Wow. I hate school and its projects. I'm also shocked that I got no reviews on the last chapter. Well at least I had a lot of people read the story so far according to Reader Traffic. So if you are reading this chapter please, please send a review. I hope everyone is still reading. Enjoy.

Chapter 3: The Raids

Seven piles of grey stones lay in front of four large statues of dragons.

Shadedulath stepped forward and announced, "Today we remember all those who died to protect this temple. The last symbol of hope for the friends of dragons." He turns around and bows his head to the stones that served as markers of the brave who fell. He continued, "Honor the brave who fought, honor the dead who fell, honor the world they tried to save. Never shall we forget Uthday, Shacda, Izu, Zenit, Buhan, Gishon, Helta, Ignitus, Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador. Their deaths were caused by one of our own, Delrothban. We are moving back to the base up north to gain a better footing. We will return this place to its glory once we are finished with Marthaeter."

Spyro looked back the temple. His home. He remembered all the good times there with the Guardians and especially Cynder. The temple had been the one place he truly felt safe.

Cynder looked back with him and whispered, "It's ok Spyro. We will come back here in time."

Spyro smiled at her and said, "Everything from my life was there. It's going to be hard to leave it behind. At least I still have you."

Cynder smiled and gave him a lick on the cheek, "That's very sweet."

They turned away from the temple and followed the humans that were leading the way. Away from their home and friends. To an unknown place for them.

It had been a week since they left the temple. They left Delrothban by a small cave about three days back. They drugged him so he wouldn't wake up for another day or two. Shadedulath had about eight men head back towards the temple, making sure that they left semi-noticeable tracks that lead back to the temple.

Once they arrived back at the temple they would head west for a day and then head to a small outpost they held in the north. Delrothban wouldn't be able to find it and once the time was right the men would meet back up with them. Shadedulath knew that Delrothban would head back to the temple and by the time he found out they weren't there they would be at the base.

Spyro and Cynder took in the landscape around them, not recognizing the area. Snow covered the land and everything looked bleak and pale. Spyro guessed they were near Dante's Freezer due to the fact that there were ruins of ancient outposts that they passed about every hour or so. Night fell and they stopped for the day. The men quickly set up small white cloth sheets on sticks about six feet high. They were make shift tents. Several men took watch duty and started a small fire. There were about five men to each watch shift. Spyro and Cynder were in their tent, talking quietly to each other.

"I wonder when we will get there?" asked Cynder, "I'm getting tired of walking."

"Shall I carry you the rest of the way?" asked Spyro jokingly.

"That would be nice," she replied in the same joking manner.

"Ok then, I'll carry you the rest of the way," Spyro said.

"I'm just joking," Cynder said.

"I wasn't," Spyro simply stated.

"Well thank you, that is very nice," Cynder replied, "It's kind of exciting, seeing how a different race lives isn't it?"

"Yeah," Spyro replied, "I'm just wondering if we will ever be able to get Chromius back."

"We will in time," Cynder said. She yawned and locked lips with Spyro and said, "Good night."

"Good night," Spyro replied back with a kiss. They curled up next to each other and fell asleep.

Everyone woke up early and took down the tents and prepared to leave. When everyone was ready they left and continued northwards.

It was about noon when Spyro heard a familiar noise, a loud screeching noise growing louder and louder. Spyro turned around and saw a Dreadwing flying towards them.

"Dreadwing," Spyro yelled.

The men instantly took cover and prepared their bows, reattaching the bowstring. The Dreadwing was closing fast and was focused on Spyro and Cynder. It dove at Cynder and was preparing itself for its meal when Spyro smashed into the large winged creature, knocking it to the ground. Cynder turned and saw that Spyro was about to fight the beast.

Spyro fired a stream of fire at the Dreadwing, which took off, avoiding the blast. Spyro took off as well and charged towards the Dreadwing. The Dreadwing opened its mouth and was ready to bite down on Spyro, but Spyro barrel rolled and slashed at the top of the head with his claws, drawing blood. Spyro turned in mid air and dove at the creature. He landed on its back and slashed at it with his claws while stabbing it with his tail. The Dreadwing screeched and landed on the ground. It immediately rolled on the ground on top of Spyro. Spyro was caught under the beast and was trapped. He charged up an earth shot and blasted the Dreadwing off of him.

The Dreadwing flapped its large leathery wings and hovered in the air. It unleashed a screech blast from its mouth, hitting Spyro, dazing him. The Dreadwing dove at him and pinned him to the ground. Spyro was beginning to recover from the massive headache and dizziness that he had received from the blast and saw the Dreadwing about to bite off his head. Out of nowhere a fireball struck the beast on its side. The Dreadwing fell over and Spyro stabbed his tail spike through the Dreadwing's throat and it died.

Spyro turned towards Cynder and the humans all were facing the creature that saved Spyro. A young orange dragon was standing on a hill twenty feet away. All the humans had an arrow notched and the bowstring pulled back, aiming for the dragon.

Shadedulath lowered his sword and said, "Lower your weapons."

The dragon descended the hill and approached Spyro and Cynder and said, "I thought you might need some help."

"Thanks," Spyro said, "What's your name?"

"Firecurse," the orange dragon answered, "Yours?"

"My name is Spyro and this is Cynder," Spyro replied, "Where are you from?"

"Far north," Firecurse answered, "I heard of the news of your victory over the Dark Master and that you were at the temple. So I set out to temple to meet you and train under the Guardians."

Spyro and Cynder's looks saddened when he mentioned the Guardians. "They are no longer alive," Cynder said filled with sorrow.

"What?" asked Firecurse.

"They died a short time ago in a battle at the temple," Spyro explained, "One of our friends was taken away and we now seek a way to rescue him."

"I'm sorry," Firecurse said, "I didn't know."

They both nodded and Spyro said, "You are free to join us if you want."

Firecurse accepted and joined them.

A day later they arrived at the base. It was in the side of a mountain and very well hidden. You could easily miss it even if you were within a half-mile of it. There were about two hundred men waiting inside for Shadedulath. Shadedulath asked if Spyro could follow him for a minute.

Firecurse was greatly attracted to Cynder. She had always been with Spyro, but he thought that he might be able to win her over. He approached her and said, "Hey Cynder."

"Oh, hi Firecurse," she replied, "Is this place just amazing. It is so similar to the Dragon Temple."

"Not as amazing as you are," he replied.

Cynder looked at him with a confused look on her face and said, "What?"

"It's not as amazing as you are," he repeated.

"Firecurse," Cynder replied seriously, "If you are trying to see if I want you, I don't because I have Spyro."

"What's so great about him?" he said trying to make her double think about Spyro.

"Everything," she said sharply, "He has always been there when I needed him and he loves me more than anything as I do him."

"Are you sure that it isn't just that he is the first dragon you met?" he asked.

Cynder was getting mad and said, "No. He saved me from myself and has risked his life for me on many occasions. It was love that was meant to be. Love at first sight for both of us. We will always be together and our love will last for all time, nothing will ever change that."

"Whatever," Firecurse said, "You have fun in your little make believe land of love with each other. If you are looking for a real dragon come find me. I have what you want."

Cynder growled as Firecurse walked away. "Damn him. I wish that Dreadwing would have eaten him," she said to herself, "Spyro is my love and I will never stop loving him."

Shadedulath spoke loudly for all who were present to hear, "Marthaeter has returned to this realm and is preparing to take it since the Dark Master failed to do so." Cynder entered and stood next to Spyro. Shadedulath continued, "Delrothban is carrying the commands of Marthaeter and will be the leader of his forces. Thankfully it will be sometime before he can reach the Shadow Vale so we have time to prepare. Unfortunately we don't nearly have enough man power to hold his forces at bay." He opened a large map that showed the realm. At the far northern edge of the map was a small picture of a portal labeled the Portal of Shadows. Shadedulath pointed at it and said, "This is the only way in or out of the Shadow Vale. If we can muster a large enough force we can siege the portal and hold back the armies until our engineers can figure out a way to destroy the portal. To gather the number of warriors needed we will have to recruit locals and free everyone we can from the enemy prison camps. We will start by striking small prison camps and eventually their largest prison camp. The one where Chromius and several hundred locals are and maybe a few dozen Shadows of Katsumoto are being held. We will leave in two days when our decoy party returns."

The courtyard emptied quickly as everyone prepared to leave. Shadedulath was standing a few feet away from a large tree in the middle of the courtyard.

Spyro and Cynder walked over towards him and he said, "The Prophet blossom, you can search for it your entire life and it wouldn't be a wasted life. Or at least that is what Katsumoto always told me. I would agree with him. It is truly a great sight to see. I have seen several blossoms over the few years and each time it is breath taking. That is why it remains here in the courtyard. It gives us something to enjoy besides battle."

"It's beautiful," Cynder said.

"Yeah," Spyro agreed.

"Katsumoto was a student of war, but was also a student of nature. He enjoyed nature and would often go out into the forest for the day," Shadedulath said, "He admired the beauty that nature produced for him to observe." Shadedulath looked at the tree one last time before he turned and went towards the interior of the fortress.

Seeing that they were alone, Cynder told Spyro, "Spyro, Firecurse is hitting on me."

"What?" Spyro asked shocked.

"He is trying to get me to fall for him," she replied.

"Has it worked?" Spyro asked.

Cynder glared him, "I would never fall for someone as low as him. He is trying to steal me from you. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Of course it does," Spyro said embracing her, "I was just joking about that. I know you would never do something like that."

"Thank you," Cynder said, "Would you try to keep him away from me for a while?"

"Sure," Spyro replied, "In fact I think I know just how to."

"How?" Cynder asked.

Spyro leaned in a whispered, "I'll ask Shadedulath to make him his assistant."

Cynder locked lips with Spyro and thanked him. Little did they know that Firecurse was watching the last few seconds before they broke. He shook his head and said to himself, "Cynder, Cynder, Cynder, when will you see he isn't for you?"

The decoy party returned as scheduled and everyone was preparing to leave. Shadedulath had called upon as many of the warriors that were in the fortress to come with, leaving about fifty men to stay behind and guard the fortress. Shadedulath ordered everyone to move out and the strike force headed south towards the nearest prison camp. Their force was made up of nearly five hundred men. The strategy was to take out the smaller camps first and recruit those from the camps to help save the others from other camps.

They reached the first camp when the sun was setting. When the sun finally vanished from the sky the plan was put into effect and everyone went to their position. Spyro, Cynder, Firecurse, and a small group of men would lead the first attack, distracting them so the other two groups could free the prisoners and support the first group by attacking from behind.

Shadedulath looked at the camp from their position five hundred feet away. He drew an arrow and notched it. The twenty other men did like wise and waited for the signal. Luckily they were able to take cover in the nearby ruins that were extremely close to the camp.

Each person took a target and fired as Shadedulath whispered, "Release." Twenty arrows flew from the bows and struck their targets. "Charge," Shadedulath said.

Shadedulath drew his katana and dagger and dashed across the distance. Spyro and Cynder followed close behind with Firecurse trailing them. The rest of the warriors charged after them.

The camp guards were made up of dark creatures known as shadowlings. These four-foot tall creatures were weaker versions of shadow spawn. The surviving shadowlings charged at their attackers. Shadedulath thrust his sword through one and quickly cut the head off another. The few men held up very well with skills that were lesser than Shadedulath's, but were still impressive.

The other two groups joined in the attack and closed in on the enemy. Walker, Shadedulath's right hand man, led the attack and flailed at the enemy with his bladed whips. He swung one at and shadowling and ripped off its head with a jerk of his whip. A shadow spawn was present and Walker swung his other whip at the shadow spawn, catching the creature's weapon in its lashes. Walker quick brought his free whip across the shadow spawn's face, slicing it into many pieces. A warrior near him fired an arrow that dug itself into a shadowling that was about to attack Walker. The warrior quickly drew another arrow and fired it into another shadowling. Behind the archer came a warrior with a katana like glaive and sliced a shadowling in two. He spun around and decapitated another's head.

While the one group covered, the second group started to free the prisoners and gave them weapons to help fight. They were citizens of the land, no Shadows of Katsumoto where in this camp though. The prisoners were happy to assist the battle and charged into the fray hacking at the dark creatures like wild animals.

Shadedulath blocked a black blade that was directed at his head. He quickly brought his dagger up and cut open the shadow spawn's neck. He moved aside as the body fell and stabbed an oncoming shadowling. He spun and drove one of his blades into an unaware shadowling following with a cut to the stomach of one that was charging at him. Shadedulath saw out of the corner of his eye the three young dragons were holding up rather well. Seeing that they could defend themselves he focused on quickly ending the battle.

He sprinted into the large mass of dark creatures before him and swung his blades at the warriors in front, felling them. He continued and stabbed his blade into a shadow spawn's head and ripped it back out. He proceeded by slicing through another shadow spawn and two shadowlings. He continued to move faster not letting his enemies attack him. He drove one blade into the gut of a shadowling and slashed at its throat, cutting off its screech. He stabbed another shadowling and brought his sword down on the head of a third shadowling. He killed the last one and looked around. His men were killing off the last of the creatures and were searching the camp.

Walker came over to him as he put away his whips and said, "All the prisoners are willing to continue with us and all enemies are dead. Though we found no other Shadows, we did gain about fifty soldiers."

"Good," Shadedulath replied, "Would you oversee their training as we travel?"

"Of course my lord," Walker answered.

They prepared to move out and headed for their next target.