Vindicator

by The Wandering King

After the battle with Malefor, Spyro and Cynder try to find their way back to Warfang. Exhausted from their endeavors, they stumble onto an ape encampment and are nearly executed for their crimes against the ape nation. However, their vengeance is interrupted when a mysterious figure of terrifying power descends from the heavens to protect Cynder. Now it follows from the shadows.

1. Chapter 1-Guardian

Author's Note: To those of you who read my other story, The Rise of Nobody, know that it is not dead. I'm simply super busy right now finishing up my bachelor's degree in creative writing. However, until I can get around to writing in it again, here's the first chapter to a new story I started for the fun of it a while ago. I wasn't planning to ever post it, but what the heck? Let me know what you all think, and thank you for your patience these past few months. Enjoy!

Chapter 1-Guardian

Do not worry, child. I shall watch over you. I'll usher the demise of the mightiest of foes when you are weak. Should you ever fall, I'll be there to catch you. If ever a harsh curse falls upon your ears, your assailants shall taste bone and steel. With extreme prejudice, I'll consign all threats to your well-being to oblivion. Without mercy, I'll crush the life from all who fall out of your favor. I'll throw myself before fatal assaults to protect you without a moment's consideration. From every injustice life may wantonly toss your way, I shall shield you. When all seems lost, and you've nowhere to go, I'll offer the reconciliation you need. For every instance in which it is clear I have interfered for your benefit, there will be a thousand times I've lent you my aid and you were none the wiser. Should a power beyond your most fantastic nightmares attempt to unmake you with its awesome brilliance, I shall fall away to my darkness and slip into madness to save you. Until my heart stops beating and I've breathed my last, the whole of the world might be torn asunder, and you'd suffer nary a scratch. This is my undying oath, my pledge, my creed. You are my charge, and I am your Vindicator.

A breeze rolled across the valley, ruffling the grass in rippling waves. Nature's breath sighed gently against the two dragons who walked, huddled together, eliciting tiny chills that crawled down their spines. The stars twinkled brightly up above, unobstructed by any masking clouds. The clear sky offered a pair of luminous moons, beaming down their lunar rays to pierce the darkness left behind in the sun's wake. They looked like two giant eyes staring down at the world, unrelenting in their gaze.

The open field the couple traversed was wide and open. The only indication that it ended was a darkness on the horizon were the trees of a forest rose up from the earth to block out the stars. All that could be heard on the grassy plain was the whispering swish of the leaves in the wind. It carried with it the scent of dew. It smelled like morning, though it wasn't quite time. The first glow of dawn would be along in about another hour or so.

The purple dragon looked to the dragoness by his side, a scowl scrunching his features in the half-light. She was about his age, probably give or take only a few minutes or hours at most since his generation was born on the same day, as is the dragon way. Her black scales allowed her to fade into the night, becoming one with the shadows without even trying. Even the ivory horns and claws that adorned her body were easily hidden with the right touch of magic. What truly made her stand out were her eyes. They shone brighter than the most dazzling emeralds the land had to offer.

Sensing his gaze, she turned with another one of the shivers that caught his attention in the first place. His horns as well as his wings contrasted gorgeously against her own. The glorious gold of his body perfectly accented the royal amethyst that was reflected in his eyes as well as the rest of his legendary body. She caught him staring and let a hint of a smile curl around her face and asked almost amused, "What?"

Spyro turned back to face the forest once more and stepped closer to the shaking dragoness by his side to drape a comforting wing around her frame. "If you're cold, just say something. I can keep you warm."

Cynder rolled her eyes jokingly with a grin and allowed herself to be pulled closer to her companion. The fire in his belly provided all the warmth she needed to make herself comfortable. Still, she huddled a little closer just to be sure. With a contented sigh, she raised her head to regard the heavens with a gaze full of wonder. "It's so beautiful."

Following her eyes, Spyro nodded in agreement and leaned in to say into her ear, "Yes, it's breathtaking. There are so many stars. How many do you think there are?"

Cynder shook her head and said, "I have no idea. Too many to count. Maybe there are as many stars as there are souls."

Spyro thought about the idea for a moment before looking back up. "That's an interesting idea. A star for every soul? Maybe every star is a soul that has passed on into the other world."

Cynder curled her tail around Spyro's and cocked her head. "I like that idea better. Every star is an ancestor, be they dragon or cheetah or mole or what have you."

Spyro tightened his grip on Cynder's tail with his own and leaned even closer. "If that's the case, then we should thank them. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have been able to defeat Malefor."

Cynder raised her head at this, pointing her nose straight up at the sky. "They have my thanks then. They saved us. They saved all of us. And because of them, I'm finally free."

"Well—"

Cynder looked up into Spyro's eyes as he stopped himself. "Well what?"

"Nothing," said Spyro a little too quickly.

"Aw, no. You were going to say something. Go ahead, you might as well finish what you started."

"Well," Spyro took a deep breath and continued. "The ancestors weren't the only ones who freed you."

"Oh yeah?" Cynder gave Spyro a curious and mischievous grin.

"Yeah. I think maybe I had a little something to do with it, too."

"Oh, you do, do you?" Cynder goaded him on.

Spyro raised his voice just a tad and said, "Yeah, I think I did."

Cynder laughed at the sudden upward inflection in his voice. To calm him, she placed her head underneath his chin, causing an involuntary hum of pleasure to vibrate against her forehead. "Thank you for saving me, my hero."

"The second I saw you for what you really are, I knew I had to."

Pulling her head back, but staying close to him, Cynder said, "It's hard to believe it's finally over. I'm finally free. I can live my own life, just like I always dreamed. Now that I don't have to follow Malefor's orders anymore, I don't know what to do."

"You can come with me, back to Warfang." Spyro felt her tense a little at the suggestion and, knowing what she was thinking, said, "They'll warm up to you. They just need to get to know the real you. Cynder, nothing you did was your fault, and one of these days, everyone is going to have to learn to accept that. No one can keep using you as their punching bag just because you were physically the one who fueled this war from the beginning. It may not be common knowledge that you have only been a puppet your whole life now, but the elders and I will use our standing with the nations to change that. With all of us behind you, you can't possibly be demonized any more than you already have."

"I don't know, Spyro. I have done so many horrible things. There are those who will never understand. I may not quite get what the real world is like as much as others, but I know that reason sometimes falls on deaf ears, especially when there is hatred clouding one's vision as well."

"I won't let anything happen to you, Cynder. I promise. Please, come to the dragon city with me. It's the only place we can call home."

A long pause followed this request. Spyro felt his insides squirm while he awaited the answer as they neared the edge of the forest. What Cynder said next would alter both their fates. For better or for worse, he had resolved to stay with her before he had even asked her. Finally, after several seconds of quiet deliberation, Cynder let out a breath. With a quiver of uncertainty, she said, "Okay."

Spyro snatched her up in his arms and landed on top of her, pinning her wings to her back so as to keep them safe. Nearly squeezing all of the air from her lungs, he said in a low voice so as not to disturb the night, "Thank you, Cynder. I'll make sure you won't regret this. From this day on, I promise to do everything I can to make you happy."

When Spyro opened his eyes, his smile faded. Tears were streaking down the sides of Cynder's face, splashing silently on the ground beneath her. "Cynder, what's wrong?"

With tremendous strength, Cynder heaved Spyro to the side and rolled over so that she could take the top. Her sobs came harder now and her salty tears began to land on Spyro's neck and cheeks. With even more force than Spyro had demonstrated moments ago, she dove forward and gave Spyro a spine popping embrace that would have crushed a lesser being. "No one has ever been this nice to me before," was the shout that escaped her throat between uncontrollable sobs and hiccups.

Spyro wrapped his arms around her again with a renewed smile and said, "It's okay. Everything is going to be different now. This is just the beginning. I'll show you what life is really like. We can learn together. I'm new to this, too. There's not a whole lot that I know about being a dragon either. Just what I've been told by the elders in between missions. Life is supposed to be beautiful and exciting, I think. I'm going to use my power to make it that way, and I want you by my side while I do it."

Cynder nodded vigorously and cupped a paw to his cheek. "I will. I'll stay with you. I couldn't ask for more."

With a laugh, Spyro said, "Me either. Now come on. We need to keep going. The forest is right over there. Once we're inside, we can make a fire and settle down for a while."

With Spyro's help, Cynder wiped the streaks of moisture from her face and got up, letting Spyro roll over and rise to his feet so they could enter the forest on foot. Flight would have been preferred, but the past few days of exertion left their wings heavy with exhaustion. Darkness prevailed over the light of the celestial orbs here in the heavy wood. Even with a dragon's keen eyes, Spyro and Cynder could scarcely tell the difference from the trees to thin air. On the nights when the moons retired to wherever it is they hid sometimes, this place must be truly pitch-black. Spyro scrunched his eyes up in a vain effort to make any more sense of what was in front of him.

Cynder gave up on that endeavor and let a blast of air escape her nostrils. "This is hopeless. I can't see anything. Think you can light us a fire?"

Spyro tapped his claws on the dirt for a moment and thought the idea over. None too quick to answer, he said, "I don't know. My magic is still a little low from the battle with Malefor. I guess I can try, but I was hoping to save my energy for when we make camp."

Cynder understood his problem. She opened her wings a few inches and said, "That's okay. Take some of my power. I don't need it all right now."

Spyro felt the rejuvenating flow of magic fill his veins as Cynder transferred some of her mana to him. After a couple seconds, he gave a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, that should be enough." When she didn't stop, he said, "Whoa, what are you doing? Giving me everything?"

"Of course not," said Cynder as she placed a shushing claw to his lips. "But you need this more than I do. I still don't think we're evened out."

"Well, you've sure got a lot to give," said Spyro, mildly impressed by her capacity for mana storage.

When the power came to a halt, Spyro took in a deep breath and let it out nice and slow. "That's much better. Thank you."

"Any time," said Cynder in the darkness. "Now how about some light?"

Spyro concentrated on his horns, reaching deep within himself to coax the embers in his soul to flare. Almost immediately, his head became a flickering beacon with a hot whoosh. The crown of flames danced silently atop his head, creating a quivering ring of visibility that stretched no more than five feet outward. There was no discernible path anywhere around them. They had not entered the forest on one, so this didn't exactly bother them, but the trees and the ferns and the multiflora rose spun around them, melding together and turning the travelers around. It was difficult to figure out which direction they had come from and where they should go from the spot they idled in now.

"I really wish I knew where we are," said Spyro with a tired whine. He looked to Cynder for any suggestions.

To his disappointment, she shrugged her shoulders and took another look around. "Me, too. I got all turned around after we escaped the volcano. Who knows which way Warfang is? We might not even be traveling in the right direction."

"I don't know," said Spyro. "I think that old saying about a dragon's intuition has a little something to it. I get a strong feeling from this direction." He pointed off at a random spot between two gnarly, twisted trees with a skin that put shagbark hickories to shame.

With a laugh that lit up the area more than the fire in Spyro's opinion, Cynder said, "There's our answer then, silly."

Spyro stood on the spot and blinked at the place he was indicating with his claw before lowering his foreleg. "Oh. Okay then. Shall we?"

They continued to trudge through the trees. Wherever they went, their fire forced back the night, making the darkness cower at the edge of its light. Insects sang out their songs to one another, calling to any one of the thousands among them that might be interested in what they had to say. Their tiny chirrups blended together to create a continuous, warbling tone that had no definite beginning or end. It appeared surreal to Spyro that they could be so loud, yet he would probably have a horrible time trying to find even one of them. They were everywhere and yet they were nowhere, it seemed.

After a few minutes of walking with nothing but the peaceful requiem to fill the travelers' ears, Cynder stopped and twitched her tail. Spyro halted beside her and cast his eyes around, muscles tensed, senses alert. "What is it?"

"Do you hear that?"

Spyro listened. All he could hear was the chorus of the crickets. "Hear what?"

Cynder cocked her head, listening intently for something Spyro couldn't quite pick up on. He watched her in silent anticipation, wondering what she could possibly be listening for and what might be hiding just out of sight. The war had saturated the land with a great many dangers, some of which still roamed free. It would be too presumptuous to assume everything was perfectly safe now that Malefor was no more.

After a moment of straining, Cynder raised her head and said with a dark gleam in her eye, "There's a camp up ahead."

Spyro shifted suspiciously toward the way they were going. Though he couldn't hear anything, he didn't doubt Cynder's judgment for a second. "What do you think?"

She stretched her wings and legs out and put her game face on, narrowing her eyes and allowing her canines to poke out from behind her upper lip. With a hint of a growl she said, "I say we check it out. It could be trouble. If it is, I don't want to take the chance of it finding us in our sleep because we left it alone."

With a thoughtful hum, Spyro said, "Good point, but we're still less than our best right now. Do you think we can handle it if it is trouble?"

Cynder raised her head and said, "That's all the more reason to inspect the area. If we get ambushed, we'd be hard pressed to defend ourselves, but if we have the element of surprise, things should turn out differently."

"Okay," said Spyro, relenting to her decision. "Just be careful."

"Hey, look who you're talking to."

Spyro put his fire out, and together they proceeded with caution in their every footstep. Sure enough, they had crept no more than a few yards forward when Spyro could make out muffled noises leaking through the thick foliage. After several more minutes of painstakingly slow progress, the light of a fire trickled softly through the leaves and the branches. Voices could be heard muttering to one another in the drone that only a large group could generate. Whoever was camped in these woods, there were a lot of them.

Cynder quietly pulled back a shrub to continue forward, but was shocked to find that the forest came to an abrupt end. A clearing no larger than a hundred yards in diameter lay beyond their hiding spot. Close to the edge the two astonished dragons found themselves on was a platoon of apes gathered around a fire. At the heart of the clearing there stood a structure that looked to be some sort of altar. The apex of the building sat perhaps no more than a mere ten feet off the ground, but there was something about the design that hinted at a great significance. Rather than being crafted from stone, it appeared to be made of a highly reflective metal. The light from the flames of the fire bounced off the walls all around the foundation. Cynder slowly moved the shrub back in place and turned to Spyro. Barely making a sound, she said, "Apes? What are they doing here? I thought they all went into hiding when you finished off Gaul."

"Maybe this is where some of them decided to hide," said Spyro.

"And did you see those ruins in the center of the clearing? I've never seen anything like them before."

"Me either," said Spyro, shaking his head in agreement. "So, we found the source of the sound. It's apes. A lot of them. Thirty by my count. I don't know if I'm up for that right now. And if you're as tired as I am, neither are you."

Cynder placed a paw over her face and rubbed the corners of her eyes. It had been over twenty-four hours since they last slept and she was feeling every minute of it. "You're right, but still. I don't feel comfortable with them so close, and it's not like we can just keep going and find somewhere else. We need to get some rest. The only way I can think to do that is to get rid of these guys before they try the same on us."

Spyro stared off into the darkness from where they had come, searching for a more suitable solution. After straining his tired mind for several seconds, he turned back to face Cynder and said, "Or we could just hide."

"It took you that long to come up with that?" said Cynder with a frustrated frown. Shaking her head to clear away her annoyance, she continued. "Sorry, I'm just so tired. I think your idea will have to do. We probably couldn't take them on our own right now."

Spyro started to turn around, but his heart fell into this stomach when an ape suddenly stumbled into the bush they were hiding in. He was half finished undoing his belt so he could relieve himself, but stopped when he saw both of the dragons on either side of him. For one of the longest seconds Spyro could remember, they all just stood there and stared at each other. Then, before the dragons could react, the ape dashed away, screaming.

Cynder winced when the rambunctious clamor of the camp went silent and all that could be heard was the ape's shouts of dragons echoing through the night. Spyro turned to face Cynder. "Fight or flight?"

She rolled her shoulders and growled with a grim smile. "Too late to back out now. If we hide, they'll definitely find us now that they know to look for us."

Spyro popped his joints and stretched himself out as the noises of several apes crept closer to their hiding spot. "Okay, be safe out there."

"You, too," said Cynder. She rushed out of the bushes with her tiny, yet nonetheless fearsome dragoness roar.

Spyro leapt out of the underbrush and charged forward behind the black dragoness. Cynder's first move was to use her shadow magic to shield herself from her enemies' sight. The first strike she made was completely unexpected. One of the largest apes went down, his throat in her mouth. When she tore herself away from him, taking his flesh with her, she bound to her next adversary before he had time to react. With a claw to the face, he was unable to see as she slid her knife of a tail spade between his ribs.

By now Spyro was there to lend his aid. While Cynder was busy stabbing the second ape in the heart with her tail, a third was approaching her from behind, axe raised to full height for a killing blow. The vicious beast noticed the purple dragon coming at him out of the corner of his eye and turned to deal with him instead. However, just as he thought Spyro was within reach, the scaly warrior took on a sudden burst of speed, lighting himself ablaze in a brilliant inferno that consumed all in his path. The comet dash caught the ape off guard and he was rewarded for his foolishness by having his flesh incinerated.

With the bodies of the three victims lying around them, either already spilling out the last of their life blood or becoming nothing more than smoking remains, the two dragons stood back to back and faced the ring of apes that now encircled them. The furry monsters taunted their prey from the relative safety of the edge of their circle as they slowly stepped forward, tightening the perimeter. When they were just a couple yards away, Cynder unleashed a burst of fear energy into the ranks of their captors just as Spyro pounded the ground, forcing a wall up out of the earth on his side to cover them from behind.

They both dashed past the paralyzed apes, slashing two of them to death as they passed. As these new bodies hit the ground, the apes around them recovered and gave chase. The rest of the apes made their way around the wall and regrouped to form a giant mass that converged on the dragons. Malice filled their eyes as they approached the still outnumbered warriors. They snarled shouts of vengeance for those who had already fallen and for all apes who had heard the beckoning of death at the paws of a dragon.

These two dragons were weak, though one wouldn't know it from looking, especially since they had already thinned their ranks a sixth and hadn't suffered a scratch. But they were already tiring, and their magic was waning at a frightening rate. A dragon could only prove so potent in battle without its elemental abilities, especially a youngling, and Spyro and Cynder were very much aware of this. If they were going to survive this battle, they would need a miracle. Still, they waited as the apes drew near in a haphazardly formed cluster, then Cynder released the last of her magic in a powerful poison shot that landed dead center in the middle of the group. The globule of noxious ooze infected all of the apes with burning, lime green acid and scattered them all in a frenzied panic as they tried to wipe the venom from their clothes and fur, only to spread it more thoroughly.

Immune to the poison of her own make, Cynder made short work of the nearest apes as they blindly ran her way. Before the magic in the foul discharge wore off, four more apes were felled. When the acid stopped its relentless burning, the apes picked themselves up from where they had fallen, writhing in agony. Fury burning in their every fiber now, they stood to take their revenge, but immediately fell to the ground, screaming and burning once more, this time in the flames of the purple dragon.

Spyro dashed forward now, taking his turn in Cynder's place while she rested. He picked off another six apes, beating her score and thinning out their numbers to half of their original count. When he returned to her side for safety after his magic fueled flames went out, he looked to her and shook his head in worry. "That was the last of my magic," he said in her ear.

Knitting her eyebrows together, she said stone faced, "I'm all out, too."

"What are we going to do? There's still too many of them. We can't defeat them all. I think we should run now while they're still weak from their injuries."

Cynder shook her head at him and nodded in the direction of their foes. "No, look at their burns. They're too superficial to slow them down much at all, and I get the feeling they want nothing more in the world right now than to kill us. If we ran now, we'd be hard pressed to escape them. Apes are agile, especially in trees. We have to finish this if we're going to live."

Though he didn't like it, Spyro accepted Cynder's judgment once more. After all, she had enough experience working with apes to know how to deal with them. Together, they faced their foes as they picked themselves up, patting down the last of the dying flames that licked their arms and shoulders. The largest among the apes stepped forward and pointed his scimitar at the pair and said in a growl of a voice filled with malevolence, "You two don't belong here."

It was a simple statement, but it surprised the dragons. They had expected a vicious threat or a vile curse, not this. Spyro took a cautious step forward. "What are you talking about? What do you mean we don't belong here?"

The leader of the remaining forces lowered his sabre, but kept it facing them as he pointed behind him. "This land is sacred territory. That building over there is the heart of this area. It is known as the Gateway. I'll say it once more, young dragons. You two don't belong here. Leave now before the rest of the forces stationed here destroy you for desecrating this most hallowed ground with your presence."

Cynder cocked her head as she regarded the building behind the apes with scrutiny. "I've never heard anything about ape belief systems. I wasn't sure your kind even had one."

Curling his upper lip in what could have been either amusement or contempt, he said, "Oh, I assure you, we do. This place is ancient. It has been here longer than the oldest dragons. There was a time when apes and dragons came here to worship the true gods together, but that was thousands of years ago. The dragons decided themselves superior over all other races and agreed on the great blaspheme that there might be no gods at all, for such a truth would require the acceptance of beings higher than them. Since then, dragons have been barred from entering this realm. How you two stumbled into the very center of this region undetected is beyond me, but make yourselves certain, we will defend this place with our lives. The Gateway gives purpose to the entire ape nation. Without it, we are lost."

Spyro looked to Cynder in askance, but for once, she seemed unsure as to what should be done. She looked to the building in the middle of the clearing and back to the apes spread out before them. Slowly, she shook her head, saying, "I don't believe you'll let us go so easily. Do you think to trick me so? Perhaps you forget me. I know of the treacherous ways your kind keep to. Honor is the last thing you uphold, though you hold the facade well."

The ape narrowed his eyes and leaned forward to inspect the dragoness closer. "Cynder?" When she lowered herself to a crouching position in response, he stiffened. "You." Raising his sword again, he shook his head and continued, "You are responsible for endless suffering. You were meant to be the chance of redemption for your kind. You and Malefor both. But when you forsook your master and turned on the one chance your race had for reconciliation for your ancient transgressions, you damned yourself. Having only half finished your job, no one will take you now! You're a traitor to your race as well as ours!"

Spyro flared his wings and lurched forward. "That's not true! She has found peace with the elders of our race, and me!"

The ape rounded on the purple dragon now. His face took on an almost sorrowful expression as he did so. "And you. You must be Spyro. The legendary Purple Dragon who turned our glorious empress against us. In your ignorance, you foiled over a thousand years of planning and perpetuated the ever present sense of war between the races. For that, you are just as guilty as the one you dare to keep by your side. There is no forgiveness for the actions you have inflicted upon the world. Your presence here is nearly a grander insult than hers."

Raising a strand of thread around his neck, he revealed a horn that had hung hidden in his cloak. He put it to his lips and let out a long, baleful note that echoed through the trees. Dropping the alarm, the ape waved his sword through the air in a circle and said, "From all around this forest, our people come. You will be purged from this world and sent before the gods to answer for lifetimes of heresy. The punishment of all dragons shall be great, but none shall endure the torment the two of you will be subjected to. Such perdition is reserved for the most loathsome of souls."

Pointing to the rest of his platoon, he concluded his speech. "Finish us, if you can, but more shall come, and more still, then ever more. Tonight, you die."

As the apes advanced on the two dragons, they looked at each other with wide eyed concern. Spyro grasped Cynder by the arm. "How are your wings? Can you fly yet?"

She shook her head and said in a steady tone, "No, they're still sore. What about you?"

"Even if I could lift them, I wouldn't leave you here."

She smiled half-heartedly at that then realized everything she was going to miss out on. A life in Warfang with the one dragon she knew and loved was within her grasp, and now it was being ripped away from her. The pain of the loss before the gain tore at her heart and brought her to tears once more. "Spyro, all I wanted was to be happy. Why won't the world let me be happy? Do I really deserve everything that's ever happened to me? What evil did I do in my egg to deserve everything that came after?"

Spyro continued to back away from the advancing apes with her as he said, "No one should have everything end like this, especially when you never even had your beginning. I promise, I'll do everything I can to protect you." With that, Spyro charged forward with a ferocious roar unlike anything that had ever escaped his maw.

Cynder cried out for him to return, but it was too late, and she was forced to watch him rush toward the enemy with despair rising in her heart. Though his magic was depleted, he fought with even more vigor than he had displayed in the bout against Malefor. Even as the apes attempted to subdue him, they were reminded the hard way just how brutal a cornered dragon was rumored to be. Five more apes fell under the awesome might of his adrenaline fueled fury before they had him pinned down and under several swords.

"Don't hurt him!" Cynder was nearly in tears. The ear piercing wail was so powerful it would have killed the whole lot of apes were there any magic in it. But her luck had run out and a handful of apes strode over to Cynder.

The leader looked down at her in pity and said, "We will kill him now if you do not come with us." Hanging her head in defeat, she followed them obediently as they led her to the Gateway. The other group dragged Spyro along as well. It took four apes to hold each dragon down as they placed their heads on two stones resting before the structure. They made the two dragons face each other with one side of their faces squished against the rough surface of the rocks. They stared at each other in disbelief, wondering how it could have possibly come to this. So much pain and suffering just to end up here. It was beyond cruel.

The leader of the platoon raised his scimitar and said, "Finally, my brothers, we shall obtain a small piece of the vengeance that is ours. Let it please you as much as it will the gods. Tonight is a moment of great celebration, for this victory will mark the first of many. Without these two to support the dragon cause, our people shall reign supreme! The dragon race will be purged once and for all and the time of unity and peace shall return!"

All of the apes cheered at their preacher's promising words of glory. Then he lowered his sword and kneeled down, placing his face just outside the small space between the two dragons. From the corners of their vision, they watched him and listened as he said, "Now, which of you shall be the first to receive your punishment? Hmm, I think it best that the dragoness know damnation first. Her crimes are the worst among you two." Rising once more, the ape walked around to the spot behind Cynder.

Spyro could see him raise his sabre above his head. The light of the moon reflected off its surface, allowing Cynder to see the glint of metal in Spyro's shimmering eyes. With a barely audible whimper, she shuddered in despair. "No." Then, with a burst of tears, "Please, no!"

Suddenly, the stars in the heavens above cast beams of light out across the endless void of space where they hung suspended in the depths of the universe. A circle connected thirteen of the brightest stars, creating a halo that spanned tens of thousands of lifetimes across the cosmos. Still, it looked only to be the length of an ape forearm when held up to the sky. One of the apes holding down Spyro was staring up at the leader and noticed it. "Hey, look at the sky! What is that?"

The large ape nearly cursed the subordinate for interrupting the ceremony, but looked up as the rest of his group stared at the sky in awe. He opened his mouth in utter disbelief as the band of light contracted to a single point in the sky, brighter than even the moons. Then, as suddenly as the phenomenon began, the point of light flashed down like white lightning and struck the Gateway, illuminating everything with such brilliance that it obliterated all from sight for several seconds. However, when the light receded, Spyro and Cynder could barely see the large ape lying face down with his arms spread out before him.

The apes who held Spyro and Cynder down prevented them from seeing what was atop the structure, but they didn't have to wait long before they had a guess as to what it was. The large ape who had been seconds away from executing Cynder rose to his knees to behold whatever occupied the top of the Gateway. "Blesséd is this day! For thousands of years the gods have been silent, turning their eyes away from this world so as to shield themselves from the ugly sight of war and heresy! But now, these dragon sacrifices please them so that they would send an envoy to witness the event!" He rose to his feet and rushed over to Cynder once more. "I'll have you wait no longer my lord! May you rejoice with the apes, your ever faithful servants, in this moment!"

He raised his sword once more to part Cynder's head from her shoulders. However, a sound unlike anything Spyro or Cynder had ever heard interrupted yet again. It was high in pitch yet fell away in a rapid descendo. The beginning of it sounded forced, as though something the size of a watermelon was being pushed through the eye of a needle in an instant. The alien noise was immediately followed by a whooshing sound that only lasted for a split second before the ape holding his sword up was blown into thousands of pieces, turning into a rain of blood and body parts. Whatever hit him struck with such force that the concussive shockwave knocked the two nearest apes holding Cynder aside like leaves in the wind. The other two lost their grip on her, and she was able to struggle free of their grasp.

However, before she could strike them down, another one of the strange sounds blasted through the air, followed up by the explosion of yet another ape. Three more blasts sounded in quick succession, effectively ending the lives of the rest who had been holding her captive. What surprised Cynder most was not how quickly they died or in what horrifying fashion, but the attack itself. The shockwaves that spread out from the points of impact passed right through her. Rather than striking her with the same violent force that annihilated the apes, they merely ruffled her scales as would any light, calming breeze.

Cynder cast her eyes up to the Gateway, but there was nothing there. Wondering if her eyes deceived her somehow, she heard one of the apes. "Oh, by the gods! Where did it go?"

Realizing that whatever it was had gone somewhere else, she turned to the apes holding down Spyro. "Let him go! Let him go or else!"

The only ape who wasn't holding Spyro down ran away, escaping into the forest and leaving his four fellows behind to fend for themselves. The rest of them brought their prisoner up with a sword under his throat. "Try anything and he's finished!" said one of them with wild eyes that flitted about.

"I said let him go!" Then, the ape lifted his sword with a yelp, turned it with a shout, and plunged it into his belly. With the unexpected suicide came shouts from his remaining comrades. Cynder watched in confusion and horror as two of the remaining three released Spyro and turned on one another, timing their sword swipes perfectly to cut each other's heads off. The last ape was lifted into the air, where he hung suspended, screaming in terror. However, his cries of fear soon morphed into wails of agony. He clamped his hands down on both sides of his head and screamed as he kicked and flailed several feet off the ground. Then his arms were violently jerked to his sides and his skull was crushed inward, silencing him for good.

As his body fell to the ground, Spyro stared at Cynder. He was shaking. Many had fallen by his paw, but never in his life had he witnessed such carnage, such a complete dismantling of a living being. He was soaked in blood, but it wasn't his. The smell of it stung his nostrils with its noxiousness. He heaved, releasing the contents of his stomach, before weakly wiping his mouth and trudging over to Cynder. After touching her to make sure she was really still alive, he tackled her and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't ever do that again! Don't you dare die before me! I can't live with that!"

Cynder buried her face in Spyro's shoulder and shuddered silently until she could compose herself. Once she finally had a rein on her emotions, she straightened up and wiped the last of the tears out of her eyes. "Are you all right?"

He shook his head at her selflessness and said, "I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. You were right in the middle of all those explosions. Are you hurt?"

"No," she said, not really believing herself as she said it. "I'm absolutely fine. There's not a scratch on me."

"How can that be?" said Spyro, his eyes widening in surprise as he looked her over, realizing she was right.

Still trying to calm herself, Cynder said, "I-I'm n-n-not sure. I j-just am."

An earsplitting screech shattered the silence around them, startling both of the dragons into a frenzy. Looking this way and that, they searched for the source of the frightful noise, but couldn't see a thing in the night. Only the Gateway stood before them, silently reflecting the light of the heavens. Then, off in the distance, more of the concussive sounds echoed through the woods, eliciting the haunting screams of the apes meant to act as reinforcements. Explosive boom after explosive boom rolled through the forest, each sound ensuring the messy end of more apes. Cries to fall back could be heard from several directions, but every time the order was given, another boom detonated from the same area. It seemed none of the apes could escape whatever it was that pursued them. It was everywhere and it was nowhere, slaying everyone on sight. Everyone, that is, except Spyro and Cynder.

Cynder turned away from the screams in the woods to her companion. "Spyro, what's going on?"

Spyro listened as more resounding explosions ripped through the woods, killing more apes and scattering their forces in further confusion. "I don't know. Right before that ape could kill you, the stars connected with bright white beams somehow, and the light came down from the sky and hit the Gateway. I guess there was something up there, because the apes were worshiping it like it was a god or something, but now whatever it is seems to be killing the apes for us. I've never seen anything that can do what this thing does, but whatever it is, it's strong. Really strong. I'd dare to wager even more so than Malefor."

Cynder shuddered at the idea and looked at the gore littering the ground around her. "It's far more violent, too. Malefor was known for his cruelty, but this? This is beyond anything he ever even thought to do to others. At least the deaths he issued were quick and clean."

Spyro nodded in agreement and said, "Well, at least this thing kills quickly. You can't say it messes around."

Shaking herself out of her daze, Cynder turned away from the mess on the ground and said, "We need to get out of here."

Not one to argue with such a brilliant idea, Spyro waved a paw and said, "Come on. This way."

Both dragons dashed out of the clearing and left the Gateway far behind, making a mental effort not to look back. They stumbled blindly through the darkness, bumping into trees and crashing through bushes, trying their best not to trip and fall. They both ran straight into trees several times, but kept going, their fear overriding any pain they experienced along the way. Adrenaline pumped through their veins, making their hearts beat so fast they could hear the chaotic rhythm in their ears. A strength like no other accompanied them the whole way, urging them on faster than either normally could have run. Endurance wasn't an issue that clung to their minds on this run through the howling dark.

Every now and then, they would happen upon a small group of apes, who lit the way with torches and lanterns. Surprise filled their eyes every time they watched two utterly fear stricken dragons rush toward them full tilt. And every time they tried to give chase a massive explosion obliterated the entire group in an instant, leaving nothing dangerous in the dragons' wake. These explosions only served to push them to their absolute limits. There was now no way to discern the difference between the beating of their hearts and the pounding of their paws as they dashed through the forest that was rapidly filling up with death and destruction.

Though they could not speak, both dragons knew that whatever was killing the apes was following them. It seemed that no matter how fast they ran, the explosions were only several yards behind them. Each one thinned the ranks of the apes considerably, but it appeared only a matter of time until the dragons were next. After so long, their mad dash eventually led them straight into a wall of apes ten strong. The two young dragons skidded to a halt and frantically searched for another means of escape, but one of the apes pointed and commanded his contingent in an echoing bellow. "Charge!"

The apes rushed forward without form or hesitation. The nearest one got within several feet of Cynder and raised his axe, but never got the chance to bring it down. From out of the trees behind the dragons, a wind swept by and smashed into the would be assailant, knocking him twenty feet into the air and crushing the life out of him as he hit a tree with fatal force. A shimmering figure stood before the two dragons for a split second and suddenly whipped forward, rocketing another ape straight up into the air with such power he reached nearly fifty feet. As he soared upward, the hazy splotch rushed forward and crushed two apes together, splitting their skulls wide open. They were then picked up and swung in a circle with terrific force before being let go in opposite directions, smashing two more apes to death. The remaining four apes tried to run away, but three booming shots rang out, resulting in the complete and utter destruction of three of the apes. As the fourth escaped into the night, the half-invisible being caught the second ape just before he hit the ground and flung him with incredible velocity, striking the last ape and killing them both.

The blur that stood before the two awestruck dragons appeared as nothing more than a smearing together of what lay behind it in the flickering light of the torches and lanterns that the apes had dropped in the slaughter. As it stood there, not moving an inch, it started to fade out of visibility, melding into the background. But with a quiet whoosh, the figure disappeared into the trees, letting out another terror inspiring shriek that could probably be heard for several miles around.

Not wasting any time, the two dragons continued to rush recklessly through the woods, abandoning all training and reason in their desperate campaign to reach the open plains once more. Every few minutes, they could see what looked like one crimson light flitting between the trees on one side of them, then later on the other. At first, they dismissed it as the lights of the lanterns of closing ape parties. But it was always the same blood red light, not like the familiar orange of flames, and it was always just the one light, unaccompanied by any other. It followed them at the same speed, always trailing them wherever they went. Finally, Spyro realized the stomach churning truth behind it. It was too high up to be a lantern; it was held high like a torch, and it always appeared from seemingly nowhere. The ghostly scarlet disc pointed their way from an originally forward facing position, before being pointed forward again and turning into a barely noticeable sliver.

Hardly able to believe it, Spyro rasped out to Cynder through his dry throat. "It's an eye!"

Knowing what he was referring to, Cynder glanced sideways and saw it staring at them as it rushed on beside them several yards away. Suddenly, she skidded to a halt once more. Spyro nearly dashed by her and stopped, asking between breaths, "Are you—crazy? That thing—is going—to catch us!"

Cynder shook her head and placed a paw on his shoulder. "No, stop. Calm down, Spyro. Think about it. That thing isn't trying to catch us. It's trying to protect us."

"What are you—" Spyro looked back to where the light had been, but it was gone. Glancing back at Cynder, he saw that she was almost smiling.

"I don't really get it, but this thing came down from the stars, Spyro. It intervened just as we were about to be executed. And it's been rampaging through the forest, killing and distracting the apes for us, all while trailing us to make sure we get out all right. If it really wanted to kill us, don't you think it would have by now? There's no doubt in my mind that it certainly could if it wanted to. I say we walk now."

"All right," said Spyro as he stepped forward and led the way. "I think we're still going the right way. This still feels like the same direction."

"That's good enough for me," said Cynder through a yawn.

"We just have to get out of these woods and then we can rest. I don't care how safe we might be, I don't want to fall asleep until we're out of this forest."

"Same here," said Cynder as she noticed the light out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned around, it was gone. "That thing is still following us, so I guess we're safe for now."

"Where is it?" Spyro tried to catch a glimpse of it on either side.

Cynder scooted closer to Spyro and said, "I don't know. It keeps disappearing if you try to look at it directly, but it's close. I'm pretty sure."

"What do you think it is?" said Spyro in an attempt to pass the time.

"I'm not sure. I've heard of many different types of creatures that live all over the world. Some of them are even magical like us, but dragons are supposed to be the most dangerous beings alive. Whatever this thing is, it must be something out of mythology."

Spyro turned to regard Cynder with raised eyebrows. "You mean like creatures that don't really exist?"

"Or are only thought not to," said Cynder. "Some mythological creatures could potentially be based on real creatures in this world that are just difficult to come by. And there are a lot of them."

"Do you know any that might match this mystery creature that's following us?" said Spyro as he stepped on a twig and jumped at the snap.

Ignoring his paranoia, Cynder thought for a moment about all she knew concerning myth. After a while, she raised her head and said with apparent uncertainty due to the slow deliberation of her speech, "I can't be certain, but it has the characteristics of several different kinds of creatures. Its arrival from the stars indicates that it might be what is known as an Adhene. They are considered to be creatures of immense power cast from the heavens to carry out some sort of important deed here on the physical plane. That's just one possibility, and there are dozens more that it might be."

Hearing this, Spyro rolled his eyes at Cynder. "You don't really think it's a being sent here by some sort of god do you?"

Shaking her head vigorously at the insinuation, she flicked her tail in annoyance and said, "Don't be silly. There are no such things as gods. That's just another myth created by some of the more uneducated races in an attempt to explain things they don't understand."

"Okay, just making sure," said Spyro with a nervous laugh as he continued to look around in search of the creature. A far off screech let the two dragons know that it had moved on to another part of the forest.

Cynder shivered as chills danced across her body, ruffling her scales and making her huddle closer to Spyro. "Oh, that thing is so creepy! It sounds like an impossibly high pitched whistle followed by the sound of rending metal."

"Yeah, I know," said Spyro in agreement as he wrapped a wing around Cynder, pulling her in. "I wonder how much farther we have to go. I just want this night to end."

"You and me both. If feels like we've been in this forest for hours."

Spyro intertwined his tail with Cynder's and quickened his pace. "Come on. Let's just keep moving."

Step after step, the two dragons worked their way through the nightmarish horror scape, quickly passing the bodies of apes that had been blown to pieces by the raging monster that still stalked them in the dark wood. The scent of iron stung their sensitive nostrils and kept them on high alert as they splashed through puddles of blood soaked soil. The filth stuck to their paws and legs, working between the quicks of their claws and marring the lustrous beauty of their scales. Muffled explosions continued to sound off in the distance, sometimes behind the hastening pair, sometimes ahead of them.

"How does it move around so fast?" Spyro waved a paw in the air in utter disbelief. "It just keeps going back and forth. That thing has to move at the speed of sound or something."

"It's certainly the most dangerous thing I've ever encountered," said Cynder, quietly contemplating the beast.

"More dangerous than Malefor?" said Spyro with raised eyebrows.

Cynder took a deep breath and let out a sigh, saying with wide eyes, "I think I'm going to have to agree with you. Seeing what this thing can do, I'd like to have seen it make Malefor squirm."

"It sure would have been nice to have it with us when we had to face him," said Spyro with a nod of his head.

A flapping of massive wings could be heard overhead, silencing the two fleeing dragons as they tried to discern where the noise was coming from. A few seconds later, an ape riding a terrorwing crashed through the branches, ripping and tearing its way through the canopy above to block their path. The ape held his sword high, cursing his targets. He used his other hand to urge the terrorwing forward with the reins. The humongous bat lurched toward the dragons, but failed to catch them due to the creature's ill form for ground movement. Still, a full grown terrorwing was more than a match for adolescent dragons drained of magic. The beast bared its fangs, and fell silent as it listened for the breathing of its foes. Once it pinpointed their location it lunged again. After another miss, it let out a shriek to paralyze its prey. Unable to avoid the attack, Spyro and Cynder stood in place and watched in utter terror as the bat lived up to its name and moved to finish them.

However, an ear bursting screech far louder and much higher pitched than anything even a terrorwing could muster destroyed the monster's sense of hearing, blinding it and sending it reeling in agony. Its cries of pain due to the brutal assault on its sensitive ears were short lived. A loud crack sounded between the trees as the terrorwing's neck was suddenly and inexplicably thrust at an odd angle. As it slumped to the ground in a heap, the ape riding it dismounted and lunged forward with a simian howl of fury. But before he could reach his opponents, he was quickly jerked back as his sword suddenly refused to follow him into battle. He lost his grip on his weapon and fell on his back underneath it. For several seconds, he stared at the mysteriously floating sword in total confusion, but then the sword fell, impaling him through the throat.

Spyro and Cynder watched as it fell and searched around for any sign of the being that was no doubt responsible for the seemingly impossible things that were happening all around them. When nothing out of the ordinary revealed itself, they decided to keep moving. Spyro looked over his shoulder at the ape and the terrorwing before turning back to Cynder. "How is this happening? Did you see that sword? It just hung there by itself. And those apes that were holding me hostage earlier—those two killed each other, the one committed suicide, and that last ape—I don't even know what happened to him."

Cynder shook her head with an absent stare. "I have no idea how, but that thing is somehow able to control things. Its powers are manifold. Who knows what all it can do?"

Spyro shook his head and said, "Suddenly, being the Purple Dragon doesn't feel like such a big deal."

"I know how you feel," said Cynder with a nod. "Considering that Malefor's darkness gives me the same powers as you, I might as well be a purple dragon myself, but I feel so powerless right now. It's like I've never known true power before this night. It's so humbling. I feel so small."

Spyro brushed her with a wing and said with a half-smile, "Don't worry, I still love you."

Sighing with pleasure, Cynder beamed up at him and said, "Despite all that's happened tonight, hearing you say that makes it all worthwhile."

"Still getting used to the idea?" said Spyro with a laugh.

"A little," said Cynder with two claws pinched together. "No one's ever liked me before, and now someone loves me. It's exciting."

"You know what else is exciting?" said Spyro.

"Hmm? What's that?"

"I see daylight peeking through the trees ahead!" Spyro made a mad dash toward the pink glow flickering into view from between the thick branches.

Cynder rushed after him, gamboling over the knobby tree roots at a relentless pace to escape the foreboding woods. At long last, the two finally burst from the clinging twigs of the mournful trees. They kept running, past the tree line, down a hill, and several hundred feet across the plains that stretched welcomingly before them. Once they were at a comfortable distance, Spyro flopped down on his side, and Cynder collapsed on top of him. For several long seconds they just laid there, panting, their heaving chests unable to hide the desperate pounding of their hearts.

Once they calmed down enough, Cynder picked herself up off of Spyro and helped him into a more comfortable position. She then curled up next to him, allowing him to fold a wing over her and curl his tail around her body. He adjusted himself to press his body as close against hers as possible and settled down. "Okay, I'm done for the day. Good night, er—morning? Whatever. Sweet dreams."

Cynder hummed with pleasure as she curled her tail around Spyro's and made extra sure they couldn't be any closer. "It's so weird. When I'm with you like this, I don't even feel like we almost died an hour ago."

"Life is funny like that sometimes, isn't it?" said Spyro, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Hey, look over there."

Spyro grudgingly lifted one of his eyes halfway. "Where?"

Cynder weakly raised a paw and pointed. Following her claw with his eye, both of Spyro's eyes popped wide open when he saw what she was referring to. There in the distance, standing at the tree line was the creature that had saved them. It was mostly hidden in the shadow of the forest, but the unmistakable glow of its eye watched them unblinkingly. After a while, the light simply went out, and it was nowhere to be seen.