he h-has t-to." Sting finished her sentence for her.

"Yeah." Zephyr nodded.

Cynder sighed, "Look, let's just eat lunch and go to the hearing." She said, ending the conversation. They finally reached the dining hall and entered through the doors. They noticed Fang, Flare, and Twitch sitting at a table across the room and found a table as far away from them as they could. Cynder noticed that Crystal was looking between them and the other vanguards. "Go ahead, Crystal." Cynder told her.

"Yeah, we don't want you to have to choose sides." Charlotte reassured her.

"Thanks, guys." She said graciously

"But can you also tell them that the council has ordered us to escort Leon to the hearing today?" Spyro asked, "If they don't already know, that is."

"Yeah, sure." She said nodding before trotting off to the other table and sitting next to Flare who nuzzled her on the top of her head.

"Those two are inseparable." Zephyr observed.

"Yeah, I guess," Charlotte said, "but I don't think he deserves her right now."

"Don't say that," Cynder said, getting Charlotte's attention, "he's just angry…all of them are. They'll come around, you'll see."

"I hope your right." Zephyr said sadly, "I miss being with Twitch."

Just then, the five dragons saw Flare and Crystal get up and approach their table. Charlotte kept her eye on her brother, who just looked at the ground, ashamed.

"Flare has something he would like to say." Crystal said.

Flare took a deep breath before speaking, "That night, in the dinning hall I…messed up and said some things that I shouldn't have, I was just scared and angry," He looked up at Cynder, "but that's no excuse for my behavior…I wasn't acting like…" He glanced at Charlotte, "like my father would have wanted me to, and for that I truly am sorry." He looked back at the ground again. Cynder hopped down off of the stone bench and approached the fire dragon.

Flare looked up at Cynder, who gave him a reassuring smile. "Thank you." She said before pulling him into a friendly hug.

Charlotte also jumped off of the bench and approached her brother "Dad would be proud." She said before hugging him too.

"Thanks," he said, "listen, I agree with Crystal in the fact that I don't want to choose between my friends, so…"

"It's okay, Flare, we get it." Zephyr assured him.

"Thanks." He said, he then lowered his voice and said "You didn't hear this from me…but I think that Fang and his father have been working together to convince the council to sentence him to execution at the hearing today…and it wasn't too hard for them to get supporters."

"How many?" Charlotte asked asked.

"Every non-council dragon in the city, except us and Elektra." Flare said.

"Damn it." Cynder cursed under her breath.

"Don't worry," Spyro began, "the guardians still have the final word."

"The only thing I'd really be worried about," Zephyr began, "is Leon doing something stupid in front of the council."

"I wish I could guarantee that he won't." Cynder said sadly.

"We've done all we can." Spyro said, "It's up to him whether he wants to live or not."

"Yeah, I guess...thanks for the heads up, Flare."

"Anytime." Flare said before he and Crystal turned and went back to the other vanguards.

Cynder and the others ate quickly, to make sure that they would get to the healer's den before Fang and Twitch. Within ten minutes, they had cleared their palates and prepared to leave. Cynder noticed that Fang and Twitch were watching them leave, but paid them no mind as she and the other four dragons entered the street and took to the air. They flew at a relaxed pace toward the eastern side of the city. They landed at the healer's den and waited patiently outside. The hearing was not for another hour and a half, but they knew that if Fang and Twitch had gotten there before them, they might barge in and execute Leon themselves. They decided to pass the time by reflecting on what they had been through to get to this point, taking care not to dwell on Leon's attacks for Cynder's sake. It was another hour before Fang, Twitch, Flare, and Crystal had finally caught up with them. Spyro and the other four dragons kept their eyes trained on Fang and Twitch.

"How long have you guys been here?" Flare asked.

"About an hour." Charlotte replied.

"Afraid we would try something?" Fang asked.

"Possibly." Charlotte said glaring at him.

"Why can't you just see that we're trying to protect you, and everyone else?" Twitch asked.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Twitch." Zephyr said.

"We just don't get why you're siding with him." Fang stated.

"We're not siding with him…we're siding with our friends." Charlotte stated.

"I just don't understand."

"Yeah, you don't…but I hope that someday you will."

Fang looked back at Cynder, who kept head down. "Look, Cynder, our problem isn't with you…It's with that murderer in there."

"If you have a problem with my father…" Cynder looked at him with stern eyes "then you do have a problem with me."

Fang just looked at the ground and shook his head before Spyro spoke, "Guys…I know we have different opinions…but we're still a team, and we need to work together to see this through."

"We're not disagreeing with you, Spyro." Twitch said.

"As a matter of fact we agree with you…but we can't accept the fact that this…monster might be the answer to our problems, when he's the one who caused them." Fang said.

"Be that as it may…it's out of our paws, and your fathers… because in the end, the guardians still make the final decision." Spyro said.

"I know…but that doesn't mean they can't be convinced to see things our way." Fang argued.

Spyro was about to speak again but then he saw Sparx approach them out of the corner of his eye. "What's going on, guys?" He asked smiling,

"Nothing." Spyro replied.

"What're you doing here?" Cynder asked.

"I'm here to protect you guys…you know, in case our friend tries something funny." Sparx replied.

"Oh, I feel so much safer now." Twitch said playfully.

Even though she was mad at him, Zephyr couldn't help but laugh. "I'm serious," Sparx said, hovering in front of the entrance to the pavilion, "if he tries to hurt you guys…he'll have to deal with some of this!" He spun around and threw a blind punch expecting to hit air, but instead he felt his knuckles hit something cold and hard. He looked up to see the cold eyes of Leon staring back at him. "Eeep." Sparx said before hiding behind his brother. Elektra and two cheetah guards emerged from behind Leon, whose hands were shackled together.

"Are we ready?" Spyro asked.

"Yeah, finally." Elektra said. "We would've been ready sooner if someone," She shot a look at Leon, "wouldn't make such a fuss about me washing his armor."

"You washed it didn't you?" Leon shot back.

"Yeah, after forty-five minutes of arguing. For someone who's, supposedly, so tough, you sure are self-conscious."

Sin manifested himself beside Leon, "You should've killed that one." He said. Leon ignored him.

"Excuse me, for not wanting to undress in front of my enemies," Leon stated, "and the cheetahs too."

Elektra sighed and shook her head, "Next time, I'll just knock you out and take it off myself."

"You can try." Leon said threateningly.

"Hey guys…" Cynder said getting both Leon and Elektra's attention, "the council is waiting for us."

"Yes, of course." Elektra said.

"Whatever." Leon said dismissively.

Spyro noticed that Fang and Twitch kept their death stares locked on Leon. "Come on, let's go." Spyro said. They began walking down towards the temple and Cynder noticed how empty the streets were. There wasn't a dragon, mole, cheetah, or dragonfly in sight in the normally city.

After fifteen minutes of walking without any other signs of life other than a few birds, Cynder finally asked, "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know." Spyro said.

"Their probably at the temple already." Fang spoke up, poorly attempting to hide the smirk on his face. Cynder was hoping that he was lying, but, much to her dismay, soon found out that he wasn't. The group turned the corner and stopped when they saw a massive group of moles, cheetahs, dragons, and dragonflies conversing amongst themselves in front of the temple.

"Everyone in the city must be here." Charlotte said gaping.

"Yeah," Fang said before looking back at Leon and smiling, "you've become a quite a celebrity here."

Leon ignored him, but Sin spoke in his mind, "So, he's the black dragon that they were talking about…he looks like a weakling, and clearly not worth our time." Leon silently agreed with him, before stating, "Let's just get this over with."