A sleek black dragon strode silently through the long marble corridor. it had been 4 years since he had seen warfang. he had been there for a week. his bladed tail flowed in counter rythum to his steps. the golden scythe at at the end carved a steady and ongoing "S" into the smooth slabs of slick stone. His golden talons sparked across the marble floor with each step. the setting sun had just begun to sink under the horizon and cast orange and purple light onto his iridescent scales. he allowed a shiver to run through him, causing the dust on his golden stripes to fly off into the air. the golden shape of a spade shone brilliantly in the onslaught of the suns rays. he reached the large doors at the end of the passage way and paused. stretching his leathery wings he took a deep calming breath. with a powerful exhale, he sent the two doors swinging inward to the sparring hall. He took in the room with his purple eyes.

the new candidates were there to spectate. two for earth. a male and a female. the spitting image of one another. Three for lighning. both the females were about the same heightand were the same brught yellow but the male could've been slightly smaller framed. he was, oddly enough, feathered and a deep navy-blue color. his golden eyes gleamed even from such a far distance. both he and the earth dragons were familiar faces, as was that of the male ice candidate. he had met them before but the other three females were new to him. accompanying them was ember, the mate of the fire guardian. beside her sat her daughter, a beautiful red dragoness that the black dragon did not recognize. on the other side of the sparring ring sat the terror of the skies, the dark temptress herself, Cynder. and finally the great savior of the world himself, Spyro the purple dragon. unfrotunately for the young black dragon, the four current guardians stood in the sparring ring, with one at each corner.

"Greetings, Spade." Terrador boomed with his deep voice. every time he spoke it was like every tree, every mountain and valley, every blade of grass sounded in unison to him. Spade growled at the earth dragon.

"Welcome to your final exam Spade." spoke the ice dragon.

"I dont't feel very welcome, Cyril." Mumbled spade.

"in the name of the great ancestors, we wish you luck." stated Volteer.

"You're going to need it." said flame with a smug grin.
suddenly all four guardians released an un believably powerful blast of their respective elements at Spade. time seemed to slow around him as his mastery of convexity showed its prominence. he dove forward at the earth missle and turned its path, directly at Flame, cutting through the blazing jet of fire. he turned to the icy wind and wrapped himself in his wings blockng the blast and shrugging off the chilling effects. his paw shot up and intercepted the bolt of lightning with his claws allowing the energy to pass through his body and out his tail, aiming at the ice guardian. with a blast of dark fire at the guardian of electricity and one more of wind at the earth guardian he let the convexity return to its place in the universe and time went back to speed. in the blink of an eye all four guardians were sent flying.

the audience looked on in awe that only a 15 year old could have that much power. all but one. the purple dragon looked at him with a straight face. Spade felt a slight relief after the short challenge and a slight smile appeared. this joy was quickly dashed when he realized that his challenge was only half over.

"well the easy part is out of the way." he said as the 31 year old purple dragon took to the ring accross from him.

"are you ready, Spade?"
Spade simply growled at the dragon. he was in his prime. this wouldn't be an easy fight.
Spade then saw the tall figure of hunter the cheetah drop from his perch high above them. he had not noticed this stealthy cheetah before now. but what else could he expect from the feline who taught him to fight. The two were companions since Spade was ten and he had accompanied him in his training journey around the world.

"Don't let rivalry turn this fight into a death match." said the cheetah coolly. "Begin!"

at the sound of that Word, Spade flapped his wings hard both send two tornadoes at the dragon and throwing himself backwards into the air. Spyro blocked the twisters with a thin wall of ice just stopping the wind. the wall disintegrated and Spyro lunged at the Black and gold dragon. Spade dove straight down in a nosedive but just before hitting the groun he became cloaked in darkness and warped into the ground. Spyro looked imtently for the young dragon to no avail. Suddenly the ground beneath him began to shift suddenly a pillar of stone hit Spyro in the stomach knocking the air out of him. he recovered in the air and spewed a jet of flame back a the dragon who had erupted out of the earth he just stood on. Spade returned with his own jet of black flame and the two were abviously matched Suddenly a bullet of ice lept from Spade's jaws striking Spyro in the foreleg coating it with ice. spyro flappe hard towards the young one and punched him in the jaw with his frozen fist sending him reeling. he hit the ground hard tearing up tiles as he skidded.

"This is over Spade. better luck next time." Said Spyro, sounding rather pleased with himself.

"You wish it was over, Old timer!" Spade lept forward with lightning crackling between his jaws and released a beam of electrical energy. Spyro countered with an earth missle slicing through the beam and slamming Spade in the face.

"I said we are done!"

"Not Yet Spyro!" Spade yelled.
he began to glow with a strange aura. not quite light but more the opposite. A light consuming darkness.
Suddenly Spyro felt lightheaded and dizzy. he realized the low roar, more like a deep growl that came from Spade.
his polished gold turned to a tarnished silver. His horns, talons and spikes lengthened and his muscles seemed to ripple with power. Spyro felt fear consume his mind. deep in his head he heard a sinister voice but couldn't make out the words. his world began to spin as he fell to the ground. as he did so Spade reverted to normal and sent up thick roots to hold Spyro to the ground.

"I win." stated Spade with a smile.

"Good job son." said Spyro who couldn't help but be proud of his son.

"Great job sweetie." Said Cynder who had gracefully strode over to embrace him. "My little boy is growing up."

"Mom your embarassing me." spade said, accepting the hug.