Tremor paced anxiously around the fire in the cave. It had been over an hour since Candice had taken off and his worry was starting to get the better of him. Ember lay towards the back of the cave with Spyro draped across her back. It had been decided that she would take care of the purple dragon until Candice returned. The whole time she had been steadily shimmering with healing energy, hoping that Spyro would finally come to.
Next to her, Stella watched as Tremor continued to wear a hole in the floor of the cave. She had tried to get him to settle down and rest but Tremor would have none of it. When he had tried to lay down his tossing and turning began to shake the whole mountain. At last Stella had suggested that he move around the cave just so he wouldn't bring the entire place down on them from his agitation.
"So what do we do?" Sparx asked as he stroked his brother's muzzle. He had been repeatedly zipping back and forth checking to see if Candice was coming back.
"Should we wait any longer?" Ember whispered to Flame trying to keep Tremor from overhearing them.
"I don't know." Flame murmured. He looked up to see Tremor had stopped his pacing and was staring motionless towards the front of the cave. The fire guardian gave a low sigh. He hated seeing his fellow guardian in such a worried state and distressed frame of mind. After a long moment's pause he got up and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could utter a single vowel, Tremor turned and spoke.
"Let's get ready to move out," He announced, surprising everyone else there. Stella, Ember and Sparx all gave each other astonished glances; they could hardly believe that Tremor was insisting that they leave before his dragoness had returned.
"Tremor," Stella spoke up timidly. "Are you sure you want to..."
Tremor cut her off with a stern look in his bright green eyes. It was a seriousness Stella hadn't seen in a long time. There was something about it however, that frightened her. "We need to make sure Spyro stays safe until he wakes up again. If Candice is out there or hurt, then we'll find her along the way."
"I'm sorry." Flame sighed and placed a paw on his friend's shoulder.
"Don't be," Tremor replied almost gruffly. "I just hope Candice is alright wherever she is."
"As long as I'm with you I'm always alright." Every head perked up and Tremor whirled around to see the silhouette of his dragoness against the sky outside.
"Candice?"
"Duh, silly." Her comforting voice was like soft music to Tremor's ears. The ice guardian stepped into the light of the fire and Tremor immediately noticed the burn marks that peppered her body.
"Candice, you're hurt!" He exclaimed.
"I'm alright," The dragoness replied reassuringly. "I promise you that much." Tremor glanced up at her with trembling eyes. The ice guardian could tell he had a lot of questions to ask, but they would have to wait until another time. "You can come in," Candice called over her shoulder. The outline of a head appeared in the cave entrance as the yellow dragoness stuck her head inside. She timidly walked up until she was standing beside Candice. "Everyone, this is Static. She's here to help us."
"Hi." The other guardians all nodded. Static could tell they were deeply fatigued by their sluggish movement and dull scale appearances.
Candice continued with her introduction. "This pebble-brain here is Tremor."
"Thanks Candy." Tremor gave a smirk feeling somewhat better about the situation they were in. Candice flashed him a wink before gesturing to the rest of the group. "The red one is Flame, the girl next to him is Ember and Stella is our beloved guardian of lightning." The guardians all bobbed their heads in acknowledgment. It was then that Static's eyes fell on Cynder. Candice took notice and smiled softly. "And the black dragoness to our left is Cynder."
"Wait, Cynder?" Static's eyes grew wide with terror and she took a couple of steps back. "As in Cynder the black dragoness!? The Terror of the Skies?"
"Um..." Candice swallowed hard.
Cynder only sighed. "Yes." She replied coldly. Static's heart nearly stopped. She glanced from Candice to the other guardians and back to Cynder. Stella was the first to speak.
"I understand what you may be thinking," she said as she stood up. "We all went through a period where we were unsure about Cynder. But she's not who you think she is."
"B-but... I've heard stories," Static stammered.
"And I have no doubt how true they are," Cynder pointed out as she got to her feet. "But I'm not the same dragoness today as I was then." Static took another step backwards and Cynder turned to look sadly at Spyro who was still draped over Ember's back. "And I owe it all to him." Static turned to look at the half-dead purple dragon.
"A purple dragon." She gasped and took a few anxious steps forward. "I've only heard legends of the purple dragon. I hear they're really powerful."
"They are." Cynder nodded, walking up beside the yellow dragoness. "It's because of Spyro that I was freed from the Dark Master's control. I owe him so much."
"But that's why we need your help," Stella continued. "Spyro's powers are gone because of the Dark Master. We need to find a safe place to keep him until he can regain his strength."
"Well..." Static paused to think about her possible solution to the problem. She wasn't sure about what she was about to do, but as she looked around the circle of weary and worn out expressions she came to a final decision. "Alright," she nodded. "Let's get your friend out of this place and somewhere that's more sheltered and comfortable."
"Thank you." Candice and Cynder chimed in unison. They gave each other surprised stares but smiled. It felt like so many of their worries had been lifted in that one moment in time.
Ember rose to her feet with Spyro clumsily draped over her. Cynder caught the purple dragon just as he was about to slide off.
"I got him now." Ember assured her once they had him situated. Cynder only nodded. Sparx crawled into the gap between Spyro's chest and Ember's back and gave his friend a pat on the neck. He stared at his hand as some of his brother's dried blood flaked off onto his tiny fingers. He brushed them off on Embers back, being subtle enough to keep her from noticing.
The group of dragons all headed towards the mouth of the cave and were immediately greeted with a cold breeze. Tremor shuddered and gave a low wheeze.
"We'll be alright." Candice whispered and placed a wing over his shoulder.
"I know." Tremor smiled back at her. He continued to stare at her burn marks, studying them closely. It was then that Candice noticed him glance over at Static and narrow his eyes slightly.
"Tremor." The ice guardian pulled his attention back to her. "It was a misunderstanding. Nothing serious."
"You promise?" Tremor murmured, trying to hide the unfriendly tone in his voice.
"Promise." Candice nodded.
"Candice, a little help," Ember called.
"Coming," Candice replied and walked away from Tremor. As he watched her freeze Spyro to Ember's shoulders, a rash cough rattled Tremor's throat. He turned his head and coughed hard as the phlegm staggered up his throat. When the burning subsided he turned and spat off the side of the cliff before returning to the others. Tremor never saw the glob of saliva that hit the rocks below. None of them would see the blood spatter onto the rocks below. Slowly Tremor's lungs were being filled with blood, drowning the earth guardian at a snail's pace.
Before long, the young guardians were airborne. Static lead them out across the mountains westward and deeper in. Ember, Flame Sparx and Cynder stayed close to her while Stella, Candice and Tremor brought up the rear. They hadn't been flying for more than a couple hours when Static broke the silence between them.
"Follow me!" She called back over her shoulder. "And do exactly as I do!" The guardians nodded and dove after her as she plummeted towards the ground. The wind and water stung their eyes but they forced them to stay open. All around them the wind roared louder and louder.
Up ahead they spotted a mountain that seemed to rise straight up into the fog and disappearing from view.
"Wow." Stella gasped as she stared up at the wall of rock before them.
"Get ready for a gust!" Static called. A split second later she tucked her wings back and dropped slightly. The other guardians followed and were suddenly hit by a powerful rush of air. They all hollered in surprise as they tumbled down towards the rocks below.
Static clung to the rock wall, just out of reach of the slipstream. "Don't open your wings all the way!" She hollered over the roar of the wind. "It'll smash you into the rocks!"
"Bank towards the wall!" Candice shouted. The other guardians straightened themselves and pitched towards the wall. Flame helped Ember get her grip before digging in himself. Cynder latched onto the wall beside them and made sure Sparx was still with them. Candice and Stella dug their long talons into the rock. Beside them Tremor got his footing but didn't dig his claws in as deep. His exhaustion was beginning to show as the wind current pushed him down the side of the wall.
"Tremor, get a grip already!" Candice shouted down at him seeing that he wasn't embedding himself in the rock.
"I got it!" Tremor jolted as if suddenly being woken up. His legs flexed and his claws dug in deep, halting his descent down the side of the mountain.
Seeing that they were all together, Static thrust her head back towards the top of the mountain, still invisible from the fog above.
"From here we climb to the stairs! But be careful! The wind currents are strong!"
"No kidding," Tremor muttered but no one else could hear his low, strained voice.
Static was a fast climber but the guardians moved more cautiously. Ember was extremely hesitant with her climbing making sure that Flame and Cynder were close by to help make sure Spyro didn't slip off as Candice's ice slowly melted away.
"How far up are we going?" Stella huffed after a couple hours of climbing.
"I have no idea," Candice gasped as she struggled to lift herself again, digging her claws into the grooves that Cynder, Flame and Ember were making above them. "I wish there were some ledges or something we could rest on."
"I agree," Stella nodded. "I can't imagine how she does this so easily. She must do it all the time."
"That does seem to be a very possible idea." Candice groaned as she stepped up to the next set of grooves.
Above them Cynder and Flame were having a hard time keeping Ember moving. The pink dragoness was strong but even she had her limits.
"Are you sure you don't want me to take over?" Flame asked for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.
"Let's not worry about me," Ember mumbled in a tone almost inaudible the her mate. "I just want to get to where we need to go." Ember reached up and dug her claws into the stone. As she started to pull herself up the ice that held Spyro in place cracked. "Oh no." Her eyes widened and she turned to grab at Spyro.
"Spyro!" Cynder suddenly screamed as she watched his body break away from the ice and fall towards the rocks below. Candice and Stella looked up in time to see Spyro falling towards them. The two guardians released one paw and caught the purple dragon together. The force of the fall caused them to lose their grip and they started to slide down the cliff side. They girls screamed before hitting a rock platform and coming to a halt. Stella and Candice looked down in surprise to see Tremor had dug his paws into the stone and saved them from falling to their deaths.
"Are you three alright?" He asked hoarsely.
"Yeah, thanks to your quick thinking." Stella breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tremor only does, he doesn't think," Candice teased which resulted in a laugh from both guardians with Tremor coughing again.
Static climbed down to the four dragons and looked them over. "If you guys are up to it, the stairs are only a hundred yards up and then it's all easy climbing from there." She gave Candice a worried look. "Do you think you can make it?"
"We'll have to." Candice nodded.
"Then let's move!" Tremor grunted and pushed his head up under Spyro to give Stella and Candice as much support as possible. Another two hours passed before the guardians could see a break in the side of the cliff. "I think that's it." Tremor huffed as he gave another push underneath Spyro.
"That seemed a lot farther than just a hundred yards," Candice pointed out and Static blushed slightly.
"Yeah. It was more like five-hundred yards to be honest about it. But I figured that a little positive motivation would be helpful to you guys. I mean, we all need it at some point."
Candice paused to think about that for a moment then smiled. "Thank you."
"Come on you guys! You're almost there!" Flame called from above. He and Ember had already reached the stairs and were helping Cynder scramble up off the side of the wall.
"We're coming!" Stella hollered back. She and Candice dug in harder and hoisted Spyro up to them. The last ten yards of the climb seemed to take every remaining ounce of strength they had. At last all the dragons were gasping safely along the wall of the staircase.
"Great job you guys!" Static chirped excitedly. "You did really well for never having experienced the extreme wind currents that protect our home."
"Our?" Stella panted.
"Of course." Static giggled. "I don't live here by myself you know. There are others that live here from all over the world." She turned and scampered up the stairs a little ways. "Come on, I'll show you!"
"Hold on one second." Tremor raised a paw. "It's just stairs from here up right? No more rock climbing involved."
Static shook her head and removed her goggles. "Nope, just stairs. That's the easy part."
"Then give us a short time to rest." Tremor sighed thankfully. "I'm beat." He lowered his head and collapsed onto the stairs from pure exhaustion.