From that moment on, the dragonflies regarded Spyro as a member of their family. Though he was noticeably bigger and purpler than the others, he was treated as equal nonetheless.

Spyro and Sparx grew to be the best of friends as they got older. In fact they were virtually inseparable. There would barely ever be a moment in which one was without the other. Both of them were considered outcasts by the other dragonfly children, because of Spyro's abnormality, and so he and Sparx were often found by themselves, playing outside or chatting.

Sparx didn't change in appearance much as he grew older. He always stayed the same golden, humanoid insect he had always been. He had four large wings on his back, and, like all dragonflies, two arms, and no legs. Spyro, on the other hand, changed dramatically. From the two small stumps on the sides of his head grew two long, golden horns. Down his back ran a set of curved golden spines, like waves in an ocean. From the tips of his fingers grew silver claws, and at the tip of his tail grew a golden, spiralling point. Though Spyro did have two large golden wings on his back, he wasn't able to fly. His wings were so different to dragonfly wings that they could never teach him, and so he was forced to remain on foot while the other dragonfly children flew off. This was one of the reasons he wasn't very popular with the others.

Spyro was considerably smarter and more courageous than the dragonflies, something that even Sparx disagreed with. His bravery was seen as a fault, something to be concerned about, rather than encouraged. He was adventurous and loved to explore, which his parents allowed as long as he didn't stray into the forbidden marshlands beyond the swamp. It was said to be full of monstrous creatures and deadly things, not to mention talk of mighty, winged beasts who were said to have control over the elements of the world. Despite his bravery, even Spyro was scared of those things. He had had many nightmares of one of them swooping down and carrying him away to some distant land beyond, and toward his doom.

Spyro lived a happy, content life for twelve years of his life. It was then things began to get strange.

It was on a day like any other. The sun was shining above the trees in a cloudless blue sky, and Spyro and Sparx were to be found in their garden, just in front of their small cave home, which had been enlarged over the years to commemorate for Spyro's size. Their garden was perfectly round, surrounded by a high bank, with a lone oak tree in the centre, and on one side was the dirt road that led to the river bank where Flash had first found Spyro.

Flash and Nina were talking just outside the house, while watching Spyro and Sparx play. Spyro was trying to catch Sparx, which was a difficult feat, considering the little bug was very fast. However, with their garden being round, Spyro was finding shortcuts. Sparx saw this, and took off into the swamp.

"Hey, come back!" Spyro shouted after him.

"Make me, purple boy!" Sparx called back. Spyro ran after him, laughing.

"Not too far, boys!" Nina called after them, "And not one foot in the marshlands!"

"Okay, Mom!" Spyro shouted back.

"It's funny," said Nina, "The most oddly matched pair of brothers, yet the very best of friends."

"Indeed they are," said Flash, "But I worry. Twelve years, and nothing. You don't think we should let him into the marshlands?"

"Not until we know he's coming," said Nina, "After all, he said he would definitely be here."

"I don't know if he will," said Flash, "If he doesn't come soon, we'll have to say something. He can't live like this forever."

"He's happy," said Nina, "That's all that matters."

Meanwhile, Spyro continued to chase Sparx down the swampy road. They passed many other dragonflies as they ran. Some waved at them as they passed, to whom Spyro smiled back.

Spyro turned a corner, and found that Sparx had stopped in front of a wall of dark trees; The edge of the forbidden marshlands. Sparx flew back to Spyro's side, clearly worried.

"Maybe we should go back," said Spyro. Sparx turned.

"Well, a little wander couldn't hurt, right?" asked Sparx.

"What are you talking about? We not supposed to go in there! there's… monsters in there," said Spyro

"Oh, don't fret, Spyro," said a voice. They both turned to see another dragonfly, a red one, hovering toward them. Both Spyro and Sparx groaned. The new dragonfly's name was Neon, and he was red in colour. He had never really got along with either of them. Instead he took to taunting them whenever he got the chance.

"Sparx would never have the courage to venture in there!" Neon continued.

"Oh yeah?" said Sparx.

"Come on, Sparx," said Spyro, "Let's just go home."

"What?" said Sparx, "You think I'm just going to take that from him?"

"You're going to have to, Sparx," replied Spyro.

"No I don't, and I won't!" said Sparx, and without further ado, he shot off through the dark trees and into the marshland.

"Sparx!" called Spyro, "Come back!"

He received no reply. Spyro sighed and ran in after him. The moment he crossed the line of trees, the atmosphere changed dramatically. Rather than the warm, friendly and safe environment he was used to, the marshland was dark, cold, and gloomy. He had the constant feeling he was being watched, and he walked slowly. Luckily for him, it wouldn't be difficult to find Sparx through the gloom, as he was constantly giving off a strong golden glow, which stood out a mile in the dark.

Looking ahead, Spyro saw the glow of Sparx disappearing behind a few trees. Spyro hastily followed after him, but skidded to a halt when he saw where the glow was coming from.

The glow originated from a large wagon, which was filled to bursting with jars of trapped creatures. Some of them were dragonflies, others were creatures Spyro had never seen before. The cart was being manned by two huge creatures, who were black and covered in rough fur. They were wearing armour, and strapped to their sides was a belt, which contained some kind of weapon. One had a sword, the other an axe. They were currently trying to force Sparx into a small jar like the other dragonflies.

"Get in there, you little gnat!" growled one of the creatures. Sparx was putting up a good fight, but inevitably, with the creatures being about three hundred times the size of him, he failed to get away. They balanced Sparx on top of all the other jars, and began to move forward. Summoning his courage, Spyro followed them.

"Do you think that's enough?" asked one of them, "I mean, she can't need too many, right?"

"You never know with her," said the other one, "She's so bloody secretive, and she wonders why we can't always do exactly what she wants."

"You should probably send the signal," said the first speaker. The second drew a strange black crystal from his armour and threw it into the air. It let off a black, fog-like smoke, and hung, suspended in mid air. Who or what it was signalling, Spyro didn't know. All he did know was that he had to free Sparx and the other creatures.

"Now, we wait," said one of the creatures. They both sat down by the wagon and talked, and while they were distracted, Spyro crept around the side of the wagon and found Sparx amongst the others.

"What took you so long?" Sparx whispered.

"Sorry, I just didn't want to get pulverised by two monsters!" retorted Spyro. He began to loosen the straps that were securing the jars to the wagon, but stopped when one of the creatures looked around.

"Hang on," he said to the other one, then, he stood up and walked over to the wagon. He checked the straps suspiciously, then walked around to the other side of the wagon.

Before he could see anything, he was knocked off his feet and shoved backwards into a hedge. The other creature jumped up and drew his sword, and Spyro, in a panic, seized the front of the wagon and flew away as fast as he could. The wagon, however, was quite heavy, and he couldn't move very fast. The creature managed to catch up with him, and soon it was right beside him.

"Spyro, look out!" shouted Sparx, as the creature raised its weapon. Spyro turned and opened his mouth to scream, but instead of any sound, a barrage of flames burst from his mouth and blasted the creature through the trees and into a rock, leaving him blistered and unconscious.

"Woah," said Sparx, "Was that...fire?"

"I...I think it was," said Spyro, slowly. He again went to undo the straps on the wagon, and soon, he had almost got it open. But, before he finished, there came a bellowing, screeching roar, and a huge thud as something gigantic landed on the forest floor where the apes had stopped to rest.

"Silverchaos, Grimblade, if this is another false call, you are DEAD!" screeched a voice. It was a female's, and was cold as ice, and unnatural. Spyro looked at who had spoken, and a chill swept through him.

It was one of the flying monsters he had been told about. She was completely black, save for her wings and underbelly, which were bright pink. At the end of her tail and on the thumbs of her wings were sharp, silver blades, and on her arms, neck and tail were silver bracelets, adorned with spikes, and she was at least fifteen times as big as Spyro.

She moved over and searched, and soon found the creature Spyro had hit first, lying in the bush.

"Grimblade?!" she said, clearly agitated, "You seriously got injured rounding up insects?!"

"They had help!" came the voice of the creature, and Spyro saw him climb to his feet, "Another dragon showed up and made off with them."

"Impossible," said the monster, "There are no dragons in this part of Eclasia."

"I'm serious!" pleaded Grimblade, "Purple, he was!"

At those words, the monster became very obviously shocked and enraged.

"Do you know what this means?!" she screeched, making Grimblade fall backwards again.

"What?" he squeaked.

"This means you have failed the dark master in ways you can't even imagine!" said the monster, ""I almost pity you!"

"He can't have gone far, he went that way, last I saw," said Grimblade, pointing to exactly where Spyro was standing.

"Look, buddy, you need to get these straps loose as fast as you can!" said Sparx, frantically. Spyro again hastily tried to undo the straps, but eventually gave up and swiped them with his claws, snapping them.

"There he is!" came Grimblade's voice. Spyro turned, and saw the monster almost on him. Even in his panic, he couldn't help noticing that her form was slightly familiar.

"Spyro, do something!" said Sparx. Spyro hesitated, then flipped the wagon. All the jars smashed, and the imprisoned dragonflies swarmed around the monster's head, making her stop and attempt to beat them away.

"Quick!" said Spyro, and Sparx, who had just emerged from the wreckage of his own jar, followed Spyro as he ran for the safety of the swamp. In the confusion, the monster lost them, and shrieked in rage. They could hear her roars until they were back in the swamp, and on the path home.

"What the heck was that?" said Spyro, as both of them stopped to rest at the side of the path.

"Well," said Sparx, "Before you found me I heard them talking about someone called 'Cynder'. If I had to guess, that was probably her."

"We are never going back in there again!" said Spyro. They began to walk back toward their home again, their breathing becoming easier.

"What do you think she was after?" asked Sparx, after a little while of walking.

"I don't know," said Spyro, "She definitely seemed familiar, though."

"Well," said Sparx, "I kind of thought she looked like you."

Spyro though about this for a minute, and the more he thought, the more he came to realise that this Cynder did look quite similar in shape to him. Was he, in fact, one of the monstrous creatures he had been warned about his whole life? And if he was, was that the reason other dragonfly children didn't like him? All he knew was that he had a lot of questions for his parents when he got home.