Chapter 3

The silhouette that walked through the flames became visible now. It was Spyro, Cynder's heart was both relieved to see that he was ok, but scared to know why he was here. Sparx's mouth dropped, his old friend was still ok but the fact that he was able to walk through the fire was crazy. Why was Spyro here? How long had he been there? The purple dragon just looked down at Cynder and Sparx, not saying anything but just looking down at them.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled, "thank goodness you're all right! We thought something happened to you!"

"Hmm…" Spyro said, standing on top of his perch.

"Buddy we've been wondering where you've been, what happened to you?" Sparx asked.

"What happened to me?" Spyro said, repeating Sparx's question, "well let's just say…"

The purple dragon landed in front of both of them, this time both got a good look at him. His once calm and friendly eyes were no longer purple, but now a blood red lust was in them. This shocked his two friends; it was like he completely changed now. Spyro seemed to see that they were shocked and confused to what happened to him. He smiled friendly, though evilly, at them.

"Now come on guys," he said, "don't tell me you're surprised to see me like this."

"What in the world happened to you dude?!" Sparx asked

"Heh, I guess you could say that I had a little 'change of heart'," Spyro said, walking around them, "I meet the Dark Master…"

"You...you what?!" Cynder asked, turning around quickly as Spyro walked on then stopped.

"That's right, I met him." He continued, "He's a powerful being and you know what?" he turned his head towards both of them; "he opened my eyes to the truth."

"Truth?" Sparx asked, "what truth?"

"The dragon elders are nothing but weak fools," Spyro answered him, "all they do is send others to do their jobs for them. Or should I say someone instead of others?" he turned to the two this time, his eyes narrowed, "that someone was always me no matter what it was I was always sent."

"But Spyro," Cynder said, "you're the dragon of prophecy you have to…"

"To what? To fore fill it? Stop the Dark master? Bring peace to the world? Don't lecture me on that garbage Cynder." Spyro said as he interrupted her, "I've heard it more from Ignitus and I don't want to hear it anymore."

"You can't be serious Spyro!" Sparx said, not getting angry, "You're one of the good guys! When did good guys go bad?!"

Spyro glared at Sparx and snarled at him, baring his teeth at his friend. The dragonfly pulled away a bit from the dragon he once knew. Spyro began walking towards the two of them now, a dark aura appearing around his body. The duo moved backwards as he advanced on them, power coursing through his veins, the power Cynder once knew.

"Just like you Sparx," Spyro said, "always asking the stupid questions, never watching your mouth, thinking that you're so important well guess what Sparx…" the dragon said as he stopped moving and his dark aura pulsed, "you're nothing but a coward!"

Spyro spat a powerful flame towards the two of them, Cynder and Sparx were able to dodge it but the flame incinerated what was behind them. Cynder's eyes widened at what she had just saw, the flame Spyro spat was meant to kill them. She looked down at Spyro who smiled at her, he was completely different now. Tears swelled up in her eyes at the sight of him, the kind dragon she knew was no longer there.

"What's wrong Cynder?" Spyro asked, "Afraid of dying? Come down here and fight the power you once had as your own!"

Spyro fired more flames at the black dragon. She dodged them as best as she could. Each one was closer every time though, Spyro was faster then he was before and one hit from the flame could cause serious damage. Cynder looked down at Spyro; the dark aura around him was strong, almost too strong. If they were gonna break it off him they would have to act fast. Her eyes narrowed as she began flying down towards him a fast speeds. Spyro snarled and spat out more flames at Cynder, who rolled to dodge them.

The black dragon rammed into Spyro when she was within range. The two began to wrestle and fight on the ground. Cynder was on the defense while Spyro kept slashing and biting at her trying to slice her open. Cynder dodged his two front claws quickly but was caught off guard by his tail which slammed into her cheek. The black dragon was sent flying back; she slid down the ground causing dust to come up. She forced her self up, noticing that she had a scrap on her right side, some blood was coming out but everything else was ok. She turned her head to Spyro who stood there without showing any feelings of regret.

"A scrap huh?" he asked, "I'll have to do some more damage then."

"Stop this Spyro," Cynder begged, "think about what you're doing!"

"I have."

Spyro opened his wings and flew towards Cynder, this time tackling her to the ground. The purple dragon pulled back his head and threw his head down at her quickly, almost biting her neck. Cynder was able to move just in time, and then she rolled over with him as they scratched and bit at each other. Cynder holding back the most while Spyro was going all out at her. The two dragons stopped rolling as soon as Spyro was on top of Cynder. The black dragon closed her eyes and flung him off her with all the strength she had into a pile of wood.

"I'm sorry Spyro…" she said, getting up while her body ached with pain.

Sparx flew up to Cynder quickly, her wounds were deep but nothing life that could threaten her life, but they were still deep. The dragonfly frowned at this, Spyro would never go this far to hurt someone. Even when Cynder was evil he dared not to cause damage this bad. The black dragon was staring at the pile of wood the whole time, not looking at Sparx.

"Do you think he's ok?" Sparx asked.

"I dunno Sparx…" Cynder said, her voice quiet and sad, "but if he is we have to get him back to the elders."

Sparx nodded as they began to move towards the wood. However before they got there a massive fireball was spat out at them. This time they couldn't dodge it and were hit dead hard. Sparx and Cynder fell to the ground, not only injured but badly burnt now. Cynder raised her head up and saw Spyro walking towards them, he had received some bad cuts from the sharp pieces of wood but that didn't seem to stop him. He snarled in anger at Cynder.

"Now you've really made me mad." He said.

The purple dragon just walked over towards Cynder, who tried to force herself up but couldn't. He snarled and bit down on her neck with crushing force, causing the black dragon to scream in pain at this action. Spyro took back his head, the blood of Cynder on his teeth. He looked down at her as she weakly moved her head to look at him, tears forming in her eyes.

"Spyro…why?" she asked weakly.

"Look at you," he said coldly, "you've become weak, useless, you once had the power to destroy an army Cynder. Too bad you couldn't ever do that right."

"Spyro this isn't you!" Cynder said, desperate to change him back, "please stop this! You're under the Dark Master's influence! Fight it Spyro!"

"I don't need you to tell me what to do!" he yelled as he drew up his claw, slashing her across the cheek. Cynder yelled in pain again, this time the slash was near her eye, Spyro snorted at her.

"So this is how the mighty Cynder falls."

He raised his claw again to slash at her, but he was smacked by a breath of ice. The purple dragon was sent flying towards away from Cynder and Sparx, taken by surprised from the attack. He shook his head and looked back to where he was attacked, snarling in anger.

"Who attacks me?! Show yourself!" he roared.

The one who attacked Spyro walked out, the dragon stood about the same height as Spyro but his build was different. Its shoulders were broader and stronger, his scales where white as pure snow while its underbelly was light blue. Its short tail had a sort of icicle on the tip of it and its wings looked completely frozen. It had only one horn on his head, the other one was either cut off or broken; the dragon's eyes were a piercing light blue. It stared down at Cynder.

"Are you all right now?" it asked, its voice showed that it was a male.

"I…I think so…" Cynder replied, trying to get up. The new dragon stopped her with one of his wings.

"Don't get up, your injuries are deep you must stay down for now." He told her, seeming wise.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Spyro asked, angry at the fact that a new dragon appeared.

The new dragon turned his attention towards Spyro, his icy eyes now glaring at the young dragon.

"The purple dragon," He said, I was expecting you to be more heroic then evil."

"Aw, well I'm sorry to disappoint you. Now get out of my way!" Spyro yelled, the white dragon didn't move. Spyro snarled and spat out a flame towards him, quickly taking action the new dragon shot back his own blast, the icy breath was able to cool down the flame.

"You will not harm them anymore purple dragon." The white dragon said, opening his wings and taking off into the air.

Spyro followed after him, flying at him full speed and spitting flame after flame at the new dragon. The white dragon was able to dodge the attacks quickly and effectively. He flew straight up into the air; Spyro following closely, the white dragon turned his head back and saw him catching up. He stopped in midair and flew down at Spyro, taking the purple dragon by surprise.

The white dragon began to wrestle in the air with Spyro, dodging any bite attempts or slash attempts from him. He slammed his head on Spyro's underbelly with a powerful strike, the purple dragon's eyes shrunk at the pain he just felt. This new dragon was proving to be a very powerful enemy to fight. He growled in frustration and flipped the white dragon over, this time biting him on the neck; however the white dragon didn't seem to scream in pain at this bite. He too grabbed Spyro's neck with his mouth as the two tumbled towards the ground entangled. The two dragons kept wrestling in the air until the ground was coming in close. The white dragon saw this and let go of Spyro's neck while he kicked him away from his body.

Spyro spun around in the air a bit before regaining his balance. The white dragon that he was fighting was directly in front of him. He snarled in anger and spat out a powerful flame at the new dragon again, this was countered by the dragon's ice breath though. The two forces clashed and began pushing each other back and forth; no side was giving in to the brunt force of the other attack. Finally after a while the two forces became so strong that a small explosion happened. The force of the wave sent both Spyro and the white dragon back onto the ground, each one crashing into the ground.

Meanwhile during the battle Cynder forced herself to get up. Her body was recovering from the fatal wounds she received, though this was common in many dragons to regenerate fast. She looked down at Sparx who was dusting himself off, trying to get ash off his wings.

"Man I can NOT believe he just did that to us," the dragonfly said, seeming bitter, "I mean we're his friends aren't we? I thought he was suppose to scorch the bad guys but noooo he's burns us!"

"That's because Spyro's been filled with a lie," Cynder said, helping Sparx up, "the Dark Master took the evil in his heart and made it stronger."

"You mean he can take the evil in anyone's heart and make it use their host?" Sparx asked.

"No…some people can resist it well while others can't," Cynder explained, "Spyro has a strong will but because he let his anger get to him it made him vulnerable to the Dark Master's control."

"Oh…great." Sparx said grimly.

Spyro got up, shaking the dirt that was on him off. He looked up across from him and saw the white dragon walking back to him. He had some cuts and bruises but that was it. The purple dragon growled low at the new dragon who stopped moving as soon as he came within attacking range for Spyro. However before he could begin his attack though Spyro had one question on his mind about this dragon.

"Who are you and were did you come from?" he asked.

"My name is Cryo," the white dragon said, "I am an ice dragon from the north, trained in the ways of honor and respect. I came down here to lend my services to the Dragon Elders and the legendary purple dragon that saved the ex-general of the Dark Master. But now I see you have been taken over by the Dark Master and his minion…Kel'thuzard."

"How do you know of Kel'thuzard?" Spyro asked, kinda surprised to see that this dragon knew about the gorgon.

"I know of him because he stole my horn," Cryo said, "and I will make the gorgon pay dearly for his mistake."

Spyro heard enough, he began to charge at Cryo, lowering his head down to stab him in the chest. Cryo did not stand and wait as well, he began to charge at Spyro as well, and despite the fact that he had one horn. The two dragons charged at each other until there was a sickening thud from their crash. The two were now pushing each other with all their power, each side not stopping themselves from pushing. Spyro snarled as he pushed himself hard to push Cryo back. However the white dragon was stronger then Spyro was in physical strength. He dug his rear claws into the ground and with a mighty push shoved Spyro half way across the field. Spyro crashed into a tree and hit the ground hard, he tried to force himself up but he had no strength left.

Cryo walked up to Spyro and looked down at him, he frowned at the purple dragon. Surely disappointed at the battle he just had with him. He raised his short tail up, he was about to end the fight by taking Spyro's life. However Cynder saw this and ran up to Cryo, grabbing his tail with her's. The white dragon looked at her, confused to why she was stopping him.

"Why stop me from sending his soul from evil?" he asked.

"I was once under the control of the Dark Master," Cynder said, "he helped me get out of that path, it's time I returned the favor."

Cryo thought about it for a while, but nodded his head in agreement with her. Cynder lowered her neck to Spyro's face, the purple dragon looked at her. He was confused as well, he came near to killing her yet she was still helping him.

"Why help me…when I nearly killed you?" he asked.

"…I care for you Spyro, that's why." Cynder said.

Before Spyro could reply however, an aura of darkness appeared around him. The darkness became so dark that it engulfed him completely before disappearing slowly. Cynder's eyes widen at this, she tried to jump after Spyro but Cryo stopped her from doing so. The black dragon's eyes were full of tears as she fought to go after him, however the darkness soon dissolved into nothingness. The Dark Master had his new minion once again. Tears fell off Cynder's face, she had just missed her chance to grab Spyro. She fell to the ground sobbing, her one chance to save him gone.

"SPYRO!" she yelled, her cry however was in vein as nothing but nothingness answered her. Cynder cried for two hours, Sparx barely able to help her, his eyes full of tears as well. Cryo stood there, almost sadden at the sight of the black dragon's agony of loosing her closest friend. Cynder looked up, hot tears were still in her eyes as she gazed at the spot Spyro last was.

"I promise you Spyro…" she began, "I will find a way to save you…no matter what."

She got up and turned to Cryo and nodded. The white dragon nodded back and opened his wings and took off. Sparx flew after him to steer him in the right direction, however Cynder stayed at the same spot for a few more minutes before leaving. She kissed the ground that Spyro was on and turned around. She opened her wings and took off, flying after Cryo and Sparx. There was only two things on her mind, how would she tell the elders of what just happened and how would they get Spyro back? The answers didn't seem to come easy for her at all.