Going Up

"Spyro!" She cried out in surprise before realizing what she had been about to do to him. "Sorry about that." She said, lowering her claws. "You surprised me, appearing from nowhere like that."

Spyro chuckle to himself. "I wasn't exactly expecting that myself." They picked themselves up, looking each other over, checking for injuries. When that was done, they sat down and carefully stared away from each other.

"I still haven't found a way out yet." Said Cynder, looking over at Spyro.

"I could see that from where I was stuck." He replied. "How's the head?"

At the mention of her attempts to get out, her head started throbbing again. "All the better for your asking." She groaned. "The roofs sealed over. We won't be getting out that way."

Spyro frowned and looked at the roof again. Then, gathering his energy, he felt through the earth around him, looking for anything that could be a way out. When his mind reached the roof, he found the opening he was looking for, a small crack, running up to a wider chamber a good distance up. Channeling his energy into the gap, he forced it wider until it was big enough for a small dragon to crawl through.

Beside him, Cynder laughed. "There's never an easy way, is there"

Spyro smiled to himself. "Do you feel up to climbing?"

She replied by leaping off the ground towards the tunnel. "Race you to the top."

He grinned and leapt after her.

Hours later, the pair climbed into another chamber, completely exhausted. Spyro crawled over to flat ground while Cynder moved over to sit beside him.

"This looks like a good place to rest." He said, out of breath.

They stared at the tunnel they had just climbed out of. The path down had been quick but they were both realizing that the journey back uphill was always the harder one.

"Are we near the top yet?" she asked, whilst trying to remain still to keep her muscles from aching.

He tried to feel through the earth but found his energy slipping away from him. "I'm too exhausted to find out at the moment." He sighed. "Let me rest and gather more energy and then we'll try again."

This confused Cynder. "How do you plan on getting energy here? There are no gems in the cavern and I doubt there's anything to eat down here."

Spyro just smiled and closed his eyes. Cynder gave him a strange look and was about to go to sleep herself when she saw a mist begin swirling around him causing her to give a small yelp of surprise.

He was oblivious to her as the mist drew into his body and the air was clear once again. His eyes snapped open and, with a yawn, he stretched himself out and lay down in a more comfortable position.

"Cynder sat there blinking, unable to work out what had just happened but she decided that it could wait until later. Stretching out next to him, she lay there until the darkness took her.

She sat there waiting while Spyro searched for the next section of the tunnel to open. The climb up had been hard enough so far and Cynder was worried about how much was left. After several minutes of waiting, the hole in the roof slid open. However, there was a light on the other side this time.

"The tunnel moves through to a larger one this time." He said with a hint of a grin on his face. "I won't need to use my earth element for a while."

"What about the light at the end of the tunnel." She said grinning in return.

"What light?" he said, staring up the tunnel.

Cynder frowned. "There's a small glow through that hole. Can't you see it?"

As their gaze met, they could both see the problem.

"Can we go another way?" she asked looking around the room.

"There is no other way." He sighed in return. "This is starting to smell like a trap."

Cynder brought her gaze level with his. "So what do we do now?"

He returned her gaze then carefully brought himself up to the hole where, with the utmost caution, he pulled himself through into the next passage. Once he was through, he sent a fireball flying down the passage to see what was ahead.

"It's clear." He called and was moments later joined by Cynder. "There's no light here but mine."

Cynder stared at the tunnel ahead. "If it's not here now, where did it go?"

Spyro glanced back at her. "Are you sure that there was something here."

"I know what I saw." She harrumphed. "Just because it's not here now doesn't mean it wasn't here before.

Spyro nodded. "That's what I was afraid of."

Together, they crept down the passage, all the while, expecting something to leap out of the shadows. After what seemed like ages, they came across a fork in the path.

"Okay earth man." Laughed Cynder. "Which way do we go?"

Once again, Spyro sat down and let the earthen aura envelop him. However, after several minutes, he got up before blasting a boulder to dust.

"I can't tell which way to go." He said in a huff. "From here on out, all the tunnels become a labyrinth."

"So in other words, we're lost" she sighed. "That seems about right." They both looked into the darkness. "We still need to keep going. You might be able to draw in energy but I have no idea how."

"Cynder, you can't sense any breezes coming from either passage can you?" he asked.

She turned to him, looking confused. Then, catching his meaning, walked to the center of the fork and sat down. A white aura began to form around her as she concentrated on the airflow of the passage. "The left one." She said, opening her eyes. "The one with a glowing light at the end."

"What?" Spyro moved to look down the tunnel. "I see it this time. Do we go the other way?"

"No." she said grinning. "This feels like the passage to the surface. If something wants to show us the way, who are we to refuse their help."

"Besides." Said Spyro, walking down the passage. "We just took on the strongest dragon of the age. If whatever it is turns violent."

"Then that's its own fault." She finished, following after him.