Hey, guys, really sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Aside from delays because of college finals, I just found myself having a very difficult time getting the scenes into words. Have more to say but I'll leave that for the end.

John's expression became uneasy and his gaze dropped to the ground. "Archer and Reaper have left for the human world."

Wide-eyed, I stared at John, frozen in shock. "They did what?!"

"How's that possible?" Ember asked.

For a moment, John gave no response. Finally, he said, "Apparently, it would appear that Reaper has the ability to create portals to other worlds, just like I can."

I stepped towards John; words could not even begin to describe my concern. "But why would they travel to Earth?"

"Because Reaper is looking to revive something that was sealed in Avalar long ago. He believes that the key to reviving it is somewhere on Earth," John explained.

"What was sealed?" I asked curiously.

John gave no response; instead, he lifted up one of his arms as a blue aura began flowing through it. I watched as the aura left his arm and formed an oval in the air.

"John, what was sealed?" I asked again, fiercely.

John turned his head slightly; he had a grim look on his face. "It was something that nearly destroyed Avalar centuries ago."

Suddenly feeling weak, my body gave out and I collapsed to the ground. A great pain surged through my left hind leg; I closed my eyes in response to the sudden feeling. As my breathing increased as well, I found myself completely out of breath.

"What's going on?" I questioned.

Eyes closed, I heard the sound of elements clashing against one another. I opened my eyes. The skies above me were filled with black and gray clouds. Turning around, I found Spyro and the others, as well as the temple students, fighting another group of dragons. They were fighting on what was now burnt and destroyed land, surrounded by dead bodies that could be ranged in the double digits.

Turning away from the scene, I rested my head on the dirt and sighed. I could only imagine the others telling me how I shouldn't give up but…there was nothing I could do. I had no energy left to move, let alone make use of my elements. Add that in with my now broken leg, and I was finished.

"Look out!"

Hearing the cry, I immediately lifted my head to find a huge ball of fire coming straight at me. My eyes widened as time slowed down and the ball of fire kept drawing closer. Knowing it was unavoidable; I closed my eyes and heard as the ball of fire struck the ground with a loud explosion. Agony once again surged through my body as the shockwave threw me into the air. Moments later, I felt water rushing over me. Slowly re-opening my eyes, I found myself belly up and sinking to the bottom of whatever lake I was in. The only thing I felt now was regret.

Everyone, I'm sorry…

Vision starting to fade, I began to close my eyes as I weakly looked up to find a black figure spinning towards me. As they spun, the water started to circle around them. Smiling weakly, I closed my eyes, accepting defeat. Within the next few moments, I felt two paws hug my stomach.

XXX

"GAH!"

Leaning forward, I breathed heavily as I brought my hands into view to find that they were shaking. I looked at the clock next to my bed. It was 5 AM. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I proceeded to get out of bed, being careful not to wake Nick, who was sleeping on the floor below me. Exiting the room, I entered the bathroom on my right, turned on the light and looked in the mirror.

My whole face was covered in sweat. Turning on the faucet, I began to splash my face with cold water. After splashing it a few times, I looked back into the mirror.

"The hell was that about...?"

It had been at least a month since I'd last had that dream—or, should I say, nightmare. But even still, all the others were nothing compared to the one I'd had tonight. Ignitus had said it was a future I had to prevent, but since I had defeated Malefor, wouldn't that make the dream change?

Backing up from the sink, I leaned on the wall behind me.

I shook my head. "Unless the dream had nothing to do with Malefor in the first place, but was referring to something else... I don't know."

Giving a heavy sigh, I felt lost. I knew that the dream was depicting a losing battle, one where Spyro and the others, along with myself, were fighting another group of dragons. But the question that remained was: who were the dragons we were fighting against, and why? And in the end, would I really...?

I shook my head as I tried to get the last part of the dream out of my mind.

"You're not the only one who's worried about it," X said.

He was right, and I honestly couldn't blame him for worrying, either. If something happened to me, X would share my fate.

Turning off the light, I exited the bathroom and headed downstairs. I had to get my mind off the dream. Stepping foot on the ground floor, I peered into the entertainment room to find Spyro and Flame sleeping on the floor, their heads on pillows.

Turning away, I walked across the living room to find Scorch sleeping on one of the couches with his arms crossed. I snickered at the sight. Even when asleep, Scorch maintained a look of seriousness. I guess serious was just what he was.

Moving on, I made my way past the kitchen and entered a room on the right. It was a small room, but it was where I had usually spent my free time. In the top right-hand corner was a desk which held a desktop computer and my laptop. To the left of the laptop was my PS3, followed by the Wii and, on the opposite side, an Xbox slim.

I grinned and looked to the flat-screen TV to my left; it had been a while since I last played a competitive online game. Honestly, it was just the thing that I needed right then.

After turning on the TV and Xbox, I turned to my stack of games and began to think, "So which one will it be?"

My gaze fell upon Gears of War 3.

XXX 1 hour later XXX

"ARE YOU GODDAMN KIDDING ME!"

Dropping the controller on the desk, I looked at the scoreboard in annoyance and sighed. "These people really don't know how to play, do they?"

Suddenly, the door to the room busted open. Turning around, I found Spyro and Flame panicking.

"We heard screaming, you okay?!" Spyro asked.

I chuckled in response. Whenever I played multiplayer games, I tended to get competitive. Even in the past, my parents said that I sounded like a maniac whenever I played, though I can't say they were exactly wrong.

Flame looked at me with a puzzled face. "Uh, you okay, Haze?"

I looked at the red dragon with a reassuring grin. "Yeah, fine, just thinking about something from a while back."

Spyro jumped up on the couch, as did Flame. "So, what are you doing?" Spyro asked.

Sighing, I looked at the TV. "Playing a game, and honestly, my teammates stink."

"That sounds a bit harsh, don't you think?" Spyro questioned.

I sighed once more. "Yeah, well, if they followed the basics of the game then I wouldn't need to say that."

"So what game are you even playing?" Flame asked curiously.

I grinned. "CTL, also known as Capture The Leader. It's a game where you have to take the enemy team leader hostage for thirty seconds in order to win. At the same time you want to keep your leader safe. It's kind of addicting, actually."

"And yet you're cursing and screaming…" Flame remarked.

I chuckled. "Yeah, well, like I said before, when people don't follow the premise of the game, causing you to lose…it's reasonable to get frustrated."

"Frustrated to the point where you have to curse at the top of your lungs?"

We all turned to find Scorch yawning in the doorway, looking half asleep. "Honestly, if I knew you were like this when gaming, I would have slept upstairs."

I gave him an apologetic look as I scratched the back of my head. "Sorry…"

Scorch turned his head, not even bothered. "Eh, don't worry about it, been up for a half hour anyway, just meant in general." Taking a quick glance at his watch, Scorch turned around before walking towards the kitchen and out of sight. "Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to get some breakfast, because as soon as we hear anything, we're moving out."

Flame jumped off the couch and neared the door. "What about Ember, Cynder, and Krystal?" he called out.

"If you want your girlfriends to eat, then go and wake them," Scorch replied.

I watched as the red dragon looked down at the ground, embarrassed. Not able to find a response, Flame quickly bolted out of the room, probably to head upstairs.

Spyro looked at me in question. "Is he always like this?"

I looked at him sympathetically. "Yeah… Scorch has always been pretty blunt…but he means well."

"I see," Spyro said, lowering his head, thinking about my words.

I watched as the purple dragon turned his gaze to the side. He was hesitant about something.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Your parents are in this world, right?"

Surprised by his question, I leaned back in my chair. "Yeah… What about them?"

Spyro lifted his gaze; there was concern in his eyes, as well as confusion. "Well, according to Nick, it's been at least a month since you disappeared. Your parents don't even know that you're alive, correct? Shouldn't you try and contact them?"

I turned away. "I-I can't."

Spyro hopped off the couch and approached my front. "Why not?"

I sighed. "Look, it's not that I don't want to—I mean, you have to believe me. When I was at Scorch's place, the idea of calling my parents never left my mind, but…what am I supposed to tell them? That I can't go back to being with them right now because I'm busy trying to fight off dark forces?"

Frustrated, I lowered my head into my hands. "Look, I'm sorry, alright, but until this is over I think it's best to avoid contact with them."

To my surprise, I felt a paw placed on my knee. Taking away my hands, I found Spyro with an understanding expression on his face. "Don't worry about it. I was just worried that you might have forgotten about them."

"Never," I told him softly but seriously. "Not since I went to Avalar."

Spyro withdrew his paw. "Well, that's good."

I watched as the purple dragon neared the door before turning around to face me once more. "So, what is there to eat around here?"

That was honestly a very good question. Like Spyro, I wondered as well. "No idea, actually, haven't been here in over a month, so it should be interesting to see what's here."

Now wanting something to eat, we both exited the room and went into the kitchen, which was smelling strangely of toast. Gazing into the next room on my left, I found Scorch and the others eating in the dining room and, guess what, they were all eating toast.

I guess that's one way to feed eight mouths fast…

Looking at the table, I noticed two untouched plates of toast—just one slice each.

Getting out of his chair, Scorch looked at me as he began moving around the table. "I know it's not much but we'll get more to eat later, and besides, we finally got a sighting on them."

I felt myself getting anxious. "Where are they?"

"They were last seen in Boston, so hurry up. We leave in ten minutes," Scorch answered before leaving the room.

As Scorch left so did Nick, and I wondered if Nick had any intentions of coming with us. After all, it wasn't like he was obligated to join us or anything. Well, either way, I supposed I would find out soon enough.

Sitting down at the table, I stared at the single piece of buttered bread. This honestly was not breakfast, but for now it would have to do.

"So how did you girls sleep last night?" I asked, finishing the slice in a few bites.

"Think we all slept pretty well," Cynder glared at Flame, "until you woke us up…"

I couldn't help but snicker at the expression she gave Flame.

"Hey, I was only thinking of you guys!" Flame protested.

"Be grateful that he did, otherwise we may not have gotten anything to eat this morning," Krystal said, defending Flame.

Cynder turned to Krystal with a playful grin. "Yeah, I know, was just teasing."

"Hey, Trent."

Hearing my name, I turned my focus to Spyro, who simply looked at me in question. "Yeah, what's up?"

"So, where is Boston and how far away is it?" the purple dragon asked.

Hearing that, I leaned back in my chair and sighed. "You are honestly asking the wrong person."

After ten minutes of idle chatting, the others and I went into the living room. Taking a quick glance out the window, I found a large red truck parked in the driveway, and then turning back to the room, I found five empty opened suitcases by the front door.

Why would we bring empty suitcases?

My train of thought was interrupted as I heard someone coming down the stairs. Looking up, I found Nick coming down with two more large bags.

"What's the matter?" Nick asked.

I gestured to the empty suitcases. "What are these for?"

Nick stopped dead in his tracks and sighed. "That, I cannot tell you"

"Why not?" I asked, not sure whether to feel uneasy or not because of his tone.

"Because not even I know," Nick answered before quickly hurrying out the door.

Looking out the front door window, I curiously watched Nick approach the truck for a moment before turning back to the suitcases.

Scorch, what are you up to…?

Once again, my train of thought was interrupted as the door opened again and Scorch came through. He began picking up all the suitcases.

"Scorch."

"Yeah?"

"What's with the suitcases?" I asked.

Scorch turned to me and grinned. "Would rather not spoil the surprise."

From just hearing that, I started to feel uneasy.

Knowing you, Scorch, I can already tell that you're up to something, I'm just unsure whether to be scared of it or not.

With the suitcases in hand, Scorch kicked the front door open and held it as he looked back at us. "Well, come on, we don't have all day."

Feeling there was nothing more to do there, Spyro and the others followed Scorch's instructions and left the house. Taken aback by his statement, I couldn't help but stay where I was.

"What, that's it? No packing, no anything?" I questioned honestly.

Scorch looked at me with reassuring grin. "What, you didn't see Nick carrying those two extra bags? Don't worry, I got everything handled."

Giving a deep sigh, I walked past Scorch, allowing him to close the door. Shifting my gaze upon the truck, I saw Spyro and the others leaping into the back section of the vehicle.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road."

Turning back around, I watched as Scorch hurried past me to the truck, tossing the luggage bags through the open doors and onto the seats. Moving over to the front of the truck, he stepped into the driver's seat and started it up before turning towards me. "You coming or what?"

Lowering my head, I sighed as I went over and stepped into the vehicle with Spyro and the others, who were now looking out the windows.

"Should be interesting to see what's in the world," Spyro said.

Let's just hope that the world doesn't notice you.

As the truck pulled out of the driveway, I took one last glance at my house. I had a feeling that it was going to be a while before we saw it again.

XXX

Over the two hours that passed on the way to Boston, it was fairly quiet. The only sounds came from Spyro and the others, who consistently looked curiously out at the human world through the windows.

Whenever something new came into view, one of them would alert the others. "Hey, guys, look at this!" one would say, which would make them all rush over in a single direction. I couldn't help but grin at their enthusiasm; I always loved seeing others enjoy themselves, even it was because of something little like this. Heck, give me a role of duck tape and I'd be occupied for an hour.

Though, I noticed that whenever we passed by multiple buildings, Spyro also stared intently at them. I figured that they may have reminded him of Warfang. That isn't to say, though, that Spyro didn't enjoy the other views. In fact, like the others, every time we passed through an area that had a nice wide open view, like a lake, I found him smiling widely. One could surmise that they really wanted to go and fly over the area and have a look around.

Then, finally, after what seemed like forever, Scorch pulled into a parking lot that was next to one of the many tall buildings that surrounded us and turned off the truck. He eyed the closest building in front of us.

"So… Even though I've never been to Boston before, I'm going to take a guess that, because we're parked, that means we're here?" I asked bluntly.

Scorch continued to eye the building. "Yup, and that's where we will be staying for now." He pointed to the building.

Nick turned to Scorch and stared as if he'd lost it. "Uh, you do realize that the Harbor is like a five-star hotel, right?"

Leaning back in his seat, Scorch crossed his arms and looked at Nick. "Your point?"

Nick quickly glanced at the hotel, then to Spyro and the others, then back to Scorch. "My point is: how are we going to sneak five dragons into a hotel?"

Scorch merely grinned before looking back towards me. "Well, we have empty suitcases, do we not?"

My eyes went wide; I knew what he was thinking.

Well, Scorch…I definitely give you points for creativity…

XXX

Stepping out of the truck, I turned around and carefully pulled out two suitcases, which were now heavy. I gently placed them on the ground side by side.

"I don't like this plan…" complained a muffled Flame from inside the right suitcase.

I looked to my left to find Scorch carrying his two suitcases; one had Spyro, and in the other was Krystal. Behind him was Nick, who carried the two bags and one suitcase. Ember was inside.

Scorch had an amused grin on his face. "No one said you had to like it, just be part of it."

"Yeah, this feels humiliating…" muttered Cynder from the other suitcase.

Scorch couldn't help but silently laugh to himself after hearing that. "Alright, let's go."

Grabbing the handles, I slowly angled the suitcases until they leaned on one side, allowing me to roll them behind me. Once that was accomplished, I started to follow Scorch with Nick not far behind. I felt badly for him; he carried more than all of us.

Entering the hotel, I couldn't help but partially drop my mouth in awe at what I saw. The lobby floor was made of square tiles with fancy designs and there were shiny square pillars that connected the ceiling and the floor. On the ceiling were many skylights that had brown strips running through them; because of them, the lobby seemed very bright. I squinted my eyes as we approached the front desk.

The receptionist was a lady looking to be around her forties, possibly.

"Hello and welcome to the Harborhotel, what can I do for you?" she politely asked.

Scorch let go of his suitcases, leaving them in an upright position, and leaned on the desk.

"Afternoon. I would like a top suite for my friends and I. For now we'll be staying about a week," Scorch answered.

The receptionist gave a surprised expression before looking at her computer. "That'll be four thousand dollars."

Without hesitation, Scorch reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He then pulled out a card and gave it to the lady. "This should easily cover it."

Sighing, the receptionist took the card without question. I shot a surprised look at Scorch; his lack of reaction towards the price stunned me.

What do you do for a living that you have no reaction to the price?

"...choo!"

I froze and looked down to my right at Flame's suitcase.

"Did your suitcase just sneeze?"

I looked back up to find that the receptionist was now staring at me and opened my mouth to speak.

"Yeah, it's called excess space in luggage that hasn't been taken up. Makes a sound when forced through a tiny hole," Scorch quickly but calmly answered.

For a moment there was nothing but silence. The lady receptionist looked at Scorch as if she was unconvinced. To prove his point, Scorch kicked the suitcase which Flame was in, making it fall over. Once again, the same sound came out of the suitcase. I couldn't help but feel amused. Flame was going to kill Scorch for that.

Scorch continued to look expressionless. "Now, can we please be checked into our room?"

Looking abashed now, the receptionist quickly swiped Scorch's card and gave it back to him, along with a key. "My apologies, sir, enjoy your stay."

Scorch just grinned as he took back his card and accepted the key. "Will do."

Having his card back, Scorch proceeded to the elevator. Picking up Flame's suitcase, I quickly followed him. Once inside, he pressed the button that said "10" and the doors shut. Elevator music started playing.

"Can we come out now?" Spyro asked from inside his bag.

Scorch merely continued to stare at the closed elevator doors. "Not yet, we need to get to our room first."

"You know… I can't help but feel that you enjoyed kicking Flame's suitcase," Nick remarked

Scorch grinned as he started laughing quietly to himself.

"Wait, that was you?!" Flame demanded.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Scorch replied dryly.

Closing my eyes, I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"I hate you all…" Flame complained.

Well, Scorch is right, it did work.

"Flame, stop complaining!" Ember hissed.

The elevator dinged, we had reached the designated floor. Doors opening, they revealed two girls on the other side.

"Well how—ow!" Flame cried as he was dealt another blow to his side.

"What was that?" asked one of the girls.

Scorch tilted his head to the side, acting confused. "What was what?"

Both girls just stood there. When there was no reply, Scorch walked past with a simple "excuse us" and left it at that.

Nick and I looked at each other. "I can only imagine him playing poker," Nick remarked.

Laughing softly, I nodded my head and mouthed, "Yeah."

XXX

To my surprise, our room was not far away from the elevator; it was actually only eight rooms down. Upon entering, though, I found myself impressed and whistled to show it. I'd never been in a five-star hotel before, and honestly, I could see why it was five-star. The room looked like it belonged to some royal couple. The living room had three sofas that surrounded a large flat-screen TV. To the right of that was the kitchen that had a counter you could sit at, and to the left of the TV was a balcony that you could walk out on. There were also four queen-sized beds to the right of the kitchen, next to the bathroom.

Soon as he saw the sofa, Scorch let go of the suitcases and jumped over onto the couch. "You guys can come out now."

One by one, I watched as Spyro and the others began bursting from their bags. Having been cramped for nearly twenty minutes, they all stretched themselves out. After having done that, they each began to explore their temporary new home. Well, all except for Flame, who walked around to Scorch's front.

Noticing, Scorch shifted his gaze to the red dragon in question. "What?"

Flame gave him a disbelieving look. "You said you would explain today who the Original was."

Upon hearing that name, everyone, including myself, turned in Scorch's direction. Scorch looked around, finding all eyes on him. He sighed and sat up.

"I was honestly hoping that you'd have forgotten about that," Scorch muttered.

Jumping up on one of the couches, Cynder gazed curiously at him. "Why, what's so bad about the Original that you don't want to tell us?"

"I'm with Cynder, why are you so hesitant about telling us?" Spyro asked, sitting down by the black dragoness.

Feeling that Scorch was going to give, Nick and I sat on the sofa left of Scorch, and we all waited for him to speak.

Scorch sighed, defeated. He had given his word. "Alright, fine, I'll tell you. Keep in mind, though, that this is coming from my mother, who got it from her mother. You see, long ago, before the first guardians had formed, there was a creature that came to Avalar. This creature was a dragon, and just like the other dragons in Avalar, it was able to control elements. However, this dragon was different in the fact that it didn't control just one element…it was able to control all eight. Because of this, many considered this dragon to be the Original dragon, since no other dragon had been able to do this before."

"Now, for a time this dragon and the rest of the other dragons lived in harmony with each other. Then, after a while, things began to change. Little by little, the dragon started becoming corrupt, eventually becoming aggressive towards others and lashing out. Now, the others knew that this dragon was powerful beyond imagination, and they began to fear for the safety of Avalar. So, to prevent a disaster before it could happen, Avalar recruited eight of its most powerful dragon warriors to combat this dragon. The leader of these eight dragons was a fire dragon known as Inferno, my great grandfather."

"These eight fought the Original alongside their sons and daughters, who were considered equally as powerful. For an entire day their fight lasted, and in the end the Original was defeated by Inferno's son, Pyro, also known as the original Fire Guardian and founder of the Guardians. Though, sadly, their victory did not come without a price. Inferno and five others sacrificed their lives in order to defeat the Original. But it was because of their sacrifice that Pyro and the others managed to seal away the Original in a deep slumber."

Everyone became silent, but after a few moments, Ember stood up.

"But wait, if the Original was sealed, then how can it be brought back to life?" she asked.

Scorch turned to Ember. "When the original Guardians sealed away the Original, they took a gem that was a part of the dragon and trapped its soul in it. Its body turned to stone as a result."

"But wait… If that's the case, then how did it wind up on Earth?" I asked.

Scorch shook his head. "I'm not sure. As I said before, I heard this from my mother, who heard it from her mother. So, chances are, there are still pieces of information which have either been forgotten or silenced for the sake of sanity."

"Hey, Scorch, you said that Inferno was your great grandfather, right?" Spyro questioned. "Well, if John was your grandfather, then who was your grandmother?"

Scorch turned to the purple dragon. "My grandmother was a wind dragoness known as Spirit. Daughter of Inferno, sister of Pyro, mate of John, and original Wind Guardian."

Alright, considering how much frustration I had writing this chapter…I have to say I like how it came out overall (though there are parts which I feel are done more well than others). Now, at the top I said that part of why this chapter took so long was because I had difficulty expressing some of the scenes. Well, there is more to it than just that (excluding college, since that's been done for over a month now). Truth is, with this chapter done, I find myself frustrated for not having much material thought out for the next two chapters…and it's because of this frustration that I found myself not wanting to complete this chapter, even though I had the rest of the scenes thought out.

So as much as I hate to say it, I have writer's block (which is really ridiculous considering that, after the next two chapters, I LITERALLY have the rest of the book planned out). So yeah, as for when I get started on the next two chapters, I have no idea (maybe I just do a lot of fluff, who knows…). Terribly sorry, guys, right now I feel ashamed since I've never had writer's block before. X (

Last few things before I go:

1 – River without you beta(ing), my story would probably look terrible right now, so thank you. xD

2 – Any updates regarding progress of future chapters will be posted on my profile.

3 – If anyone wants to suggest scenes that they would like to see, feel free to PM (will give you credit for the scene)