(AN.

Sumary:

Peace is a gift, rare and fleeting. Torn to shreds, as delicate as glass... Cynder was grateful for the peace she had found, but now, suddenly she's in a land and form she doesn't know or trust- and the peace in this new land is just as close to breaking. Storm clouds gather on the horizon, and everything she cares about vanished into the darkness. Cynder will have to learn to be grateful for her new friends, or she as no hope of finding her old ones and return to her true self… Can Sora survive the irritable dragoness tagging along? And now she's in a new form, what powers await her?

Hmm. Well, I'll say more in later chapters!)

This wasn't the dragon temple. This wasn't the serene, beautiful building I knew so well. Darkness crackled everywhere, like cold flame, sending shakes and shivers up my spine. Yellow eyes peered from the shadows, and when I tried to slash at one of the small creatures they belonged to, my paw passed through like mist.

A purple head poked out of the corridor directly across from me, amethyst eyes wide with fear. "Cynder!"

"Spyro, where's Myst?" I asked, panicked.

"I can't find her or the guardians!" he shouted a reply, trying uselessly to bat at a small yellow-eyed thing with his tailblade.

No, no, no, no… She had to be somewhere! There was no way in hell I'd leave her alone to fight these things! Her eyesight was returning slowly at last, but all she could see was blurred shapes and shadows. Since almost everything was in shadow, she probably could barely see anything at all!

"Let's stick together!" I shouted to Spyro, "We might not be able to find each other again!"

With a quick nod the purple dragon darted to my side, looking relieved.

"Have you checked her room yet? I was just going there."

I shook my head, "Same, let's go."

We darted through the winding hallways. I needed to stay a bit slower for Spyro's sake. Ever since he turned back he'd had to deal with much less stamina than his larger form had had; that, and a conscienc. Ever since he'd come back he'd refused to take life, so his attempts to remove the smallthings in the way were fleeting and half-hearted. Not that I was doing better, but at least I was trying!

There! I saw her, shrunken against the wall, shaking, surrounded by a semicircle of the yellow-eyed, black creatures.

"Myst!" I leapt forward, feeling something tugging against my back legs for a moment, but they broke free easily. Reaching wings around her, I turned to see my other friend chest-deep in darkness. Shadows were pulling at him, yanking him down into ancestors-know-what.

Desperate, I reached my tail out to him, "Bite it! Hold on!"

Looking at me, he shook his head, "My teeth!"

I glared at him, "I don't give scat! Grab it!"

His filed teeth were one of many unwelcome reminders of how his life had begun. Mutilated and corrupted beyond recognition of the proud race he was meant to be a part of, his teeth and a few bloody scars was all of the General's physical remains; though they left a far worse scar on his conscience.

He looked at me, but as he sunk until only his neck and wings were above the shadowy floor, he had to agree on the necessity. Leaning forward, he gingerly grabbed hold of my tail, trying not to bite down.

I glared, "That won't help you stay! Tighter, you idiot!" But then he was gone. My tail had slipped from his grasp before he'd got a grip.

"Spyro," I yowled, dipping my tail down, trying to find him and discovering nothing. He was gone…all because he didn't want to hurt me. Gone.

"What's happening?" Myst's small voice quivered like a leaf in a hailstorm, and I tucked her into me, wrapping around her with my wings and tail.

"I don't know… I just don't know."

Everything around me seemed to have vanished into shadow. Only a bit of ground remained in a small circle around us, and the edges continued to shatter, breaking into fragments before dissolving into nothing. I squeezed my own eyes shut, holding Myst to me, "Don't let go, no matter what!"

"Wasn't planning to," she sounded so afraid, so delicate, like a breath of wind could shatter her.

And then the ground was gone, and we were falling in a dizzying spiral. The only thing I could feel was Myst, and I clutched her like a lifeline. My baby… I sure as hell wasn't going to let anything happen to her!

And then there was something pulling her away. I screamed and held onto her, but she was gone before I knew what was what, and I was alone, tumbling through blackness.

"Sometimes, all will appear lost, leaving you to long for what once was…"a voice whispered on a nonexistent wind.

"Kaboa," I cried, not even caring how weak I sounded. But then I realized it wasn't… It sounded a bit like her, and a bit like four other voices I knew I recognized, but couldn't place.

"You may not be able to save what you've lost as you are, but do not fear change. Look your fear in the face, and master it."

"Where's Myst?" I demanded as I spiraled in utter black, not caring where I was, "Where's Spyro! Sparx! Ignitus…."

Being ignored gets incredibly old incredibly fast if you didn't already know. Especially when you don't know where your friends are, and they could be dead or ancestors-know what else!

"Your journey begins in two days' time."

And then I just knew the voice, and whoever-or whatever, it belonged to, was gone.

And I was alone.

I didn't know how long I fell through the black abyss. It could have been minutes or hours, days or years. I had no way to tell. It hurt; it felt like bits of me were torn apart, while others were stretched or shoved into themselves. I didn't have the strength to scream as fire danced across my skin, tearing my scales to shreds. I didn't have enough of me left anymore to even think when my wings were torn from me; couldn't move my forelegs to clutch my head when my horns were suddenly just gone.

It took all too long for me to have no energy left, and finally fall into peaceful oblivion.