"You think Spyro is okay?" Sparx asked as he was flying near Cynder, who was carrying Claw in her back. Both her and the tiger were looking forward, both with attentive eyes, ready to get any glimpse of Spyro or of nay potential danger that could come in their way. Sparx, on his side, was more… well, he was being Sparx.

Hw had passed most of their few hours of trip talking and he didn't seemed like he would be ready to stop at any point so. He was actually starting to seem Volteer. "I know that he is the 'legendary purple dragon' and so, but he never went to the Death Valley. I mean, the place is called 'Death Valley' for a reason, right? It is not exactly the place for a dream vacation."

Sparx was deadly worried about Spyro, and that was the truth, and that was why he was paying it so much attention, and it was starting to annoy the two creatures. Luckily, they both had learned a lot of self control during the years, otherwise, they would have, most likely already set up a plan to get rid of the small dragonfly and make everyone believe that it had been an accident.

"Sparx, I'm sure that Spyro is okay." Cynder finally said, and she just wanted Sparx to stop talking, "But, I think that talking so much isn't going to do him good, and neither will it for you. Got it?"

Cynder could not be more subtle neither more clear. Sparx finally stopped talking, and he simply stood silently as he flew by Cynder's side. However, Cynder herself was very worried about Spyro. They had heard a lot of stories of the Death Valley, and they all knew that this was the kind of danger that Spyro had already faced before and barely made it out alive. And this time, Spyro was out there to face it completely alone, and that made Cynder worry too much about what could happen to him if he truly got into the way of a great danger and he didn't had anyone in there to help.

Cynder's worry was showing, and Claw noticed it. He reached out, and he gently stroked her neck. Cynder gave a single glance over her shoulder, and she saw the look in Claw's face. That look was what she needed to be assured, as if Claw was saying without a single word that Spyro was a strong dragon, and that he was able to take care of himself, and that she should not worry, for, like she said herself, Spyro was most likely okay. He had already went through hard thigns together, and he had merged victorious in the end. He was going to be okay ponce they found him.

Cynder was actually able to smile at him, and she continued to look forward, and she could only think of Spyro. She took a paw to over her belly and gently rubbing it, almost as if she could feel the eggs inside of her, and as if she was telling them that their father was going to be okay.

Ancestors. Cynder thought in her mind, in a silent pray. Please, let Spyro be okay. Let him be strong and able to face the fears so he can return home safely. Let him live so he can see his children growing and be there for them. Please, don't let these kids grow without a father in their lives.

Cynder let her pray be carried to the Ancestors above, as she continued to fly, her eyes and ears attentive to anything that could come in the way, as she was still searching for her mate.


Spyro was still flying. The crystals that he had received from that mysterious creature had been enough for Spyro to recover his wealth and also some of his energy. So, the purple dragon could resume his flight in direction to the Death Valley, in his quest to find his family.

As he flew, Spyro could not take his mind out of that mysterious creature. The one who left him the note and the same that had helped him overcome the challenge that he had found on his way. He could not help but wonder many questions around that creature who mysteriously helped him.

After all, what was that creature? Who was he? What was his purpose in doing all of that? And how did he could vanish like that? He was following Spyro? He was following him now? Spyro could not sense any presence, but for all he knew, it was very well possible that the creature had some kind of talent that allowed him to cover his presence and follow Spyro without being seen.

Spyro was imagining now a lot of things around that strange creature, like what would be his motivations for doing Spyro go into this strange quest, and helping him while he was with trouble.

It there was the possibility that he wanted Spyro to be killed in this trip, since Spyro had already found some enemies after the war was gone. They were not servants of Malefor, but they were people who tried to threaten the peace, and Spyro and Cynder had many times fooled these plans, for they had became the protectors of the dragon realms. However, if he wanted Spyro to be killed, he would not have told him how to get cross the danger, and neither would have gave him the crystals that left him brand new.

Spyro also thought about what he was saying, about he wanting his family to be freed.

Could this stranger be a friend to his parents? Someone who knew and who helped them a while ago, and wanted them to be free once more? It seemed so, because he knew pretty well of the danger and was helping Spyro get through it.

However, as Spyro thought, more questions came into his mind, like, if he knew the dangers that laid ahead and how to get through them, why don't do it on his own?

Well, Spyro had already seen that the dangers which were ahead were not easy to pass, and so, the purple dragon could deduce that he didn't had the strength needed to get past on his own, and needed the help of someone who actually could. Despite the feeling that he was somehow being used, Spyro could understand it, and he had no problems with that.

However, it also raised the question about why it took so long for him to finally pass this message to Spyro. The purple dragon still did not understood about the thing of the "right time" and about the idea of it passing.

Also, Spyro was also wondering just how that creature could also know that it was the right time, and also know all that he seemed to know. That made no sense to Spyro at all. It all seemed almost to be some kind a of cruel game that someone had put up to play and to mess with him, making him run from one place to another like that in a mad search.

However, Spyro knew that he had no time to worry about these things, for he knew that he had the duty to save his family. He needed to do it. It was just a feeling that he had, you may can it instinct, intuition, whatever you like, but the point was that Spyro knew that he had to do it.

Spyro could only continue to fly, as the land passed beneath him, and the day was passing quickly as the hours passed for his highly active mind.

When Spyro realized, he saw that the day was almost setting.

The purple dragon decided that it would be better to search for a safe place to set his camp for the night, and so, he chose a place that was some clearing inside a ring of boulders, which would shield him from curious eyes during the night.

Spyro landed in there, and he spent the following hours looking at the night sky, as he remembered all that had happened in that day. The talks he had with Cynder, their walk into the city, their meeting with Sparx, and the time that Spyro had right after that, the mysterious letter after that very suspect dream, and then his travel, and then his fight with the mysterious "guard" that seemingly had been put in there by Malefor himself.

It had happened to many things in such little time that Spyro was hardly able to even believe it. It brought back to him a lot of memories of his young times, when he first realized that he was the purple dragon and the destined hero who would save the world. Spyro could only let out a sigh as he looked up, and he saw the moon and the stars which shone up into the sky.

Spyro let his mind wander back to his family, who was imprisoned, and seemed to have been in there for a very long time. Spyro wondered if they would even recognize him if they saw him. Spyro wondered if he too would recognize them if he saw them. The purple dragon was wondering how his true family looked, if they looked like him, and if Spyro was going to be able to see the similarity. Soon, Spyro was imagining what kind of dragons they would be. He had already known the dragons of fire, electricity, ice and earth during his time with the Guardians. But once the war was over, he also learned that there were many other kinds of dragons, each one with a different element.

There were dragons of poison, fear, wind, water, mist, sound, nature, light, shadow, and many others which were too much to be correctly numbered, and Spyro also heard that new varieties appeared each hundreds of years or so on. There were really many kinds of dragon s, just as much as there were elements, and Spyro wondered what kinds of dragons his own parents would be.

As he thought of them, Spyro found himself back into the memories of all the dragons he and Cynder had knew after their battle and return to Warfang…

Cynder.

Spyro found himself now thinking of Cynder, his enemy, and then his dear friend, and now his beloved mate.

He wondered what she was doing now. He wondered if she had already realized that he had traveled to far away and where he was going (she could probably have seen the letter by now and she was wondering if it was real or not), and also, he wondered what was going on through her mind now.

She would be worried, of course, for he knew that she cared for him deeply, just as much as he cared for her, and she was probably worried about his safety as he went in direction to the Death Valley.

Also, he knew that she would probably get angry at him for leaving like that, and he had a strong feeling that, as soon as he saw Cynder again, he would probably have to run to escape her rage. He already knew that, despite being a gentle dragoness, and being a heroine of the world, just as much as he was, Cynder could be darn scary when she got really mad.

However, Spyro was pretty sure that, once he explained that it was about his true family, and that he had to go to save them, Cynder would surely forgive him. Also, she would be very happy for seeing him again, safe and sound. That was one thing that Spyro was sure. Spyro was truly hoping that seeing him back safe and sound was going to be enough to make her relief take the place of the anger she was probably going to have for him for leaving like that and for making her worry.

As he thought of that, Spyro turned around and he slowly drifted to sleep.


Claw had just added some more of wood to the fire that they had made, and he sighed as he stretched his body. Flying in the back of a dragon for a whole day was enough to leave some muscles of his body slightly sore, more due to the lack of action than for anything else. He sighed as he walked back, and sat down at a short distance from the fire.

Near him, was Cynder, who was still looking at the skies with that lost stare, as if she was waiting for an answer from them if Spyro was okay or not. In her back, was Sparx, who was snoring softly with his belly bloated from the meal that he just had.

They had stopped in there a while ago to rest. Cynder wanted to continue of course, and she was going to continue until they found Spyro. It took a lot of argument from Claw to make her stop and prevent her from making efforts to fly all night without rest. He finally had won using the argument that, if she overtired herself, it would eventually be bad for the eggs that she was bearing. This finally made Cynder agree to stop so they could prepare for the night, and take the travel back in the early morning.

They had chosen a spot that was near an old forest, and Claw was able to get some wood to make a fire, and also some food to nurture them during the night. It took a while before the food was ready, and Sparx, of course, dug into it gladly, loving the food, even though it was not the kind of food he was used to have. Cynder was hesitant to eat, for she was too worried with Spyro, but Claw once more used the eggs she was bearing as an argument, saying that, if she starved, it would be bad for the eggs. In the end, Cynder surrendered to her maternal instincts, just like all good mothers were supposed to, and she ate the food slowly until she had her fill.

The night now had just fallen, and the twin moons illuminated the night sky, while all the starts twinkled into the night, adding color and beauty to the sky, and making it seem like a big and endless sea of diamonds, all of them sparkling for everyone to see.

Claw sighed as he looked at the stars, and he looked back at Cynder, who was staring at the sky, and she seemed to be somewhere far away as her mind drifted. And Claw had a very good idea of where her mind was going:

Spyro.

Claw looked at her, and he said, "The same two moons are illuminating his way tonight." Cynder looked at him as he spoke that, and he was able to smile at her. "The moons watch over everything at night, and tonight, I know that both of them are looking at us, just like they are looking at Spyro."

Cynder looked at him for a few moments, and she knew that it was his way of telling her that everything was fine, and that it was going to stay fine. She should not worry that much and she should lknow that Spyro was fine.

Claw had that way of speaking that much through riddles and without really saying much. The tiger showed constantly that he had not only the muscles, but also the intelligence that was expected of someone who had lived a lot and had seen a lot on his life. The tiger was no fool, and he showed that to everyone who talked to him.

Claw looked back up, and he said, "I'll take watch over the night first." He said as he kept looking up, and he added, "Try to get some sleep, I'll wake you up when the night is in its middle, and we change the watches."

Cynder knew that this meant that she should rest.

They were no longer into the safe walls of Warfang, and the outsides were known for being inhabited by dangers, be it savage creatures or some criminals who could take their chance with unsuspecting travelers, like them. It was the kind of place in which you should relax, but not very much, especially if your goal was some place like the Death Valley. Going to places like that was practically to ask for something to happen to you, and everybody who traveled and who wanted to wander through the lands of the Dragon Realms should know that.

Cynder looked at the skies one more time, and she thought about what Claw had just said.

The moons were watching over Spyro. That thought somehow comforted her as she lowered her head and tried to get some sleep for herself. She wished that he was right over that, and that the moons really were watching over Spyro and making sure that he was okay. Also, she found herself wishing that the moons were able to talk, so they would them her themselves that Spyro was okay, and where he was, and how long would they take to finally reach him and see him again. Also, Cynder would be able to ask them to tell Spyro that she was going and that she was fine, and that she had a very important thing to tell him as soon as they met.

With these thoughts, Cynder let out a small pray for the Ancestors to keep Spyro safe and sound during his trip, and to them to meet again soon, before she closed her eyes and slowly drifted into a calm and silent slumber.


Spyro found himself in the middle of the dark. He was not sure of where exactly he was, or how he had end up in there, but he knew that he was into somewhere that he was not supposed to be. It was like a feeling in the back of his head that told him that he should not be in a pl,ace like that.

He looked around, and all he saw was darkness. The area around him was pitch black, as if some kind of dark fog was covering the area around him, safe for where he was standing.

"Hello?" Spyro called, but there was no answer. It seemed that there was no living soul near, and that it hadn't been for a very long time. Spyro was about to call again, when someone called him.

"Spyro…" The voice was female, and it seemed to be an adult, or maybe older, and Spyro looked around, and he saw a silhouette shining among the dark fog. It was female-like and it had a paw outstretched at him. "Spyro, you came…"

Spyro looked at the figure, and he had a sudden feeling that he recognized it, both in voice and shape, despite nbever having seen it before.

"Mom?" He called, and he felt some kind of happiness into his chest, as he saw the figure still having an outstretched paw in his direction.

"Spyro, you came… you came for us." It said, with happiness on it's voice, and Spyro could not help but feel the same happiness as he looked at the figure with which he had dreamed for a very long time. His real mother, standing right there, and waiting for him, welcoming him.

"Mom!" Spyro cried out, as he started to run in her direction, wanting to be near her, to hug her, and to tell her how much he loved her. He was now going to her direction, and she got closer and closer, and nothing was going to stop him.

Or so he thought.

When he was about to reach her, something green and glowing jumped in his way, making him gasp and stop on his tracks.

The figure was identical to him, only that it was completely green and glowing.

"You!" Spyro said, snarling at the creature who he had destroyed, and who now was on his way once more. But Spyro had already went past it to reach his family, and it was not going ot stop him now.

However, as Spyro took a step in direction to the creature, other one appeared, this one bursting from the ground like a mole coming out of a hole. And soon after, another one came from above, as if landing after a flight, and they all looked at Spyro as they stood in his way, their faces as hard and emotionless as if they were statues.

"What!?" Spyro said, surprised, at the creatures that now stood on his way. It had already been hard to face one of them, now he had to deal with three? Man, it was going to be very hard, however, Spyro had already come to far to give up now. Spyro snarled, and he opened his mouth, aiming to shot a giant beam of convexity to blow all the three to pieces and simply go in direction to his mother.

However, as he opened his mouth, nothing came out, not even a puff of smoke. Spyro stood, his eyes widened as he seemed that he had lost his breath. He only looked in shock at the three guard, who started to laugh, as they pointed at him. They were mocking him for his inability to attack them.

Spyro was about to react at some way, when he heard his mother's voice.

"Spyro!"

He looked over, and his eyes widened in horror as he saw her being grabbed and dragged away by more of the glowing copies of himself. They all were being rough at her and pulling her back into the darkness, to somewhere she would be out of Spyro's sight.

"Spyro! Save me!" She cried out as she was dragged by the green dragons, and Spyro immediately ran to her.

However, he was grabbed by the three dragons and threw back, and they all continued to laugh as they threw him back easily, as if they were showing him how impotent he was to help and safe his own mother from the danger.

"Spyro!" She cried out as she was being dragged away, and Spyro once more tried to reach her, only to be stopped again by the green dragons, who laughed at him as they threw him away. Spyro was getting up once more, and in time to catch a last glimpse of his mother as she, along as the green dragons, disappeared from sight into the darkness that surrounded him.

"Mom!" Spyro cried, and he gave a step forward, but the ground beneath gave in under his feet, and he saw his foot sinking into a fissure into the ground. "What!?" Spyro said, and he tired to pull his foot away, but the ground only gave in more, and cracks were appearing right beneath him, and the ground was breaking down beneath him.

Scared, Spyro tried to flap his wings, only to discover that they were not moving. Spyro turned his head to look and saw, with horror, that his wings were enveloped into green stone, and were rendered useless.

The green dragons continued to laugh, and Spyro looked at them, and he took another scare as he saw Malefor standing among them, and he was smirking down at him. "Spyro, the legendary purple dragon." Malefor said, mocking him, "He can't even save his own mother." He said, and he laughed, his own laughter adding to the one of the guards, and Spyro don't had time to reply or to say anything, as he finally felt all the ground cave in beneath him, and the next thing he knew was that he was falling.

Spyro cried out as he saw the dragons laughing at him as he fell into an abyss.


Spyro opened his eyes crying out, and he looked all around, to see that he was still into the same circle of rocks in which he had slept in the last night. It had all been a nightmare. A horrible nightmare.

Spyro breathed heavily as his heart was pounding fast, and he was waiting for it to go back to the normal rate. The images and sounds that he had experienced into that vivid dream were still fresh into his mind.

Sure, Spyro could not clearly remember the look or the sound of his mother's voice, but he knew that he had heard and seen it. Dreams had that way of making you know things, even if you don't remembered them quite correctly. Spyro was still remembering the way that his mother called for his help, but he was unable to reach her, for the guards of Malefor were not letting him go there. These darn golems!

Spyro still remembered correctly the look of that golem, and the way that was hard to defeat it. Spyro was worried with what the figure had told to him before disappearing: that there were more of them in the way. Spyro wondered if they were all like the first one he fought.

If they were, Spyro was going to have problems, because that one was very hard to defeat with normal means. But, on the other paw, it could actually be good, because Spyro already knew how to defeat them if they were all alike, and that made the mission somewhat easier. Still, that was not enough to make Spyro relax.

The purple dragon had to take deep breaths and to recover his mental calm and to make his heart beat slowly so he would be in conditions to think clearly and to go on with his mission. It took a while, and as it happened, Spyro could see that his body was covered in sweat. Not only that, but he also realized that there were tears in his face, mixed with the sweat.

The thought of seeing his mother being taken away, and being unable to reach and save her, it was something that had greatly disturbed Spyro. Anyone in his place would be disturbed by that, the idea of seeing a loved one, someone important, in danger, and being totally unable to do anything to help or to save this loved one, it was a thought that would make many people be at least slightly disturbed.

However, Spyro didn't had time to actually think about it. He knew that he had a mission and that time was passing. So, unless he wanted what he just dreamed to come true, he knew that he had to shake it aside and start to resume his search, the search to rescue his mother and father and to finally be able to find them again.

It took a while, but Spyro was finally able to recover enough so he was able to flap his wings and take to the sky. And soon, the purple dragon had resumed his search, and he continued to fly forward at a considerable speed, aiming to get to the Death Valley as soon as possible, so he could finally free his family from their imprisonment.


It passed a few hours, and Spyro was having now to make effort to fly. He was flying at a high speed for a considerable time, and of course, it didn't helped that Spyro had not had a decent meal since the previous day. His groaned as he clutched his belly, the hunger was starting to take its toll on him. And of course, it didn't helped that the purple dragon was also thirsty. The problem of these faraway places was that there were little to no rivers or lakes from which it was possible to drink some water. And of course, the sun beating down and making him sweat was surely not helping at anything with his thirsty, and Spyro was only starting to see when he would have a serious problem of heat stroke.

Spyro was just hoping that he was going to find a lake or a river in the way so he could take some big gulps of water. The thirsty brought him far more problems than the hunger. Spyro remembered that he already passed a few days, and even a week without food in the past, and he had lost considerable weight in these days. Still, Spyro was pretty sure that he could hang on a while without food, as long as he could drink enough water to keep his body functioning okay.

The purple dragon still continued to fly, though he could not see any river or lake in the way as he flew forwards. Spyro was panting as he was starting to feel like his mouth was going dry. He had a feeling that, if he didn't found water soon, he would likely to start to get hallucinations. Luckily for him, he saw something shining on the way, and Spyro knew pretty well the way that the light of the sun reflected in water.

He was able to thank the Ancestors for this, and he immediately dashed in a flight, using his elemental wind energies to propel himself faster through the air in direction to the water that was waiting from him in there.

Spyro arrived there in less than two minutes, and he saw himself among some trees that made some form of oasis. The trees cast a relaxing shadow over the place, and Spyro was able to relax a little as the shadow protected him from the strong heat of the sun. And, in the middle of the oasis, was a lake that had clean and fresh water. Spyro barely thought twice before walking to it and dive his head into the water and starting to take big gulps.

Spyro felt a wave of relief and gratitude in him as he felt the clean water go down his throat, and spreading freshness and cooling down his whole body. It was good to have some water among that heat and among such a dry place, and for a moment, Spyro thought that all of his problems had just vanished as he allowed himself to feel the pleasure from the fresh water.

Spyro raised his head after a long minute drinking down, and he let out a satisfied sigh as he could finally sate his thirsty. The purple dragon opened his eyes, and he looked at the light dancing into the river's surface.

He watched it as it danced and moved across the surface of that crystalline lake, changing shapes and almost seeming to move as if it had a mind of its own. Spyro took a few moments to realize that the light moved into a very suspect way, and that the way it moved was not natural.

Spyro looked attentively at the light, which seemed to be starting to take the form of some familiar shape.

Spyro's eyes widened as the shape of light opened its mouth, and a pillar of light travelled from it in direction to the purple dragon.

Spyro had to dove to the ground to avoid being hit by the beam of pure white light, which went right past him and out of the oasis. Spyro looked over, to see the light getting off the lake and into the air. The shape now was perfectly defined, and it looked like a dragon, but not any dragon. The light had took a shape that made it look like an exact duplicate of Spyro.

The purple dragon looked at the dragon made out of white light, who looked back at him, and opened his mouth again, to shoot another beam of light to the purple dragon, and Spyro once more was forced to dive out of the way, as the beam hit the ground and made a lot of dust raise from it as a small explosion was originated form that same place.

Spyro stood a distance away, breathing slightly, as he looked at the creature, which was still looking at him as it landed into the ground, facing him. Spyro didn't even had to think to come to conclusion that it was another of the guards that Malefor had put on the way, to ensure that nothing would go in and out of the Death Valley. It seemed that they were into all of the way.

Spyro breathed as he looked at this creature, which was clearly different form the first one he had faced. The one he had encountered way back there, was made out of green rock, and it was clearly related to the Earth element. This one, however, seemed to be made of light, and so, it was clear to imagine that it was related to the element of light.

The light element was one of the ones that Spyro only discovered after the war ended, and he knew that it was a powerful one, which was particularly powerful against the forces of evil and darkness, like the troops of the Dark Master. And now, Spyro felt surprised to see one of these in the way, but, he rationed to himself that it made sense that Malefor had the element of light, and was able to sue it, for he as a purple dragon, like him, even though his mind and heart were both very deep into the corruption of the darkness.

Spyro looked at the dragon of pure white light, which looked back at him with a serene expression, or so Spyro believed, once it seemed that this dragon didn't exactly had a well-defined appearance. The dragon only stared back at him, and it took a few calm, slow steps in direction to the purple dragon, whom stood in fighting pose, as the white dragon looked back at him, and opened its mouth, and let out another pillar of light in direction to him.

Spyro had to once more step out of the way, and he quickly opened his mouth and let out a torrent of flames in direction to the white dragon. The flames hit him and actually managed to push him back in direction to the lake.

The dragon stood over the surface, flapping its wings slightly and hovering above the water, and looked back at Spyro. The flames seemed like they had made absolutely no damage into the dragon of light, and Spyro was not surprised. Light was an energy, and as so, it could not be damage the same way that stone or metal were damaged by attacks. However, Spyro was pretty sure that his attacks could make some effect into the dragon of light, and that he could actually manage to destroy it if he was able to score enough hits into that thing, whatever exactly it was.

The dragon of white light was looking back at him and then, fast as only light was able to, it was again in the ground, standing right in front of the purple dragon.

Spyro didn't even had time to react as the dragon of light opened its maw and breathed a stream of the purest white light right into Spyro's face.

Spyro closed his eyes as the brightness hit his face. He expected to feel the pain of having energy passing by his face, but instead, he had a very different feeling, as a memory of his past suddenly passed in front of his eyes.

Spyro had just heard about the destruction that had happened into the Dragon Realms during the three years in which he had been stuck inside that crystal with Cynder and Sparx. The destruction that had been caused and the loss of lives. The pain that was caused to all of the people who lived in there. Something that he could have stopped if he was in there, but he was not, instead he was stuck inside a blasted crystal for years and he allowed it all to happen.

It was his fault. He was supposed to be there to protect the world and to prevent things like that from happening, but he wasn't there.

He had allowed all of that to happen. It was all his fault.

Spyro let out a heavy sigh, almost a gasp, as he fell back, blinking his eyes rapidly as he got at a distance from the dragon made of light. He put a hand in his own head as he could feel a bad feeling spreading through his body, starting from his head. He took only one second to realize that this was a feeling of guilty.

Why was he remembering that?

Why suddenly that, of all things, came into his mind, and as strong as it was way back then?

Spyro blinked, as he looked at the white dragon, which approached him with slow steps, almost as if the dragon was in a constant state of peace and meditation, like Spyro himself had been in the past, when he started to practice these things to help himself calm down. Spyro looked at it, and he knew that somehow that thing had managed to do it to him.

Spyro shook his head, as if this was going to shake away the feeling of inner struggle that he got, and he immediately dove after the dragon, enveloping himself into static electricity. He flew in direction to the dragon of light straight as a missile, and he let out a mighty cry.

However, the attack never connected.

Immediately as he dove into the white dragon, it decomposed itself into , millions of small dots of the purest white light, making it almost look like a shimmering swarm of fireflies. Spyro went right past it, without his attack ever connecting with anything but the air.

Spyro had a shocked expression on his face as all the dots of light passed by him, and they all gathered behind him, and once again, formed the white dragon. The dragon barely gave Spyro any time to react or to look shocked or anything else, before it opened its mouth and liberated another beam of pure white light into Spyro, hitting him square in the back.

Spyro let out a gasp, as he could feel the light hitting him in the back, and washing over him. However, as he did it, he once more felt no pain, but instead, it was like something was clicked inside his mind, and he was once again dragged at another moment of his past, one of the many moments of his life that he would give anything to forget.

"IGNITUS! NOOOO!" Spyro cried as he saw his mentor disappearing into the flames, being burned alive by the heat of the flames that not even a fire dragon would be able to survive contact for more than a few seconds.

"Spyro!" He looked, and he saw Cynder, "Spyro, we can't save him, we gotta go!"

"No… He can't be gone!" Spyro said, refusing to believe the idea of Ignitus being gone forever. He could not accept it. He refused to accept.

"Spyro, let go." Cynder said, as gently as possible, and Spyro looked down, and he closed his eyes. He couldn't. He just couldn't let go, even if he wanted, he just couldn't, the pain was to great.

"No!" He said, his voice distorting and his eyes turning pure white as his body became pitch black.

He raised from the ground, his body emitting dark convexity power, making the air around him revolve, as he raised from the ground.

"Spyro! No!" Cynder said, the green energy chain linking them serving as an anchor to keep Spyro from running away from her.

"You can't stop me." Spyro said, as he looked at the black dragoness, the feeling of pain in his being too great, as well as the feeling that Ignitus was somehow dead because of him.

And he wasn't?

After all, Ignitus had gave his life to save him!

Spyro fell to the ground, reeling in it as he felt the pain of that night, now added to the guilty that he was already feeling, and the feeling of pain that was cumulated form both now was making Spyro feel his chest heavy.

Spyro was gasping as he clutched his chest, feeling like his heart was aching, and like there was a big weight into his shoulders. Now he was having to keep his weight balanced among his legs, as they were suddenly feeling trembling and weak, due to all of the emotions that were suddenly crashing into him and making his body and confidence falter.

Why?

Why suddenly these things came into his mind every time that the attacks of that white dragon…

That was when it hit Spyro. He was doing it.

Spyro remembered what he had learned about the light element. It was an element that had the power to cleanse corruption and darkness, and yet, it was dangerous. It was an element that, if used a certain way, could cause the victim to face his own darkness in his heart.

The power of the light brought to the surface what the person wanted to keep in the darkness, and that meant crimes, regrets, guilt, pain, sadness, all the mistakes and all the falters that the person wanted to forget and to leave into the darkest part of his/her mind, and hoped to never see them coming to light again.

That was a power that made the person have to face all the darkest parts of his/hers own past, and that could have a terrible effect in people. Spyro even heard some stories about people who were so tormented by their own darkest parts that they were sent into the verge of madness.

Using the darkest and crueler part of the light as a way of attacking and hurting people by showing them their biggest pains and regrets. This kind of way of attacking had just everything to do with Malefor and the way that he liked to do things. Spyro shouldn't even be surprised for knowing this kind of thing.

Still, this didn't made any easier for Spyro to face it, for him, like anyone else, had his own pains and regrets, all buried deep into the darkest part of his heart and mind. Even the legendary purple dragon was not immune to the power of the light.

Spyro looked at the white dragon, which looked at him with that same calm stare, walking slowly in direction to the purple dragon and seeming as if it was getting ready to another attack. However, Spyro was faster, and he immediately shot a big arch of lightning into the dragon of light.

The energy connected, and the dragon trembled itself, as if the body itself was suffering interference, and almost decomposing as the image trembled just like a mirage in the middle of the desert.

Energy could affect energy, and Spyro was fully aware of this. Both light and electricity were energies, and so, it was only reasonable that one should affect the other. Spyro smiled to himself as he saw that he had made a good score, and he was getting ready to shot even more electricity into the dragon, enough to make it be destroyed.

However, the dragon of light, once more was able to move way faster than a regular dragon would be able to.

The dragon quickly recovered from the electricity, and it quickly moved out of the way, simply blinking out of sight. Spyro blinked as he lost his focus and he looked around, to see the dragon at his left.

Spyro got ready again, but the dragon once more blinked out of the way, and Spyro was soon looking around again, only to discover that the dragon had blinked to behind him. The purple dragon looked to all sides, as the dragon of light was blinking all around him, going from one point to the other in a blink. Spyro knew that he was not going to be able to hit him like that. He needed to use the fury!

He closed his eyes, and focused the energy of electricity into his body, and he was about to release it from all his body, but he didn't had time, for he was hit by something in the face. It was not something physical, but Spyro knew that something had hit him, and he had his head threw back as he felt the energy peeling into his scales and into his mind, as it brought to his mind what there was of worse into his heart and mind.

You are not strong enough.

You are not fit to be considered a hero if you failed so many times with so many people. So many lives that you failed to defend, and all the people who you could have saved but was unable to.

All people take the great purple dragon into so great regard, but they forget about all the times that he was not there. For three years he was not there, and for a longer time he was not there as the Terror of the Skies reigned over the lands.

He is not a hero, he is unable even to help the people who are near him.

Now, he can't even protect himself against a tiny bit of light. He is unable to save himself, so how can people expect him to be able to save others? The great purple hero. Nothing but a joke.

Spyro shook his head as he tried to get rid of these words that popped in his mind. This time it was no memory of his past. This time it was a thought that had already crossed his mind many times in the past.

It was a doubt, a doubt that Spyro had on himself and on his own abilities, for all the times that people had needed his help and he was unable to help them. Spyro was unable to help people who were in need of him, who counted on him. Thinking that he had failed with his mission, and that he, in the end, even with all of his power and potential, was not the great hero that everybody said he was, was something that could crush him if he thought too much about that.

Spyro shook his head, as he knew that, right now, doubting his own abilities could be the worst thing that could happen to him, for he just needed one moment of doubt so he would no longer be able to fight properly, and he would be a sitting duck against that dragon. Spyro needed to focus, but it was really very hard to do so with the feelings of impotence, failure, grief and regret all into his mind, being all brought to light by the breath of the dragon.

Spyro tried to focus electricity, but he was unable to focus properly, so he could not create the proper attack into the dragon. The other dragon, however, was not with that kind of problem. It opened its mouth and breathed a powerful breath of light into him. However, this was different from the other beams, this one was much more focused, and Spyro once more had to dive to avoid the attack.

The purple dragon felt the beam of light passing by his side, and reeling on his side. However, this time there was not any feeling, but only searing pain. The dragon had changed the tactic, and was now using the offensive power of a focused beam of light, which could burn and destroy.

Spyro hissed as he held his leg, which was slightly burned. The feeling was horrible! The white light was as scorching as a flame could be, and it was so fast that dodging it was like trying to avoid a lightning. Spyro had already saw light being used as a lethal weapon, and he knew that, if he stood in place and let it hit him, he was most likely never going to see the light of a new dawn.

Spyro looked at the dragon of light, who looked back at him, and seemed to be getting ready to deliver a new attack, and Spyro knew that the true battle now was about to begin.

Spyro took a deep breath, trying to use a little of what he had learned about the meditation and self-discipline to be able to clamp down the haze in his mind from all these bad thoughts, and be able to finally focus into an effective attack.

Spyro was able to gather the power of electricity and he was able to liberate it into a powerful beam of electricity. In the very same moment, the dragon of light opened its mouth and liberated a pillar of focused light into Spyro. The two attacks classed in mid air with such a power that it made the near trees shake slightly, and Spyro himself felt like the attack had rang all through him, such was the power liberated from the clash of these two powerful energies.

Spyro soon as finding himself struggling into a power fight with the dragon of light, which sent to him a very powerful pillar of light, which now had Spyro struggling to keep his ground as he countered it with a powerful arch of lightning, which almost caused a thunder to roar, such was the power and magnitude of it. The battle was fierce, and Spyro was feeling some difficulty as that attack was draining his mana quick.

Spyro already faced many situations in which he had to use his mana, and situations in which he would have to be without it. However, now, with the double danger that this creature represented to him, Spyro was really not very keen on having his mana run out in a situation like that.

Spyro continued to struggle, as both light and electricity clashed, forming a ball of pure energy that oscillated between one and the other, as they both continued to struggle. Spyro was giving all he had, at the same time that he tried to save his mana in the case he was going to need in the near future, if his attack was not enough. The light dragon, however, didn't showed any signs of fatigue, or any other emotion, by the way, it only had that same serene expression, almost peaceful, making it look like perfect sculpted image of Spyro into the noblest marble.

Spyro panted as the ball of energy started to move his direction, and Spyro soon saw, as it was coming closer and closer to him, that doing this was fighting a lost battle. Spyro knew that, if he wanted to survive, he needed to use another tactic. So, with this in mind, Spyro immediately jumped out of the way.

The light came crashing at full force to where he was, and collided with the ground into a huge explosion. Spyro saw himself having to firm his claws into the ground so he could prevent himself from being blown away by the force for the attack. And he still had to shield his face from the dust that was raised from the ground as the attack caused that explosion, which left behind a crater which was twice as big as Spyro's body.

Spyro didn't had time to pay attention to it, though, for he immediately pummeled his two front-paws into the ground, focusing his mana and sending a wave of pure earth power to the ground.

As he did so, the area in which his paws were glowed green, and this green moved into the ground in a crack-like pattern. It dashed across the ground in a zigzag manner, until it was right beneath the dragon of light.

The creature barely had time to move before all the energy of the earth, focused beneath it, finally focused and exploded upwards. A pillar of pure green earth power raised from the ground, engulfing the creature of light, and making the creature be silent dispersed into a million of pieces of pure light.

The pillar lasted for only a few seconds, before finally subsiding, and leaving behind no trace of what had happened. The trick of sending your energy to the ground and using it as a indirect attack was a advanced way of attacking using the earth element. Spyro took around three months of attempt and failure under Terrador's teaching before he was able to fully master this technique, and now, all the work seemed to fully compensate. Even though doing so consumed more mana than normal.

Spyro panted as he came down from the high of pure energy that he created with the boom into the ground of his power, he looked at the place the dragon of light had just been, and he saw only small dots of light, all that was left from him. Spyro allowed himself a smile, as he knew that now he had just own.

He let out a small sigh, and he was about to relax and drop to the ground, when that familiar voice came.

"You haven't won yet."

Spyro's head immediately snapped back, as he looked at the source of the voice, and he once again saw the mysterious figure in there, standing and looking at him. "You!" Spyro said, but the creature seemed to little mind this.

"Light cannot be destroyed." He said as he looked at Spyro, and he continued, "However, ther is a way that you can win. You need to allow the light to shine on you, on all of your being. Only when you can fully face all that you conceal in the dark of your soul, you will be fully able to defeat this creature. Only by allowing it to fully shine on you, its light will be all spent and it will be snuffed down forever."

The figure was still being cryptic, and Spyro was about to voice his frustration with it, when he suddenly had a feeling of a shiver passing up his spine. Immediately, he looked back, and he could see dots of light coming from the sky, and starting to form together. It was only a matter of a little less than one minute, until it finally reformed into the dragon of white light, which turned to look at Spyro.

The purple dragon looked back at the figure, once to discover that he had vanished once more, without giving Spyro any other form of advice more than it already had said. And the words that the figure had said were anything but helpful, being as cryptic as it had been.

Spyro could only look back at the dragon, who was staring back at him, and Spyro knew that he was in trouble. He had used almost all of his mana, and he barely had power to even shot a decent fire breath. Spyro knew that now he needed to figure out what his mysterious guide meant, and quick, otherwise, this could very well be his last day on earth.

The figure looked at him, and opened its mouth to shot another wave of light on him, but Spyro was still quick, and he was able to jump out of the way. There were no green crystals around, and Spyro knew that he could not count on his mana. Instead, he knew that, even being useless, he would need to go for the physical fight.

Spyro knew that it was impossible to hit light, but still, he needed to at least try.

Spyro then started to run in direction to the dragon of light, and soon, Spyro found himself into attacking reach. And he wasted no time into pummeling his two claws into the body of the creature, into a clear slashing motion.

As expected, the attack generated no real damage, as the light only dissolved into dots as it seemed to almost melt in Spyro's claws, and immediately, images and sounds came into Spyro's mind.

"You and I share much more attributes in common than only our colors." Malefor said, looking down at Spyro.

"I was once like you. Young, brave, ingenious, I believed I was born to be a hero, and that I could make great things. But in the end, I found what I truly was meant to do. Just like you someday will. You might even continue with this show. You might continue to pretend that you are a hero. That you are destined to be a great savior, but one day, you will turn against all that you once loved and will seek to end this. You will disappoint all the ones who loved you, and they all will curse your name, just like they cursed mine. Of course, you will barely even mind, you will be too busy in your own journey to destroy all that you once sworn that you'd save. In the end, we are both alike. In the end, you are just like me."

"NO!" Spyro cried out as he shook his head, and he slapped his own face as he wanted to shake the image away the image of Malefor in his head.

That was a fear that Spyro had for a long time. He still had nightmares from time to time in which the Dark Master himself appeared before him and told him all of these words. They carried a lot of meaning to Spyro, as they reflected what was maybe his greatest fear: the fear that they were truth, and that it was possible that, one day, that was really going to happen, and Spyro would really find darkness in his own heart, just like Malefor found in his own, and he would end up like him.

That was one of the things that Spyro most dreaded in the whole world, and was a thing that he always prayed to the Ancestors that would never come to happen, and was a thing that he would fear that could happen until the last day of his life. The idea of turning against all that he loved, and of trying to destroy and kill all the people who were dear to him, of betraying them, it was a thought that made Spyro felt a huge ache into his heart every time that it came to his mind, and he always prayed to everyone who was listening to him that he would never had to pass by this, not in a million years.

Spyro breathed heavily as he looked at his own paws, the light melting away from them as it seemed to have stained him, just like water. Spyro looked back at the creature, and he saw that it had a big gash into its body, just into the place where Spyro had attacked it and his paws had passed over the creature. Soon, the light, as if water, filled the place, and as it did, Spyro could almost swear that the creature looked slightly smaller.

As he saw this, Spyro took only a few moments before he could make sense of what the figure had told him.

The creature, for what it seemed, was made of the same light that could shine into Spyro, and bring on what made him suffer. It seemed that, when it was touched, the light was sucked to the one who touched it, and it made effect, but the light could not generate more of itself as it was used.

Spyro finally understood. The only chance of destroying this creature was attacking it directly and attack the dragon. Spyro knew that the dragon would be absorbed by his body, and when it was over, the dragon would be destroyed forever, or so was what the figure had told to him.

However, Spyro also had something that deeply worried him:

If the creature was made of the same light than its breath, than the effects of it in Spyro would be exactly the same. Spyro already had enough proof of it into the way that he reacted when he tried to slash the creature with his claws. Letting the light of the creature melt into him, would also mean to let all the light affect him at once, and by the size of the dragon, Spyro had a feeling that it was going to be much more intense than the breath of the creature had been.

Spyro was hesitant to do so, for he didn't knew if his mind was going to handle all of that. Truth was, Spyro was scared of having all that hid into the darkness of his heart to finally come to light. He had already faced a lot of pain and of internal suffering by having his dreaded memories and fears coming to surface. Spyro was not sure if he wanted to felt all of that multiplied by several times. He wasn't sure if his heart was ready for such a thing.

Immediately, he had to dodge a beam of light that nearly hit his head. He looked back at the dragon of light, which seemed to be getting ready to attack him again.

Spyro knew that he was in a perilous situation. He didn't had more mana to fight. The dragon could recover itself from any damage that Spyro could throw at him. It did not got tired and seemingly didn't ran out of mana like he did. Spyro knew that if he continued to fight he would be most likely done for.

So, they choice was to go for the plan of the mysterious creature and accept that light over himself, and face all the darkest parts of himself, or continue to fight on another way and take a risk of almost certain death.

Spyro only needed a single second to make the decision, as he dodged another beam of light from the dragon of light, and immediately, Spyro ran in its direction.

The creature was just preparing another breath of light, when Spyro ran in direction to it. The purple dragon jumped as he let out a might cry, and before he could think twice or change his own mind, he rammed both his paws into the chest of the creature.

The whole dragon undulated like water, as it started to leak into Spyro, covering his paws, and then his legs, and then his chest, until it reached his head. In that moment, Spyro had his mouth wide and open into a silent scream, as the light flooded him whole, and as a result, it shone unto his mind, his heart, and his soul, and into all the things that were hid into their darkest parts.

You really call yourself a hero? You weren't able to save all the people who died in the war!

So, you think you are a noble being? What about all the apes you killed? How many of them had families waiting for them back home? How many kids you left orphans by killing their parents? How many of them were still waiting for them to come back?

You are just like Malefor, you have no way to change it at all!

You will end up like him one day! There is no way continuing to pretend that you are different, for we all know that you are not.

You are not even strong enough to save your own mother! You can barely even defend yourself!

How can the famous and adored purple dragon be so useless?

All of this and much more came to his mind, in the form of voices, images, hallucinations, and much more coming to his mind. All the things that he ever dreaded and that ever were hid into the deepest part of himself. Things that he had left in there long ago and tried to avoid. Things he had forgot and wanted to stay like that. Things that he had left in there so long ago that he never even knew that they existed or were even there.

All his doubts, flaws, faults, fears, mistakes, regrets, all that ever had bothered him in one way or another, and all of them were now illuminated and brought into the surface, forcing Spyro to face all of them at once.

That was too much for Spyro. He could not barely fight back the tears as it all came into him, and now, his mind was not being able to take so much at once, and his body was shaking from all the fear and the feeling of helplessness that crept into him, as that all made him doubt himself. It made him doubt his own abilities, and he was lead to doubt his own potential, and if could truly be the hero that everyone so much claimed that he was.

Spyro was barely even able to remember where he was anymore, as he opened his eyes, still leaking tears, as he looked around, and found himself in the middle of a floating piece of rock in the middle of the night sky.

Spyro looked around, and he saw a figure standing in front of him, and he saw that it raised its head, and Spyro saw that it was himself. Better saying, it was his Dark self. It was Dark Spyro, which looked at him with a smirk in its face that made him remember of Malefor. The figure looked at him, and it spoke:

"The great purple dragon… What a joke." He gave a few steps in Spyro's direction as Spyro looked back at him, and he continued to what he was saying, "You are taken as the purest dragon who ever lived, but they don't know all the times you failed and all the times you acted just as monstrous as Malefor did."

He had a smirk in his face as he looked at the purple dragon, who could only look back at him in silence. The figure laughed, a laughter that remembered very much the one form Malefor, and he continued to talk to Spyro. "You are not pure, Spyro. You never were. No matter how much you want to be pure or to be the sacred hero that everyone thinks you are, in the end, you will always have this darkness in your heart. You never got rid of me before, and neither you will one day. The darkness will always be part of you, and there is nothing you can do or say to change that. Ever."

Spyro knew that he was right. He wished that he was wrong, and that it was not true, but he knew that, in the end, it was only the bloody truth. A truth that Spyro, with all of his power and supposed virtue, was simply unable to change.

Spyro only looked at the ground, the his dark self smirked, knowing that he had won.

"Yes, you are right." Spyro said, what made his dark self smirk wider. However, he didn't' expected to hear what Spyro said next.

"But… even though I cannot get rid of it, I know that I cannot let it define how I live."

Dark Spyro looked surprised at Spyro, who raised his head, and he was actually smiling.

"By seeing all of my flaws, I can now see how well I have handled them all, and how strong I can truly be." Spyro said, as the ambient around him was starting to get brighter. "Yes, I know that I have the darkness in my heart, and that I'll always be, but now I know that I also have light in me, and that light will help me contain my own darkness."

Dark Spyro now had a scared expression in his face, as the ambient around him became brighter and brighter. "I have loved ones." Spyro said, his mind travelling back to all the people who loved him, and how helped him along all the way of his life, "And while I could not save everyone, I did helped a lot of people."

Spyro was feeling more and more confident, it was like seeing all of this demons and finally having them in light, finally made him see that, despite being powerful they didn't had the power to destroy him. This realization seemed to make his dark self scared, and Spyro took this as a very good sign. Spyro smiled, as he continued to walk in his direction.

"I'm Spyro, and I might not be a great hero, or even a perfect dragon." He spoke, as the light around him grew stronger, and now, after having all his fears passing by him, Spyro felt great to himself, "But I know that I can make a good thing for the world, and that I have a lot of people who care about me."

"I'm doing this for all the people who I love, for my family, and knowing this gives me strength that not even my own darkness can kill." Spyro said, as the light now was shining bright, and Dark Spyro had a look of the most absolute terror in his face. "You cannot defeat me. I'm not scared of you anymore. For now, I know that, even if the darkness lives in me, and will always be a part of me, so will my own light, and now, I know my darkness as well as my light, and so, I don't fear either of them anymore!"

Spyro said, and the light exploded into the whole ambient, enveloping everything. "NOOOOOO!" His dark self screamed as the brightness enveloped him, and the whole ambient around him and Spyro…

Spyro gasped as he could see the last of the light being absorbed into his paws, and he finally fell from the ground, as he felt like he was coming down from a high like no other that he had ever had in his whole live.

There were still tears leaking from his eyes, however, Spyro realized that he didn't felt as bad as he thought that he was supposed to feel. Instead, he almost felt as if a great burden had been suddenly taken off his shoulders, and he discovered, to his own surprised, that he was actually feeling better.

Spyro was still panting, as he tried to recover himself form that great storm of emotions that he had just experienced, when he heard the clinging of some crystal material being dropped in front of him. He looked over, to see a pile of red and green crystals deposited in front of him. Spyro blinked at it, and he looked up, at the same mysterious figure from before, once more appearing out of nowhere to him, and once more offering him crystals to help him recover his strength.

"Well done, Spyro." The figure said to him, and Spyro had the feeling that he would be able to see a smile behind the cloth that covered the creature's head. "Well done."

Spyro looked at him, and he was about to ask a few of the questions that he wanted to know form the creature, however, in that moment, he made a mistake: he blinked.

That single second in which he blinked was enough for the creature to once more disappear completely from sight, leaving behind no footprint, scent, or anything that suggested that he had one day been in there. Spyro looked around, even though he knew that he was not going to find any trait of the creature around.

Spyro only sighed, as he looked at the crystals, and he, while still feeling frustrated for knowing nothing about his mysterious guide through this strange quest, could not help but feel glad that he was receiving some kind of help into something that was clearly so difficult to do.

For some reason, after all that had just happened to Spyro, he felt strangely inclined to see the brighter side of things…