Age of Convexity

by GP-38

Spyro and Cynder thought that they opened up a new age of peace, but they thought wrong. Read how an old time evil dragon comes to take his revenge, and a shocking twist that you'll never see coming. Our young heros gets new powers but will it be enough?

4. Chapter 3

Hey, I live! xD Sorry for this LONG wait, this chapter became longer then I EVER planned to be. However, I think it turned out good, all 22,345 words of it. :P But I don't think I'll write a chapter this long for a while, maybe around 10,000-15,000 wds. Between two jobs, school, personal life, and story, I don't even have enough time to eat a sandwich! D:!

And also sorry for not updating on the 2nd. I was going to but my internet failed. D: But it's all good now. :D

I've worked so hard on this chapter and added I think the best scenes in the story so far. I'm sorry for my mistakes in the past and I'll try to fix them later if I can, but I think you won't find as many in this one. Nonetheless, if you do, please let me know so I can make sure I don't do it again.

Ok, that's enough out of me, on with chapter 3-4. :D Enjoy

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Chapter 3

"SPYRO!"

Cynder hollered as her blood ran cold by the sound of the purple dragon's cries; she was horrified by the thought of what has happened to her purple friend. Immediately, she grabbed a glowing crystal in her jaws and threw it a little ways into the cave where Spyro is trapped in. The black dragoness froze when she made eye contact with the purple dragon as the crystal lit up the cramped cave. What she saw horrified her even more, Cynder witnessed Spyro lying on the ground in deep pain as a huge bolder rested on top of his back leg, crushing the bone into splinters inside his leg, to see Spyro in a stage of great pain just made the black dragoness burst out crying.

"SPYRO!" Cynder cried; tears started to run down the black dragoness face at a steady stream, scared to death by the position and agony he was in. Cynder then started to run back into the cave to try and free her purple friend, she just started to crouch down but when she was about to enter even further, Spyro held a paw in front of him, trying to stop the black dragoness from coming near him any closer.

"Cynder, no!" Spyro hollered, but then gritting his teeth in pain when he flinched a little, "d-don't get any closer,"

"W-what! Spyro, you're hurt. I need to help you get out before another earthquake occurs!" Cynder demanded.

"T-that's w-why I don't w-want you to come here, Ahhh!" he cried as another spike of pain rippled through his body, the sound of his hollering sent another tremor of worry in Cynder's heart. "If another earthquake comes while you're in here too, then you might get trapped here as well.

"But Spyro I-," Cynder was suddenly cut off by the purple dragon raising his voice to get her attention.

"Cynder, stay there!" Spyro demanded, "I know how to get out, but it might be risky," Spyro looked away with an expression of pain but also the thought of what he had to do to free himself, it might be the only way for him to free himself without any further damage to his injury, but again it might make things completely worse.

"What do you mean it might be risky?" Cynder asked, cocking her head to the side but still with an extremely scared look of her features by what Spyro was going through.

Spyro gave another cry of pain. Every passing second that went by felt like hours for the purple dragon, and to him the big hunk of rock felt like it was getting heavier every passing minute. After all the years of fighting, Spyro had never felt pain this bad in a very long time, the most he usually had gotten was small gashes and cut but they were easily treated by the spirit gems.

"I'm going to fire an earth missile at the rock and shatter it, if I hit it right and all goes according to plan, it should disintegrate without causing further damage, but if not, the vibrations might cause the chunks of rock above me to fall." Spyro then turned his head back to the massive rock that rested hard on his leg; he then took a deep breath and started to charged up his earth power, getting ready to blast an earth missile at it with all he had. Nevertheless, as green magic started to lick between his jaws, Cynder's voice stopped him before he fired it outward.

"Spyro, stop!" Cynder shouted worriedly, completely dumbstruck by what he planned to do. "There must be a better way. This is ridicules, you could get hurt even worse, o-or e-even, d-die…" The black dragoness hesitated by saying the last three words, the thought of Spyro possibly dying made her blood run cold.

"I'm afraid there is no other way," Spyro said at length, sadden by the words he had just spoken, "but I don't want you anywhere near here when I do, ok?" Spyro finished, wanting his dragoness that he loved to be safe if so something went wrong.

Cynder closed her eyes as fresh tears seeped out and ran down her muzzle by what the purple dragon said, knowing that he was right. There was a long silence until Cynder chuckled a little and spoke.

"You sound just like, Ignitus," the way Cynder said those words was enough to put smiles on both of their muzzles.

"But I'm not going any further!" The black dragoness finished, slamming her paw on the stone hard floor, demanding what she wanted. Spyro took a depressing sigh, he wanted her to be safe. If for any reason things made a turn for the worse, but he knew that he could not stop her stubbornness. He then sighed again and looked up at the black dragoness, just hoping that he would be able to get himself out without any computations so he will be by her side once again.

"Ok, but please run out of the way if something goes wrong, you promise me, Cynder? ." Spyro asked

"Nope!" Cynder said stubbornly, turning her head away from the purple dragon, but then looked back at him to finish. "Like I said before, I'm with you." Spyro shook his head several times by what the black dragoness chose to do, a little disappointed in her response but couldn't blame her, he would of done the same thing if her in such position.

"You're so stubborn, Cynder. You know that?" The purple dragon finished with a mocking tone in his voice.

"Yep, that's me, and you can't change it no mater how hard you try." She said smiling and laughing by her little , on the other hand tried to laugh at her joke even though she was serious but only managed to answer in a light chuckle by the throbbing pain by his crushed leg.

The purple dragon then turned back around facing the huge chunk of earth that rested uncomfortably on his leg; once again, he focused hard as green earth energy cracked between his jaws creating a ball of pure energy. After a few more seconds of controlling his breathing and charging up his element as much as he can, he opened his jaws as wide as he could and fired a massive earth missile that glowed through the air even though it only had to travel a short distance. When the projectile made contacted with the rock, the earth missile exploded, shattering the rock and sending debris everywhere. Luckily, Spyro's plan did work by shattering the rock without any further damage to himself but the vibrations did shake the boulders above him and were about to break free.

"OH, NO!" Cynder gasped with horror, she was only a few meters from Spyro and saw that the rocks were starting to break loose. On instinct, she lunged into the cave entrance and grabbed Spyro's left forepaw in her jaws lightly and drugged him out as fast as she could. The purple dragon gritted his teeth in pain as Cynder drugged him out, his injured leg scraping against the cold, hard, and just downrightuncomfortable floor, triggering even more shooting pain, it didn't help to have the remains of the massive chuck of earth scattered around him when she pulled him out. In addition, as soon as Spyro was completely out, the rocks above where he was, started to cave in rapidly, covering the cave completely. After the cave in, the whole tunnel was covered in a thick dense cloud of dust and fine rock particles; even with the glow from the spirit gems. It did not do any good with the dust floating all around, blocking light from their eyes.

They coughed and choked on the very fine dust particles as each time they breathed in, it irritated and burned their lungs as their lungs started to fill with fine rock, but nothing too serious yet. Finally, for what felt like hours of coughing, gagging, and unable to see, the dust started to settle and they could finally make eye contact of each other again.

"T-thanks, C-Cynder," he said in pain and between coughs.

"Sure Spyro. You know I will do anything for you." Cynder replied with a smile that formed on her features. "I told you I wasn't going to leave you no matter what you said and I'm glad I didn't listen to you." After she finished, they both started to laugh by how stubborn she was acting and Spyro knew that she was not lying about what she said.

Time went by slowly for the two dragons as they lied on the ground waiting for the dust to settle. They did not need to wait long before the dust finally settled down completely and was then where their eyes caught the size of the new tunnel they have entered. Their minds wondered about the cave and they were both in awe by the sheer mass of it; lighted by the crystals showed the full size in diameter.

"Wow… This is almost as big as The Runs of Warfang." Cynder said in awe. "Do you think this leads to the surface?"

"There's only one way to find out, come on." Spyro finished. He then tried to stand on his legs so they can continue on, but when he but presser on his hind leg, he felt a stabbing force of pain that moved up his leg and down his spine, making it feel like his whole body was shattered. Not able to keep balance, he fell hard on the ground again with the worse spikes of pain he had ever felt in his life, gritting his teeth and groaning in pain, wishing it could all stop on the spot.

"Spyro!"

Cynder shouted when the sound of the purple dragon's cries in pain pounded hard against her ears. The black dragoness didn't hardly waste a second and ran straight to him as fast as she could, trying desperately to help him out in any way possible but knowing that she could not do much to help her purple friend. When she made ("managed"?) reached Spyro, all she could do was stand over him as he hollered out in agony; tears started to form around the rims of her eyes in sight of the one she loved go through this kind of torture, something he shouldn't go through in any way. The black dragoness stood in place for a few more seconds crying out in sorrow by the sight of Spyro then, she froze when a warm but yet chilling sensation run through her body. It felt like ice running through her veins; warmth running through her soul, and something that she had never felt before, something that she could not describe. Her mind went silent and the sounds from Spyro seemed to fade away as a haze of colors seemed to cloud her vision. She saw a hazy cloud of blue and red mist on opposite sides racing and eventually colliding into each other, creating a light purple cloud that fogged her vision, the same purple as Spyro. Cynder felt a little frightened by the odd silence, the weird feeling that coursed he body, and the colorful haze that clouded her sight, but deep down inside her, she felt a bit of confidence that this was something suppose to happen.

After a few more seconds of the some-what peaceful sensation, reality rushed right back at her as if she slammed into a wall head on. Cynder was a little jumpy when everything came back to her, but she retrieved her thoughts back quickly and now she could see and hear the purple dragon on the ground in great pain. Nevertheless, to Cynder, she was neither scared nor sad that Spyro was hurt; she actually was a little happy because deep down, she felt like Spyro was going to be fine in a few moments that he was going to suffer no more.

"Spyro," She said in a very calm tone and once she let his name lose, she placed a talon on his to get his attention. "Spyro, you'll be ok, trust me" Cynder finished with a firm nod and Spyro gave her one back, agreeing with the black dragoness. He didn't know what she was talking about or what she was going to do but he trusted her with all he heart and soul. Cynder then arched down until her head was only inches away from the purple dragon's crushed leg, then she had felt as if it was instinct to do so and she proceeded on. Cynder focused hard and let out a long sigh, calming her nerves and becoming relaxed; at this point the warm and cool feeling that were in her body started to flow up her body but still not making contact. The black dragoness then closed her eyes and placed her snout on Spyro's hurt leg, Spyro stared at Cynder with a confused look on his muzzle on what she was doing. He didn't understand what she had planed but he didn't bother to question and let her proceed on. However, all of a sudden, Cynder felt the two different sensations combined into one inside the core of her warning, the sensation raced up to her snout and down into Spyro's leg.

Spyro turned around to see what Cynder was doing, but when his eyes made contact, he became completely stunned by the sight of a purple aura radiating from Cynder and swirling around into his leg. Immediately Spyro felt the shards of bone in his leg form back together.

He was feeling his leg connect back together.

Spyro gritted his teeth by a swell of pain but after a near second later, he felt no pain at all, not even a little surge of a pinch.

After about ten seconds of healing Spyro, Cynder could feel that his leg had fully reconstructed and she slowly opened her eyes. When she opened them completely, the bright purple aura faded away as if it had never happened. The black dragoness slowly raised her snout and backed away from her purple friend now satisfied by what she did, but she felt dizzy and a little weak doing so, as if what she had done was draining her strength. Cynder sat down beside Spyro with a thud and her head spinning a little however, she was able to stop the nauseating sensation, but not her weakness. Spyro looked at Cynder with a shocked look stretched across his features.

How did she do that? What did she even do and how long did she have it? Spyro couldn't even mutter a word just completely frozen by what had happened, what she did.

His leg. I-it is now… healed… But how?

Spyro kept looking back between the black dragoness and his leg, completely dumbstruck by the exquisite power she just used, he then started to flex his leg slowly, testing it to see if it fully healed; indeed, it did.

Both dragons looked at each other with the same expression on their muzzles, on how that was possible. After a few more seconds went by, Spyro finally broke the silence, he spoke in a timid tone and his voice broke up from a little bit of excitement but mostly shock by what he endured.

"H-h-how d-did, h-how d-did y-you, do that?" Spyro asked mumbling quietly.

"I-I d-don't know. I felt like I had to do it, as if it was my nature. And when I did, I felt two different kinds of energy that flowed through my body and into yours, I can't explain it, but it felt kinda… Peaceful." Cynder replied, trying to think of what the sensation felt like but in a very silent voice, a silent of weakness and confusion. She tried to stand up but couldn't do much as lift her head, what ever she had done, whatever healed Spyro really took a toll on her power, on her body. She could hardly do anything but just sit there and think back on what just happened, what she had done. All the worries and sadness seemed to evaporate away from Cynder's mind now that Spyro was healed; even her tears that clouded her sight seemed to stop instantly afterwards.

Spyro stood up to his feet and walked around in a circle, testing out his fixed leg. He had a puzzled look spread across his features of how it was possible for Cynder to… heal him. After Spyro's little walk in circles had ended, his eyes looked back at Cynder with an even more confused look on his muzzle.

"Cynder, you… you, healed me. But how is that even possible? I never heard of a dragon with the power to heal before." Spyro asked as he walked up to Cynder and looked down at her.

"I-I don't know, I never had this strange feeling before, but when you were in great pain, well, I felt that feeling. I didn't even know what to do, it's like it was guiding me, to do what I did." Cynder finished, but as she finished speaking, her body went limp by how drained she felt and she fell flat on the ground by what little height she could gain.

"Cynder!" Spyro shouted and ran to the black dragoness. But as he reached her, she tried as hard as she could to raise a paw and waved it in front of him before speaking.

"It's ok, Spyro. Just a little tired, that is all. I guess whatever I did; it must have taken a lot out of me."

Spyro then turned around and walked up to the two glowing crystals, their light source. He picked up the green one in his jaws and ran back to Cynder, when he reached her; he dropped the gem right next to the black dragoness's right flank so he could speak.

"I'm glad I grabbed this before we left that cave." Spyro said to himself before he proceeded on, but Cynder still heard him a little. "Cynder, this will give you your strength back, may I?" Spyro asked and he waited for Cynder's response. The black dragoness smiled and gave him a nod of permission of what he wanted to do. Spyro smiled back when she did and he grabbed the green spirit gem with his talons and placed it on Cynder's flank. Spyro then applied a little pressure onto the crystal, as soon as he did, the green gem started to glow even brighter until it was a blinding glow of green light before it was absorbed into Cynder's body and faded away. Immediately Cynder could feel a little bit of her strength come back, not fully but enough for her to get up and move around.

After about a ten-second wait for the gem to do its work, Cynder then started to rise from the ground. As she did, she could feel a little weak but nothing too serious then what it was, now was able to get up without hesitation. When the black dragoness was fully up to her feet, she looked at Spyro with a big grin spread across her features.

"Thanks, Spyro. I don't know what I'll do with out you." Cynder said but with an even bigger smile. The look Cynder was giving Spyro was almost like a loving smile, and Spyro couldn't help but give her one back. Spyro's face burned by the look the black dragoness gave him. Does she really like me that much? I need to tell her how I feel but were could there be another great moment like the previous one? Spyro stood there in thought as his body tingled by the way Cynder looked at him.

"W-well I-I'm g-g-glad I c-could h-help." Spyro said and again, stuttering in his words.

"Well, we should get going; I'd like to see the sun today." Cynder said and chuckled a little, Spyro smiled and chuckled back and the two started their way up the larger cave beside each other. As they were walking, the trail started to get dark until they couldn't see anymore; Cynder then realized as she looked back that they left the red spirit gem behind.

"Oh," Cynder said as she ran back, leaving the purple dragon in the dark to where they left the crystal at, as she reached it , she grabbed it with her long tail and looked back at Spyro as he turned around to see why Cynder ran back.

"We forgot our only light source, guess it would be a little hard to see without it, huh?" The black dragoness finished and they both started laughing by embarrassment of what they did. Forget the only glowing crystal in the cave for them to see their way out. Now that Cynder had her tail around the glowing crystal, she ran back up to Spyro so they could continue their way out of the volcano and possibly so real sun light and not the radiating light from a gem. As they walked through the cave in hope that it will lead them to the surface, Spyro thought back to when he was stuttering in his words again when Cynder looked at him in that curtain way.

"Why? Why is it every time Cynder looks at me like that I don't know what to say and feel strange inside? I never had this feeling before the battle with Malefor. Is it just because I haven't told her how I feel about her yet?" Spyro thought to himself, he was mad at himself for not telling her yet but not sure if she would feel the same way. He didn't know if he should be waiting for her to speak out and ask him or if she's waiting for him to ask her. He thought about it for a long time and finally decided to ask her but wait until he finds a better and more peaceful place. As they walked, Spyro then thought back again, when Cynder healed him, he was puzzled by it before he spoke.

"Cynder." Spyro said with a timid voice.

"Yes, Spyro?" Cynder replied and looked at the purple dragon that was on her left and with a loving grin on her features. Spyro saw her with a loving smile but turned his head forward so he doesn't get nervous by Cynder's loving glare. He then took a sigh before he spoke again.

"I don't understand, Cynder."

"Understand what?" Cynder questioned

"Back there, you were able to heal me, I just don't understand how?" Spyro was still unsure how she managed to do it, how she could heal him.

"I don't know, like I said earlier, I was scared because you were injured but something told me to do what I did and somehow it worked." Cynder finished as she hung her head down by the thought of how scared she was when that rock fell and crashed her purple friend's leg and what he had to do to free himself.

"So you knew that whatever feeling you had, it would heal me?" Spyro asked as he cocked his head, and still walking at a steady speed down the cave, in search for the exit.

"No, I didn't, it's just when I saw you in pain, I couldn't just stand there and watch you suffer, I had to do something but I didn't know what. However, like I said before, I then felt two different kinds of energy; one was like a warm sensation and the other a cold sensation going through my body and up my spine. But then something strange happened, something I still don't understand." Cynder then stopped from walking as she thought back of what she felt when it all happened. Spyro saw that she had stopped and did the same as Cynder continued her little story.

"What was this strange feeling you had?" Spyro asked curiously.

"Everything went silent, even when you hollered out in pain at your highest, I couldn't hear it. I wanted to be frightened by the way things were going on, and I wanted to be sadden but something, I don't know what but something told me that you were going to be just fine, I didn't want to believe it sense you were hurt but my gut instinct told me it was right and you'll be alright." Cynder finished and hung her head down even further and closed her eyes as some fresh tears rolled of her eyes and down to the ground, thinking back only a few minutes hurt her so much, just the sight of him in even the slightest of pain made her upset. Spyro saw the black dragoness crying, depressed by what happened in that short time, he then walked up to her and draped a wing around her in a friendlygesture. Cynder opened her eyes and looked to her left to see the purple dragon next to her with his wing around her flank, she smiled when she saw a grin on his features in satisfaction of what she do to help him. Even though she didn't know what was going to happen, he was still happy about what she did and is she cared about him so that much.

"I guess I've always had the power to heal but never knew it until now; I guess when I saw you in so much hurt that it must have triggered it somehow." Cynder said but still with a timid voice.

"I wonder if the guardians know about this kind of power. I guess we could ask them when we get back… But I'm very happy you did it, and I'm very happy to have a great friend like you, Cynder."

Spyro finished and this time giving the black dragoness a loving smile. Cynder blushed a little by his goofy smile and chuckled a bit, and after few seconds of daydreaming of each other, they then started to continue their way through the tunnel hoping they are on the right path for a way out. Spyro still walked close to Cynder with his right wing wrapped around her body, walking further down the cave. As the walked further down the tunnel, Spyro looked up and down, back and forth through the cave, amazed by the dimension it was, it was almost the same diameter as The Runs of Warfang except this one was all created by molten rock, as for Warfang's, it was created by hundreds of moles and dragons.

They both continued to walk when Spyro felt something brush against him, his eyes widened by the unexpected feeling and he looked back behind him very quickly to where he has been touched. His eyes widened even more by what he saw; he saw Cynder's tail holding the red gem but also wrapped around his tail. Spyro, maintaining his shocked expression as he turned his head back to Cynder and the black dragoness, again with a loving smile across her features as she looked at Spyro and couldn't help but laugh a little. The purple dragon was completely dumbstruck by Cynder's friendly gesture, his body filled with excitement and his legs felt weak again but he knew if he would have let loose, he would have been embarrassed as all get out. He knew he was stronger then that so he shook off the weakness feeling and focused on their trail. He then returned a friendly but goofy smile back to Cynder and kept on walking.

"Does she like me like I think she does? There was no mistaking it but I think she does, I really feel confident on telling her now, but I need to find a better place to show her my true feelings for her, my true love for her." Spyro said in his mind but getting very excited when he did, as he thought about it, his smile grew even bigger and he couldn't help but chuckle a little over how thrilled he was but trying to keep it very quiet. Unfortunately, he wasn't quiet enough, Cynder heard his little laugh and looked over to him before she spoke with a puzzled expression.

"Something funny?" Cynder asked with a raised brow. Spyro heard the black dragoness speak and he shook the thought out of his head before he spoke, he was a little embarrassed that she heard him, but so happy about his thought. He couldn't hold it in as much as he wanted to.

"What? Oh, sorry, I-I was just t-thinking about the stuff Sparx said with the adventures we went on, always complaining." Spyro said as he rolled his eyes of what Sparx was always good at; complaining, and hoping the black dragoness would buy his little lie. He didn't want to lie to Cynder but he had to think of something to say without expressing his feeling just yet. Even though his is ready to do so, he wants to find a perfect place to tell her like the crystal cave if not even better. After what he mentioned about his brother, he took a depressing sigh, wishing that they could get out of this death hole and be there for him. Cynder continued to look at the purple dragon when he made his sigh and sighed back but hers was a lot quieter.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Cynder asked but she already knew the answer to her question; Spyro gave her a firm nod and focused his head back to the ground. Now that Spyro brought up Sparx, he completely forgot about Cynder wrapping her tail around his and contemplation on his dragonfly brother.

"I just hope he's alright." Spyro said in a sadden tone. Once the purple dragon finished speaking, Cynder pressed her body even closer to Spyro's, even though Spyro still had his wing draped around her, she just closed in the gap between them until their scales were rubbing against each other. Spyro looked back at her but the expression on her muzzle said it all, that everything would be fine.

"It's ok, Spyro. I'm sure he's fine and we'll get out of this place sooner or later." Cynder then thought about the yellow dragonfly and what likes to do best. "Ha, I'm sure all that stubbornness will keep him going until we get back, he is also with the guardians and you know that they'll keep him company and take care of him throughout our absence." Cynder finished and once again, with a big smile across her muzzle, hoping it will cheer up the purple dragon.

"Oh, believe me, the guardians don't need to take care of him, he'll just drive them crazy for the time being." As soon as he finished speaking, they both laughed by his joke but what the funny part was that it was some-what true.

"Well, let's just focus on getting out of here first. If we're in the correct passage way, then this tunnel should lead us to the surface, then we won't be far from the city. My guess is if we get out sometime soon, then it might be an hour fight to Warfang, if that." Cynder spoke trying to raise their spirits up. Spyro gave a sigh in relief by the thought that they might be back home in no time if the tunnel were to lead them to where they want to go. He turned his sight to Cynder and gave her a nod in agreement, both of them smiled and started to pick up their pace, covering more ground and hoping they were in the right tunnel for their escape and if so, they could get back home that same day.

They walked for another twenty minutes without saying a word; their minds were focused on getting out of their chaotic ordeal. However, they felt something in their gut but this time, it wasn't the feeling of an earthquake, shock of fear that something bad is going to happen, healing power, nor a loving sensation. This one was completely different, like something extremely good was about to open up in front of them. They couldn't make out the feeling but all they knew was it had be pleasant; they kept walking at a steady pace, with the crystal as their only light source but, after another ten minutes of walking, Spyro and Cynder felt something that went down their whole bodies and both dragons stopped dead in their tracks by what they felt.

"Spyro, did you feel that?" Cynder said, hoping that she wasn't the only one who felt the odd sensation.

"Yeah, I felt it too; it feels like a small draft of air. But how?" Spyro questioned, as both dragons looked at each other with a suspicious look on their features, that indeed they both felt a light, gentle breeze inside the cave of the volcano. The two looked all throughout the tunnel for any signs of a smaller hole where a light breeze could come from. After a few minutes of looking and to no accomplishment, Spyro then looked down even further into the cave out of curiosity but what he saw surprised him, Spyro noticed something a few hundred meters away, his heart sank and started pounding against his chest hard, and his eyes widened in surprise by what he saw.

Could this be? Is that what I think it is? The thoughts rushed through his mind, hoping his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"Cynder!" Spyro shouted, making the black dragoness jump in surprise when he yelled.

"Spyro, what is it, what's wrong?" Cynder asked but a little scared by the way the purple dragon shouted, when she finished speaking, she unwrapped her tail from Spyro's as the purple dragon retracted his wing. Cynder did a ninety-degree turn to face her purple friend and to see why he startled her, why he shouted. Although she couldn't tell if he shouted in excitement or fear, so she was a little worried to what the purple dragon was going to say.

"Cynder! I think I know where that breeze came from. Is that what I think it is?" He asked the black dragoness to make sure that he was seeing correctly, but she raised a brow and had a blank expression on her features wondering what he was talking about and why he was acting so strangely.

"What do you mean?" Cynder asked tilting her head in confusion.

"Cynder look!" Spyro demanded with a big smile on his muzzle and extending a wing to where he wanted her to look. Cynder slowly looked to where he was pointing but still with a confused look spread across her features, but nonetheless, she turned around just like the purple dragon wanted her to and stared further down the tunnel; squinting her eyes a little to see better from the glare of the spirit gem. However, as soon as she did, her eyes then enlarged with surprise and her heart almost leaped out of her chest by the sight she was seeing.

"Spyro, I-is t-that?" Cynder stuttered on her words, just completely stunned by what lied ahead of her. Spyro smiled and gave her a firm nod, as his smile grew bigger from excitement. What they saw in front of them was what seemed to be an extremely dim flicker of light at the end of the tunnel, it was very hard to see but sure enough, it was a light. They both couldn't believe what they saw and were completely tickled that they finally found their was out of this miserable tribulation. They knew it had to be sunlight shining through and not another crystal patch because the crystals had a much duller and more colorful glow, this glow was pure white and bright as can be. At last, after two and a half days of trapped in a blasted volcano, they could finally see their first glimpse of what the new age looked like, what they worked so hard for and nearly gave their life for.

"So this is our way out then?" Cynder asked, still dumbstruck that this was all happening.

"Yes, Cynder, We can finally see what our hard work and suffering has done what it's like to be free from control, power, and war. What everyone had fought and gave their life for, for this age of peace, and now it's our turn to take in its glory. As it shall give us strength and warmth as we go on with our lives." Spyro spoke in a speech. Once he had finished, he turned his sights back on Cynder with a satisfied and loving smirk across his features, what Spyro had said put tears of joy and happiness in the brims of her eyes. As long as she knew the purple dragon had he ever gave such a wonderful speech of what they fought for all their life, something that she never thought he could do. They both stood in place for a long moment, taking in the great moment, and after a little longer, Spyro smiled and spoke again. "Now let's hurry before another earthquake appears." Spyro joked with a small laugh.

"AH! You just had to ruin the greatest moment I've ever heard you say!" Cynder hollered out. "But don't say that, it just might happen." Cynder protested but also with a laugh.

"Come on; let's finally get out of this death trap." Spyro said with happiness in his voice.

"I'm way ahead of you, Spyro." Cynder finished and they both took off running as fast as their legs would carry them over to the light. They laughed as they ran, just thrilled that finally they could see the sun again, the land and the sky, the grass and the trees. Everything they worked so hard saving for most of their lives, and finally get closer to see the ones they cared for. All the thoughts of what they could finally do after years and years of fighting in the war, what they fought for the most could be seen just by a little dim light at the end of the tunnel.

For another five minutes of running, their legs were starting to burn from exhaustion as they ran. They didn't care though, even though their joints felt like they were going to collapse right from under them, they were too happy, excited and focused on getting out and finally being in the open air to care. Each time they get closer to the light, the more they push themselves to go further. By now, the light is about the size of an apple, it might still be small, but every passing second, it kept getting bigger and bigger a lot more rapidly now to the point where they knew there was no mistaking the light for something else.

At this point they could feel the soothing breeze that entered the cave and flowed across their bodies, the feeling of just wind made them laugh even more as they ran, getting even closer to the end. They never thought in their lives that they would be so amazed to see such a small little light several hundred meters away. After another minute of running, their legs were starting to quit on them, it was only their minds that moved them on but still, they were still undernourished by lack of food, water, and even a good rest, their bodies couldn't take the length of running; they needed to stop or find another way to go. Cynder then thought of something, something that they probably could have done when they first saw the dim light; she looked at Spyro with a curious expression across her features, then she spoke.

"S-Spyro." She asked out of breath.

"Y-yes, Cynder?" Spyro also said in between breaths from lack of oxygen.

"I j-just thought of s-something, w-why don't we just fly instead of r-running for so long? W-we'll make better timing." Cynder maintain her stare at Spyro while he thought about it for a few seconds, he made a strange look when he thought about it that indeed Cynder is right.

"Ha, I g-guess we could have done that in the beginning, we probably c-could have been out by now if we did, t-the cave is wide enough for us to and we have a tiny breeze to help up out maintain flight. I-I guess we're not thinking straight today." They both laughed when he finished speaking, now embarrassed by not thinking the idea of a simple solution.

"Ha-ha, yeah, I guess when you spend over eighty hours in an unintelligent volcano; you tend to lose your common sense. Come on, let's go." As soon as she finished, they both extended their wings and with a mighty flap, they were both in the air, soaring high inside the massive tunnel. They flapped their wings as hard as they could to gain as much speed as possible. Now, only after a few seconds since they left the cold, hard, cave floor, they were at a steady speed covering three times the ground they were when they were running. They were moving so fast that the little dull light at the end of the tunnel grew form the size of their heads to the size of their whole bodies combine within the first minute of flying.

"We're making great time now!" Spyro shouted through the wind that whizzed by them by flying so quickly. "We might be out within the next minute of two!"

"You got that right." Cynder shouted back, by this time, they were getting so close to the end of the tunnel that could make out colors blending in with the bright light. They could see a hint of green from what it appears to be grass at the opening or leaves from some trees in the distance and a hint of blue that looked like the sky.

Finally, after what felt like hours since they saw the light but only was a several minutes, they are now about one hundred yards away from escaping their ordeal. Their bodies were cramping and felt like they were about to fall from their flight at any second. However, the thing that is keeping them going for the next few moments was adrenaline and excitement that coursed through their bodies. After another few moments, they flapped a few more hard times and finally, they were only a few meters from the mouth of the cave, they then landed hard on the ground and slowly ran the rest of the way out. On their way out of the tunnel, they stopped immediately and had to shield their eyes with their wings from the blinding bright ball of heat that they both knew as the sun. After their eyes had adjusted a little to the outside light, they retracted their wings and finished their walk outside the cave. Once the finished walking out, they were on a patch of grass, on a cliff about half way up the volcano. Nevertheless, they didn't care about the scenery, they were so exhausted from running and flying for so long that they collapsed on the soft, lush green grass on their backs and staring straight up at the sky beside each other without even looking around to see what things were around them. They were also excited to be out in the open for the first time sense the great battle against one such evil dragon, that all they wanted to do was just stare at the sky for the rest of the day.

"F-finally, we're o-out!" Cynder said with excitement.

"I-I never thought I would be this happy j-just to see the blue sky again." Spyro said back to the black dragoness. They were panting hard by their long run and flight as they spoke, but all they did for the first experience of being outside sense the fight was stare at the sky and watch the clouds roll by with great happiness that showed across their features.

"Same with me, Spyro, I never want to be trapped in a cave for that long again." Spyro then turned to his left to where the black dragoness was lying when she finished speaking.

"Don't you remember, Cynder? We were trapped in a crystal inside a collapsing cave for three years." Spyro ended and Cynder met his glaze to say her answer, she took a depressing sigh when she thought back to that frightening day, wishing he wouldn't have brought up the dreading event.

"Yes… I remember, I was so scared… Yeah, but three years felt like three seconds to us, so to us, this felt longer. Also, I didn't think we would survive that cave in; I didn't even know you could contain such power." Cynder said as she thought back to how Spyro used so much power at such a young age, even an adult dragon would have a hard time to use that much power all at once without harming itself.

"I was scared too, and to be honest, I still don't know how I did it when I formed that crystal around us, I just, well, did it somehow." Spyro finished with a smile and Cynder started to chuckle a little, now knowing the truth to the power. "But I'm glad that's all behind us now and I hope we never needto do it again." Spyro completed speaking and stared back at the sky again. The two dragons laid there for several long and stress less minutes, relaxing for the first real time in their lives and not needed to worry about a great evil trying to destroy them and the world .

After another twenty minutes had pass of talking, laughing, and carrying on, Cynder rolled around and rose back to her feet to finally look around and see what was in view. When she made her sight of the land, she was completely shocked by what she saw.

"Wow! Spyro, look at this." Cynder said in awe. Spyro immediately turned onto his belly and too, rose up to see what the black dragoness was looking at and why she sounded excited. He then walked up to Cynder to see what she saw, what lied ahead of her.

"What is it Cyn-." He trailed off when he made sight with the scenery around them. Spyro's jaw hung open a little, as he looked back and forth and completely became stunned by what the view looked like.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Spyro expressed, the sight that lay in front of them was breathtaking, but what made it more amazing is they were a couple hundred feet above the lower ground on the edge of the volcano and so they had a birds eye-view of all the land that was below. What they saw were thick forests of tall trees with thick bundles of leaves on them, and some with colorful flowers all over giving away the time of year, which was indeed springtime. Ever since Malefor pretty much had his claws on the world, the seasons were under his control. Now that he is gone, nature can finally take over again and start new life at the goriest time of the year, where life could replenish itself. Beneath the trees were amazing shade colors, there was lush green grass on the very bottom as the base and beautiful flowers that painted over the grass. They could also see a winding river that stretched as far as they could see; and chunks of earth still suspended in air but slowly floating down and center back into the earth where it may be complete again.

"I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life." Cynder said excitedly. Spyro looked over to Cynder when she spoke the comment; he opened his muzzle to say something but hesitated and looked away. After a few seconds later, the purple dragon looked back at the black dragoness and did the same thing, however, this time he felt comfortable about what he was going to say.

"N-not as beautiful as you." Spyro said kindly, he hesitated at first but was able to say what he wanted to and he was relieved he did. Cynder was caught off guard when she heard him say the words, she then turned her head until she was facing him, she blushed a little when she saw him standing next to her with a big grin on his features, meaning to what he said.

"Aw, you mean that?" Cynder asked with excitement, she had a good idea of what his answer will be but asked to here it from him just to make sure. However, Spyro didn't say a word, he just gave her a simple nod of his head, still maintaining his smile. Cynder's grin grew even bigger when he nodded, even though she wanted him to say it, she was satisfied with his response. After all, he did give her a very nice comment, that just filled Cynder's heart with even more happiest.

"Thank you, Spyro, that's the nicest thing anyone had said to me," Cynder's voice started to break up and tears started to form around her eyes. "Everyone usually refers me as 'The Terror of the Skies' or 'The Dark Masters Puppet', or, or," Cynder started to trip up on her own words as she started to cry even more and hung her head in shame by the bad things people wound call her. All her life of serving the Dark Master, everyone knows her as a killer and not the dragoness she truly is.

No one would trust her.

But to have Spyro know that she wasn't truly evil from the beginning, it made her extremely happy that someone trusts her for who she truly is but it also made her sad because he was most likely the only one other then the guardians that trusted her, everyone else still thinks her as a killer. Cynder continued to sob with tears starting to pick up more rapidly now, Spyro was sadden that she had to go through what she did, he didn't want to see her hurt. The purple then laid a paw on the black dragoness shoulder to try to calm her down, Cynder flinched a little when the purple dragon touched her but didn't do the slightest of making her feel better.

"Cynder, I don't blame you for anything you did, it wasn't your fault and you know that, many dragons trust you, Cynder. I trust you, the guardians trust you and we care about you." Spyro talked in some-what of a loud voice, trying to cheer up the black dragoness and to get his words into her, the one he cared so much for but only could think of what she had to be going through at that time.

"I-I know S-Spyro, but they're still a lot more that don't. I-I don't ever think they'll trust me, not for the things I did." Cynder cried in between sobs, thinking back to those days when she was under The Dark Master's control. What she thought was right, turned out to be completely wrong; she hated just to think about it.

"It's ok, Cynder," Spyro said and then walked up to the black dragoness and nuzzled her head lightly, "We'll get this taking care of when we get back to Warfang, I know there's someone else that cares about you, I promise." Spyro finished and back up a little to where he was looking right at Cynder with a big, loving smile across his features.

"Are you sure?" Cynder asked as her cries of tears slowly started to stop. Spyro's answer was a nod but in a goofy way, although, it succeeded in cheering up the black dragoness a little. Spyro was a little embarrassed in the way he answered but it managed to perk up the dragoness he cared for and that was good enough for him.

"I promise you we can get most of the city to care about you, that's a promise I will never break." Spyro added in with a firm tone. He was true to his word and he knew he could do it.

"Come on, I think it's time to go check out the place and maybe find some food. I don't know about you but I can go for something to eat and drink right now." When Spyro finished, the both smiled at each other, Cynder had to agree with him, over two days without anything to eat or drink was really starting to take a toll on them.

"Ok, but first, lets check out the view on top of the volcano. I want to know if we can see Warfang from here." Cynder asked before she made her way to the edge of the cliff, Spyro hesitated a little but finally nodded in agreement and made his way to the edge also.

"Ready?" Cynder asked as she spread her wings, ready to take flight.

"Ok, just a quick look." Spyro finished and too spread his wings, now ready for flight. After one final nod from Spyro, Cynder jumped off the cliff, tucked her wings against her body and dove straight down the edge of the volcano gaining more and more speed every second that went by. Spyro still waited on top the cliff, he was shocked by what Cynder was doing, and he was horrified that she hadn't pulled up yet or if she was going to at all. Nevertheless, about a hundred feet from the ground, Cynder finally spread her wings, pulled up and started to climb in height. Spyro took a sigh of relief when she spread her wings and started to climb. Now it was Spyro's turn, he then dove off the cliff and did the same thing as Cynder. He loved the feeling of wind whipping around his face and body, something he missed when they were trapped for a couple days. When he neared the last hundred feet, he too spread his wings and started to catch up to the black dragoness who was waiting for him a few hundred feet above him.

"Are you coming slow poke?" Cynder shouted mockingly with a chuckle.

"Hey, I'm not the slow one around here!" Spyro shouted back as he closed in where Cynder is.

"Oh really? Well then how come I'm all the way up here and you're still down there?" Cynder mocked back but now she was at a steady hover, waiting for her purple friend.

"You got a head start." Spyro then started to pick up the speed of his climb, but he was almost at her though.

"Head start doesn't mean anything. What matters is timing, and obviously I made better time then you." Cynder smack-talked one more good time before he reached her; finally, he did reach her and they continued their flight to the top of the volcano.

"Oh whatever, I'll prove it to you that I'm the better flyer then you." Spyro spat back at Cynder.

"I'd like to see you try, but later though."

"Alright then" Spyro finished. As he did, they finally made it to the top of the volcano, the same spot where Malefor's temple was suspended in the air by his dark power. They reached the top faster then they thought considering their lack of nourishment and energy nonetheless, they made it and now they were on the top of the land and they looked all around to see what was out there.

"Wow! This is amazing!" Cynder shouted out in awe, "This is a way better view then when we first exited the cave. I thought it was beautiful up here when we first came here but this defies it even more."

"I agree with you all the way, it's truly a fascinating sight to see." They were at the highest point in all the lands, and they could see for hundreds of miles. What they saw was the sun had just started to set down so there was still a lot of time left in the day but it was slowly coming to an end. They saw even more chunks of earth floating back down to the main source, and on top of the rocks were patches of grass and some with tall, beautiful trees and shrubs on them. Far away from them they could see on top of some mountains in the distance had a little bit on snow on them, which told them it was just the beginning of spring and not further on; as if the world started over again with new life, a new age. They also saw large flowing rivers and widespread valleys; the sight filled their hearts with joy, happiness, and success of what they had accomplished. However, the one thing they were looking for the most hasn't been found yet.

"Spyro, have you seen Warfang yet?" Cynder asked but now getting a little worried that she couldn't find it.

"No, no I haven't, it should have been right below us, but I don't see it anywhere." Spyro answered but now concerned to where their home could be. It couldn't just disappear, unless it was completely destroyed in the explosion of the world, but everything looks to be back together the same way before except nothing from the war has been shown. So where could it be? The thoughts were rushing through his mind of to where Warfang could be. The two dragons looked all over but didn't succeed of finding the great city, after another thirty minutes of searching, they called it quits.

"Spyro, are you ready to head back?" Cynder asked but a little worried that the city wasn't in their sights.

"I don't understand, Warfang should be in our sights by now, it was there when we came up here before we fought Malefor, and now it's not; how could this be?" Spyro could not find an answer; he couldn't see how a great city could just vanish. He thought about it for several more seconds but to no success, deep down he had an unpleasant feeling which they were all too familiar with, a feeling that their travels will be a little tougher. A feeling that they could be further away from the city then they had hoped for and their travel home had just begun.

"I'm sure it's out there somewhere, we'll find it, but right now we should find something to eat, over two days in a cave and haven't eaten a thing can drive someone crazy." Cynder laughed at her joke and Spyro caught on after with a smile and a light chuckle.

"You're sure right about that, Cynder. Ok, let's head back." When Spyro finished, he flew to Cynder's right side and they both slowly started to descend. He didn't want to go just yet, he couldn't understand how the city could not be within his sights. Nonetheless, when the black dragoness wanted to go, he continued on and left. Cynder then looked back at Spyro with a playful smirk across her features as she thought of something they were talking about an hour ago.

"Hey, Spyro." Cynder said, still maintaining her smirk.

"Yes, Cynder?" Spyro ask curiously.

"You know how we were talking on who is the better flyer?"

"Yeah, why?" Spyro asked again, but now wondering what the black dragoness was talking about, he had a thought of what she was going to do but wasn't certain and by the time he did, it was too late.

"Well, lets fine out, YOU'RE IT!" Cynder shouted as she tapped Spyro on the snout with a wing, and then snapped her wings back, close to her body and dove straight to the ground. Spyro was completely dumbstruck by how fast she managed to do so, she was up where he is, talking in a calm tone, then boom, she was gone.

"Hey! No fair, you got a head start!" Spyro protested before he too snapped his wings to his body and dove off after the black dragoness. Spyro gained speed rapidly; he had a determined look spread across his muzzle as he hurtled to the black dragoness, he tried to catch up to her but Cynder's slender body made her like a bullet screaming down to earth. However, he surprisingly did manage to close in the gab between the two of them from several hundred meters down to a hundred feet.

After about a whole minute of diving, Cynder finally extended her wings to stop her fall, Spyro saw that she had stopped descending and too opened up his wings. Now Cynder was about fifty meters off the ground with Spyro still hot on her tail, she tried to descend slowly even lower to the ground as she flew at a very fast speed, which made it even harder since they were trees all around that she had to dodge around. The two dragons laughed and giggled as they weaved in between the tall trees, barely able to fly without even hitting one but managed to avoid all of them.

Spyro didn't even know that he and Cynder could fly so fast, that last time he flew at his fastest was when Cynder was chasing him back before when she was controlled by the big evil dragon. He chuckled a little when he realized that now he was chasing her but in better circumstances, they both are now free, happy, and relievedthat they can do the things they want to do, live the life they want to live.

After another ten minutes of chasing Cynder through thick forest of trees and shrubs, Spyro could see that she started to tire out, but she wasn't going to give up easily. Spyro tried to pick up his speed but Cynder was still a little faster. He wasn't going to let her win, he knew he had to prove it to her that he is the fastest and he had to do it now. Just when he thought he was catching up to her, the black dragoness flew straight up into the air with great speed, Spyro did follow her but as he made it to the same height as her, she did a barrel roll back into the trees. Spyro took a deep sigh and rolled his eyes now that he knows that she is playing with him, but this time, Cynder got so low to the ground that her wings can almost touch when she banks side to side. Now the two dragons are flying through the trees again, but after a minute of in the sticks, without warning, it opens up to a fairly large valley, both dragons stopped in unison and hovered about thirdly feet away from each other, like they knew what they were going to do that.

"Well, Spyro, I'm impressed that you managed to follow me for all this time, but you're still not fast enough." Cynder said while hovering in place, mocking at Spyro. The purple dragon then glared his eyes at the black dragoness before he spoke.

"Well, I'm just warming up, in fact, I think I could, WHAT IS THAT BEHIND YOU!" Spyro shouted, hoping Cynder would buy his lie.

"WHAT?" Cynder asked in shock, she didn't know what the purple dragon was talking about but for him to shout out like that startled her, she then wiped her head around to see what Spyro was talking about.

Now that Cynder was unaware, Spyro then flew up to the black dragoness and tapped her on the back of her tail with his talon, then took of flying as far away from her as possible while laughing.

"Tag, you're it, now!" Spyro shouted as he tried to fly as fast as he could to get as far away from Cynder as possible.

"HEY! No far, you tricked me!" Cynder shouted back, now feeling a little dumb by falling for his little scam.

"Still counts!" Spyro shouted back but still flying as fast as he can to get as far away from her as he could before she realizes it and starts chasing him.

"Oh, you're going to get it now!" Cynder demanded, and then she flapped her wings as hard as she could to gain as much speed as possible so she could try and tag the purple dragon back.

"Yeah, right!" Spyro spat back, even though he didn't want her to feel worthless, he still wasn't going to let her beat him in flying, he wanted to prove that he is faster and this is the best time to do it and just to have a little fun even though they still possibly had a long journey ahead of them. Spyro flew in between the trees, dodging them by just a foot or two, but despite his constant weaving and dodging trees, Cynder still was close on his tail and not falling back an inch. By now, Spyro was starting to tire out very quickly; his breathing was at an alarming rate and his body started to shut down by exhaustion. Since they haven't had a thing to eat or drink yet, he was using more energy then normal and Spyro could see Cynder struggling with the same thing, they had to stop but where was the best place to end their little game?

Spyro still flew in between the trees but he slowed down a little, letting the black dragoness catch up, the black dragoness thought she was going to catch him but as soon as she was about three meters away, he gave a hard flap of his wings and flew straight up into the sky. Cynder was shocked how fast he was able to fly upwards, her muzzle opened a little before she too flapped and went straight up after him. Spyro flew a vertical climb for several long seconds until he was about twenty meters off the ground, when he was at that height, he leveled off and soared over to another large valley. However, this one looked a little like Avalar, it had beautiful green grass with dazzling posies all over the land with lots of woods scattered around that would be great for hunting. It even had a river cutting through the valley but the difference with this one and the one in Avalar is this river had a huge waterfall that flowed into a small lake, about a hundred meters across; but the only thing missing was a cheetah tribe living in it.

Spyro noticed the lake and instantly he thought of a plan, he then started to descend to a low ten meters and again slowed down a little for Cynder to catch up to him. Spyro looked back at the corner of his eye to see how close the black dragoness was to him, she was getting very close but he had to wait a little longer for his devious plan to work.

Cynder had a smile across her features by how close she was getting to Spyro, it was at a point where Cynder could easily run into the purple dragon because of how slow he was going and that is just what she's hoping to do. But just when she was about to make her move and tag Spyro, the purple dragon pulled straight up and did three-fourths of a circle and dove straight for Cynder. The black dragoness didn't even see him coming, all she could see was a purple blur that did an almost complete circle and now he is over top of her. When Spyro reached Cynder, he gave a short flap so that he didn't hit her too hard but as soon as he did so, he wrapped his wings around Cynder and dropped like a stone heading down to the lake. Cynder gave a startled yelp when she realized that Spyro had wrapped himself around her and started to descend down to the lake.

Just as fast as Cynder realized that Spyro had grabbed her, they entered to lake's surface with a big splash. As soon as they became completely submerged in the water, Spyro immediately let go of Cynder and helped her to the surface by grabbing her forepaw with a talon and moving his wings so he would shoot up out from under the water. After about a whole minute of underwater, they finally broke the surface for a gasp of air. As soon as they came out, they both were laughing by what they did and how much fun it was.

"What was that for?" Cynder asked as she splashed him with water with her wing. "I was it, why did you grab me and dove into the lake?"

"Just for fun." Spyro answered with a smile across his muzzle.

"Fun huh? Well this is fun too." Cynder said and then swam up to Spyro and tapped him on the snout with her talon, then splashed him again in the face. Spyro shook of the water on his face but still continued to smile at the black dragoness, Cynder noticed it, then had a annoyed look on her features as she rolled her eyes, obviously her splashing wasn't going to wash the grin on his muzzle away.

"Come on; let's get back to shore so we could find a meal." Spyro said, about to make his way but waiting for the black dragoness to answer.

"I agree with you all the way." Cynder spat back, after her answer, the two dragons started to make their way back to land, but it didn't take them long, about a minute or so. Once they were out, Spyro then shook himself as the water droplets went flying everywhere; Cynder had to hide under her wings when he did so.

"Hey!" Cynder shouted. Spyro then turned around to see what Cynder wanted when he saw that he just shook water at her.

"Oops, sorry, Cynder," Spyro pleaded, a little embarrassed by what he did.

"It's fine, it's just water." Cynder finished and they both looked at each other with smiles on their muzzles. After a few more seconds of staring into each other's eyes, they both then realized what they were doing, blinked a few times and continued on.

"Do you want do find a meal now or do you want to drink some water first." Spyro asked, he thought back of what he just said and thought that it was a silly question to ask of what they should do first, something he could here a mother saying to her hatchling.

"Sure, ok," Cynder said at length and gave Spyro a confused look, "lets try out the wooded place over there." Cynder finished as she pasted Spyro and started to enter the woods.

"Uh, ok." Spyro said. However, he felt embarrassed by what he said again.

"Why is it sometimes I ask her a simple question, I always make a fool of myself! Before I could talk to her and never stumble on a word, but now it's hard for me to say anything without feeling strange inside. What's wrong with me?"

Spyro thought, he couldn't find his answer,does he like Cynder that much and worried that she didn't like him back the same way? Alternatively, is it something completely different that he may never learn to control? All he could do was wait until he comes across the right place to tell Cynder how he feels about her and hope he would be making the right preference.

They both continued on walking to the nearest wooded area but Spyro kept his distance from Cynder as he still felt a little embarrassed. Once they arrived to a good spot, both dragons went in separate ways in better chances of catching a meal. After about thirdly minutes of hunting, they didn't find a single thing, when they split up for a faster search, Spyro went to the right as Cynder went to the left. By now Spyro was about several hundred meters away from her so he couldn't find out if she had caught something or not, but after another ten minutes of hunting, Spyro noticed movement right in front of him, and it sounded very close too. After the sudden noise, the purple dragon immediately crouched down as low as he could and slowly crawled to where the noise came from. When he became close enough, he hid behind a thin layer of brush that was right between him and whatever was on the other side. As soon as he made his way at the brush, he could see through it that there was a fairly large deer eating grass in a little clearing on the other side of the brush. Instantly, Spyro's heart began to race by what he saw right in front of him, but then Spyro began to think that if he didn't catch this, then they might not have another opportunity for a while longer so he knew he had to catch this one on the first try.

Spyro crouched even lower to the ground; his muzzle grew into a snarl as he slowly stepped closer through the brush. Nevertheless, just when Spyro made his last step, he stepped on a twig and made a loud crack sound. Immediately the deer's head shot straight up by the sudden sound, Spyro held his breath, hoping that the deer wouldn't run away by the noise. To Spyro's luck, the deer turned away and focused back on the lush grass it was eating on, the purple dragon took a silent sigh in relief when his possible catch didn't pay attention to the noise he accidentally made. Spyro didn't like to take a innocent life away but under these Secom stances, it was for their only survival. Although, the purple dragon never had deer before, all his life of living in the swamp he usually would eat small mammals such as mice or rabbits but he never liked to because every time he would. All the other dragonflies would look at him with a strange and disgusted expression, not really sure what he was at the time being. He tried to eat insects like his brother and his stepparents but he never liked how they tasted. It was until he united with the guardians where they told him everything about being a dragon including what they eat.

Now that the deer was fully unaware, Spyro continued on getting further into the brush, now he is in perfect position for attack. Spyro then dug his claws into the soft soil; he clenched his teeth and gave a low growl that only he could hear and his eyes were glanced into slits, he dug his claws even deeper into the ground before he lunged through the brush, after the mammal. However, just when the purple dragon was about to pounce on the deer, a black blur came out of nowhere from his right and grabbing the animal, the black figure caught both the deer and Spyro off guard when it went by snatching his meal.

Spyro skidded to a halt and spun around to where the black creature had taken his meal to, he saw the deer crying out in terror until he heard a loud pop and all went silent; which Spyro knew that the deer was dead now. The purple dragon then walked a little closer to the attacker with caution but he was shocked by who the black figure is.

"Cynder!" Spyro hollered out. He was now confused where she had come from and how did she do it so quickly.

"Hi, Spyro, miss me?" Cynder asked sarcastically.

"W-where did you, how could you, how did you?" Spyro sputtered, completely dumbstruck by where she came from, how and why she did. Cynder then jumped off her catch and walked over to the purple dragon. She chuckled while she walked by the expression on Spyro's muzzle, she could tell that he was confused, which made her laugh a little more.

"You beat me in flying; I couldn't let you win with hunting." Cynder finished as she brushed her head against Spyro neck.

"I see," Spyro said in an unconvinced tone. "Hey, what a second, what do you mean let me win!" Spyro thought back to what she said and questioned her words.

"Oh, Spyro, come on, you beat me at flying and I have to admit that you are indeed a better flyer but I'm better at hunting then you so if I can admit that you're a better flyer, then you could admit that I'm a better hunter then you." Cynder then looked at Spyro with a loving smile as if she was begging him to say so.

"Yes, Cynder, you're right. You are a better hunter then me and I admit that." Spyro admitted as a smile formed around his muzzle.

"And, Spyro, you are a better flyer then me." Cynder also admitted and a smile stretched around her muzzle.

"Ok, now that we got that settled, can you help me with this?" Cynder asked and again, with a begging-like smile.

"Sure, anything for you Cynder." Spyro said back. Cynder blushed a little and the both smiled and stared at each other for a few seconds, when the time was up, they both snapped out of their trance and continued on. Once they were at the dead deer, Spyro crouched down next to it while Cynder helped lift the body onto the purple dragon's back. Now that Spyro had the deer on his back, he slowly raised to his feet but with a struggle considering the weight of the animal that is now on his back and how weak he still was from their long ordeal.

"Spyro, are you ok, do you need any help?" Cynder asked a little worried that Spyro wanted to have the full weight of her catch on his back and carry it himself.

"No, no I'm fine, if I can put the world back together from almost complete destruction then I think I can carry a deer." Spyro said with a chuckle and made Cynder laugh a little also.

"Ok then, but I'll be right next to you if you do." Cynder said and walked her way right next to Spyro very closely with a big grin across her features; Spyro looked at her but couldn't help but smile back at her again.

The two dragons continued to walk out of the woods on their way back to the small lake where they thought would be a nice place to rest for the night. Only a few minutes went by and the finally made their way out of the dense forest, now is a straight shot to the lake but it still is a good size walk to their resting quarters. Spyro started to really struggle, dehydration and starvation had been setting in but now he really could tell. He was surprised that he could still walk let alone carry an animal that weighs just as much as he does if not more, but another ten minutes went by and they finally reach their resting spot and just in time too, the sun already started to disappear behind the horizon, casting a beautiful sunset. Spyro literally fell to the ground with the deer still on him and Cynder helped get the mammal off him, once the deer was completely off, he then got back up and walked to the lake and there he finally acquired a drink of water. He was so relieved when the cool liquid trickled down his throat. At this time, Cynder joined him and did the same. Even though they both had a little bit of a drink when they both were in the water, it wasn't much, what they thought would have been fine turned out to be hardly any at all.

After a long, refreshing drink of water, they disperse from the lake and back to their spot. Their resting grounds was close to some trees and behind the trees was a vertical wall of rock that led to the top of where the waterfall began it's rain down into the lake. Where they were was not even a hundred feet away from the waterfall, it seemed to sooth the two dragons as water fell from a reasonable height and pounded against the calm lake below, mist blowing in the breeze and small ripples crashed up the bank lightly; where the had chosen to stay for the night was simply bliss.

"Hey, Cynder?" Spyro asked.

"Yes, Spyro?" Cynder asked back.

"I'm going to get some wood for a fire, want to come?"

"Oh, no thanks, I'll stay here, I'll start working on the deer." Cynder finished before walked back and sat down next to the dead animal.

"Ok, I'll be back." Spyro then turned around and ran back to the nearest patch of woods for his search for wood. As he was running, he noticed that he wasn't as exhausted as he was earlier that day. He couldn't believe that a drink of water could help so much, even though he was still weak, he seemed to move a tiny bit faster and longer.

It didn't take Spyro long to reach the nearest forest, there he started to gather as much sticks and logs as he could. Once he had enough, he took off to the air and flew back to the sight with a big bundle of dried wood in his front forepaws. As soon as he came back to their campsite, he landed on his hind legs and dropped his load so he could rest on all fours. He then sat down and stacked the pieces of wood into a neat little pile, almost as if he was building something. Once he was finished; he turned his sights on Cynder who was laying down, cutting up the deer.

"Do you think this will be enough?" Spyro asked. Cynder smiled at the purple dragon before she answered.

"I think it will do for tonight."

Spyro then walked in front of Cynder so that the pile of wood was facing the lake, he took a deep breath and breathed out a steady stream of fire the ignited the wood instantly. The purple dragon then stopped his element and backed away a little as the light from the newly lit fire illuminated the darkening night sky. Spyro took a sigh of satisfaction and then walked over to where Cynder was to clam a piece of meat.

Once Spyro sat down next to Cynder, the black dragoness pushed a large chuck of deer to Spyro; the purple dragon just stared at it and didn't even touch it for several long moments. Cynder then looked over to his and relised that he wasn't eating and she was confused to why.

"Spyro, what's wrong, aren't you hungry?" Cynder asked.

"What? Oh, no, it's just I've never had deer before." Spyro spoke while still staring at the chunk of meat and a little embarrassed.

"What! You haven't?" Cynder shouted back, startling the purple dragon a bit.

"No, all I had was small mice, rabbits, and insects which I hated, that was before, well, never mind." Spyro spoke on but hesitated at the end, not wanting to tell the black dragoness that he thought his was a dragonfly.

"No, please, tell me." Cynder asked, hoping he would tell her.

"I'm sorry, it's a long story and I really don't want to talk about it." Spyro then looked away setting his sight back at the lake.

"We have time." Cynder asked back and looked at the purple dragon with a pleading glance.

"I'm sorry, I really don't want to talk about it right now, it's too embarrassing."

"Oh, ok, that's fine, I understand." Cynder answered with a sad expression but knew she didn't need to know her friend's personal thoughts. "Well, consider this your first taste of deer." She said back in a happy tone.

Once she had finished speaking, she then dug into her portion of deer. However, Spyro still stared at his for a little longer, then finally took a bit of his first piece of deer he has ever had in his life. Spyro's eyes enlarged when the meat reached his taste buds, he never had anything so delicious in his life. He couldn't believe how sixteen years of his life and he has never had deer before, now that he had tried it, he knew what he was missing and sees why every dragon he ran across said it was the best meal.

"Cynder, this is amazing!" Spyro shouted with his mouth full.

"I thought so." Cynder said quietly and laughed to herself by the way he was eating and the expression on his features.

The two dragons hardly said a word when the were enjoying their meal, after so long without eating a thing, they didn't have time to talk.

Complete darkness fell across the sky and the late night hunters came out for their meal, covering the night sky in activity that seemed almost relaxing. Both dragons finally finished their meals and sat down close to the fire and each other, they were almost in a trance as they stared into the fire, they didn't know what it was but the light from the fire seemed to make them very happy.

After a whole hour, they haven't even muttered a word, completely lost in the fires flames, but after a few minutes, Spyro managed to snap out of his thought and focus on his surroundings. He then thought back to what he wanted to do so bad when they were inside the volcano, what he wanted to say. He looked around and finally realized that this was the best place to make his move, to tell the black dragoness what he wanted to say for so long now.

To tell her that he loves her.

He took a few long, silent breaths to calm his nerves, and after a few more minutes of thinking, he is now ready to tell her that he loves her; he took another deep breath and he looked right at Cynder before he spoke.

"C-Cynder." Spyro spoke very timidly.

'Yes, Spyro?"

"I have to tell you something very important." Spyro said but not making eye contact with her.

"Anything, Spyro." Cynder said back. She knew something was on Spyro's mind but she couldn't tell if it was good or bad.

"B-back, in the volcano, I-I thought I heard y-you say something b-but I don't know if I heard right. B-but if I did or not, I-I still want to say this. C-Cynder, I-I l-"Spyro was suddenly cut of when Cynder got up, walked to Spyro, and pressed a talon against his muzzle. The act that Cynder did shocked the purple dragon a little, he didn't know what she was couldn't even finish his sentence and he was cut off by her. However, what confused Spyro the most was the loving smile Cynder gave him. After a few moments, Cynder finally broke the silence.

"Spyro, what you heard me say in the volcano is indeed true. And yes, I love you too." Cynder finished with a huge grin across her features. Spyro's eyes widened when he heard the three words, His heart pounded with joy, he was so happy to hear her say it again but this time under better circumstances and that Cynder knew what he was going to say. Cynder finally lay her talon back down so the purple dragon could talk.

"Cynder, I love you too! I-"Spyro was suddenly cut off again when the black dragoness wrapped her forepaws around his neck and pressed her muzzle against his in a kiss. His eyes widen and his body trembled but after a second later, his nerves seemed to melt away and he also wrapped his forepaws around her neck and applied a little pressure in return of her kiss.

Spyro could finally feel at ease, he is now with the dragoness he loves and cares so much for, and she feels the same way about him. After a whole minute, the two dragons broke up their kiss as they both blushed. They stared into their eyes with grins on their muzzles, thrilled by what just had happened.

"Cynder, I have always loved you but I didn't know how to tell you." Spyro said with happiness in his voice.

"I have too but I didn't know how to express my true feeling for you, I'm so glad that you know now." Cynder said and Spyro nodded in agreement. They both sat there, talking about their feeling and before they knew it, it was already extremely late.

"We should get some sleep now; I have a feeling that it's going to be a long day in the morning." Spyro suggested and Cynder nodded in agreement. Spyro then walked around to Cynder's left and lay down next to her, he draped a wing around her to keep the chilling air away, and when she rested her head down, Spyro gave her a kiss on the cheek and rested his head against her neck before he dozed off as well into his dream realm. After only a few minutes, both dragons were sound asleep as the fire slowly died away into the night leaving them in the dark alone.

*.*.*

Back in Warfang, all seems to be coming back to the way things should be. Mole workers have been rebuilding homes and the temple with the help of some dragons, and all of the dragon guards stood on the wall that surrounded the city in high hopes for their hero's safe return. Outside the temple, Sparx flew back and forth; waiting for Terrador's meeting to end. After another thirdly minutes of waiting, the doors of the temple finally opened a little and three dragon guards immerged from the opening. Two of the guards were fire dragons and the other an earth guard, they seemed to be very young to be guards but they were a little older then the dragonfly's brother.

As soon as the dragons had left, Sparx took off inside the temple. When he entered, he saw Terrador sitting in the middle of the room, talking to a very young earth dragoness, about fifteen in age. The dragonfly flew a little closer but stopped to a hover, close enough to here the conversation but at a respectable distance, waiting for him to be alone with the big earth dragon.

"Thank you Master Terrador." The young dragoness said then gave a respectable bow to the earth guardian.

"You're welcome, Trema, now, off to bed with you, young one." Terrador finished with a small grin that appeared on his features. When the earth guardian finished speaking, Trema turned around and exited the temple. Once the dragoness was gone; Sparx then flew up to Terrador for his turn to ask questions.

"Hey, I didn't know there were other dragons in the city, I thought it was just moles and you guys and a few other dragons that I saw." Sparx said as he pointed a finger to the door.

"Indeed they are many dragons that live here, why do you think they call it the dragon city?" Terrador responded.

"Yeah but I hardly saw any when we first arrived." He questioned but a little confused.

"That's because they were all in shelters provided for such attack, that's where they all were when you have arrived to the city, and even most of our guards were there to protect the citizens, however, we had a few warriors with the moles on the ramparts." The bulk earth dragon finished.

"Well that makes sense, anyway, what about the search parties for my brother?" Sparx asked in a firm tone. He was so worried about his larger brother, he wanted him found or to return home and he wanted it now.

"Ah yes, I'm sure that's why you have beckoned here. Earlier today, Volteer and Cyril discussed over their disagreements. Moreover, set their differences aside and focused on gathering guards for search, as we speak they are looking for them. Cyril and his troops acknowledged to look at the north and Volteer to the east, our young warriors are out there somewhere and we will find them." Terrador spoke with his deep voice getting louder as he progressed on, but when he finished, he brought his head closer to the floating ball of light and finished speaking in a much softer tone.

"I know you feel pain deep down by you mustn't give up hope, they will arrive sooner then you'll think." Terrador finished with a smile across his features, although, Sparx couldn't tell that he was grinning because of his more serious look.

"Well I think he'll show up now!" Sparx shouted and pointed to the door again but nothing near it. "Ok, how 'bout now!" Again nothing. "Now!" Terrador just rolled his eyes and shook his head by Sparx's childish response.

"I'm afraid it's not going to work like that, Sparx. It'll take time but I guarantee they will soon." Even when times are tough, the dragonfly still finds a way to spread a little humor into every situation.

"I'm sorry, Terrador, I have to find something to do for the time, and if he doesn't walk through those doors within the next two minutes, then I'll have a lot more time then." Sparx explained which made the large dragon a little annoyed but understood what he is going through.

"It's all understood, Sparx. We shall know more reports about the search when they arrive tomorrow morning. In the mean time, you should get some sleep, its been a long day and it's also late." Terrador said as he rose to his feet and started to walk to the double doors of the temple to exit. Sparx didn't like the suggestion what the earth guardian had to offer and he flew right up to his face to say what he thought about it.

"So you're just going to sleep while my brother could be dying who knows where? Do I also have to mention that he saved all of our lives and all you could do is send only two small groups in search for him!" Sparx shouted at the larger earth guardian.

Terrador saw the anger and the sadness in his eyes; he took a deep sigh, and then spoke.

"Sparx, I could only imagine what you are going through and yes, you are indeed correct. I'll go gather as many guards as I can and I'll escort them to the west in search for them, we will not stop until we do." The earth guardian said just before he exited the doors to take flight to the center of the city, but just when he was about to, he heard Sparx shout out.

"What! I want to come." Sparx demanded, hoping for the guardian will agree with him. The earth dragon could see that he really wanted to go, he really wanted to find his brother and to be the first to see him but Terrador knew that he had to stay, for his own safety. Terrador then lowered his head and sighed again, signaling Sparx an unsettling answer.

"Sparx, you cannot journey with me on this investigation, you need to stay here, for if Spyro and Cynder returns while we are not here, you need to stay to greet him if he comes on his own." Sparx was very disappointed by the earth dragon's answer but as hard as he wanted to go, he didn't even hesitate and agreed with the guardian with a firm nod of his head.

"Good, now I'm off to recruit some more troops for this search, you may assist me for the time being, Sparx," Terrador said to the young dragonfly and again Sparx gave a firm nod in agreement.

"Alright then, let's begin." Terrador said before he took a mighty flap with his massive wings and intently was airborne. As always, Sparx was right above his head, following him so they could start another search party, it didn't take that long of a flight until they were where they needed to be to begin their task. Once Terrador landed firmly on the ground, he looked around and surprisingly he saw several guards walking the city where he just landed. Just when the earth guardian was about to speak, a fire dragon guard in gold armor spoke before he did.

"Master, Terrador," The guard said with a bow, "What brings you here on such late hour? Is something wrong?" The guard said in a firm voice but Terrador could make out a little worry in his voice.

"Oh no, I have come forth here tonight to create another group of dragon guards in search for our young warriors, Spyro and Cynder." Terrador demanded.

"But sir, we just sent two groups in search for them several hours ago; it'll take a few days to hear something about the situation." The guard protested.

"I realize that, however, we need all the assist we can get to locate them and if it means to have every guard in the city to go on search, then by the ancestors we'll do it!" The earth guardian demanded, he had frustration on his features and he didn't want to take no for an answer, but the fire guard still hesitated.

"Master, Terrador, with all do respect, we cannot leave the city unguarded for a search right now, there could be possible attacks to the city, now I don't know if you care but it is my job as well as the others to protect the city and all who live in it!" The fire guard spat, once he finished speaking, Terrador was furious with anger, he couldn't believe what he just heard come out of the fire guards' mouth. This time, Terrador couldn't hold back his anger any more, Sparx knew what was going to happen and it wasn't going to be pleasant so he turned around and flew as fast as he could over to the nearest building and hid behind it until the matter was solved.

"Listen to me! That dragon out there happens to be the legendary purple dragon who spent his whole life fighting in that war, been entombed in a crystal for three years, defeated Malefor and even saved all of us from complete destruction by reuniting the world back together!" Terrador shouted that caused an echo throughout the city, once he stopped to take a breath, all the moles that were working on the homes near by and the dragons that were passing through all stopped in their tracks immediately as every head turned, startled a little by what the earth dragon was so mad about. The fire guard just stood there in place, not even moving a muscle, and not wanting to look at the earth guardian straight in the eye, in all his years of knowing the guardians, he had never seen them so mad, but what made him feel even worse was that the earth guardian was mad at him. Terrador then took a deep sigh before he continued on.

"The least we could do is send out more troops on search for him, and also, it's not just Spyro and Cynder that we're looking for, it's also our fire guardian, Ignitus, he journeyed with our young warriors on their way through the belt of fire and has not returned, so it's very important that we find them." The fire guards' eyes widened a little when he heard the name on the fire guardian, he was completely dumbstruck that a guardian was missing, and now he started to understand the situation they were in.

"In addition, the city will not be unguarded, we still have the mole guards to protect the city for any possible enemy attacks which I highly doubt. Spyro brought a new age, an age where evil can never be brought up. Now I ask again, will you gather all your troops so we can continue on with the search?" Terrador ask firmly, the fire guard didn't answer for the first few seconds but eventually gave a short, firm nod in agreement.

"Yes sir, Master Terrador." He said in a timid voice and then turned around and took to the air for the gathering of his troops. After the guard was gone from sight, Sparx finally came around the building and started to fly back to Terrador's side slowly.

"You said you need help but I think you can take care of everything on your own." Sparx muttered in a timid voice, he seen the guardians a little upset with him but never did he see one of then that angry at anyone before. "But I don't want to take your bad side, and get yelled at like, well, that." Sparx finished and pointed to where the guard flew off. What Sparx said made the earth guardian smile just a little, and then he took a deep breath to explain.

"That fire guard is not just any guard; that was Zalon, the head master of the dragon guards, just like Mason is the head master for the mole guards. He informs the others to do on his command, weather it's on a search or a battle, every dragon guard that helps to protect this city fallows under his commands. I've had trouble with him in the past but never like this."

Once Terrador stopped to take a breath, Sparx flew in a little closer to ask his question.

"But aren't you and the other guardians like the head masters of all dragons?" Sparx asked with a confused look and a raised brow.

"Indeed you are correct, and whatever the head guard performs is strictly under our control. However, he acts like he can make his own orders sometimes, nevertheless, he follows orders and completes the job like the way we want it, and that's all that matters." Terrador explained.

"I see so. Ok, what do we do now?" Sparx asked while witling his thumbs and looking around.

"We wait for him to come back, he will gather all the available guards for this search, and he shouldn't be long though. However, I have some business to take care of back at the temple for the time being involving with this search, I'll need to head back for a short while, you're welcome to come." Terrador said, about to take flight back to the temple again but waited for the dragonfly's response.

"Well that sounds easy enough." Sparx finished and then rested on Terrador's shoulder, getting ready for the earth guardian to fly him back to the temple. Once everything was settled, Terrador took flight and headed back to the temple, several minutes had pass by and they finally entered the building. Sparx then flew off the earth guardian's shoulder, flew up to a chandelier high in the temple, and sat down on it to kill the time away while Terrador had to do some personal work on their search for his brother.

Several long minutes went by and the earth guardian still wasn't ready to head back to see if the head guard has returned with the troops, and as always, Sparx started to get bored. Nevertheless, after a few more moments later, the yellow dragonfly started to doze off and not even knowing it, and after only a minute later, he was out for a snooze for the night.

An hour had past and now was around midnight in the city with the bright moons as the only light source. Terrador finally finished his work and now ready to head back, he was just about to head out when he realized the young dragonfly was sound asleep on the chandelier.

"Sparx, are you ready to head back?" The massive earth guardian shouted trying to awake the sleeping dragonfly.

"What? Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess so." Sparx woke up a little confused but then realized what was going on very quickly. He then stretched his tiny arms high above him and then flew back to the guardian. Sparx then flew ahead of Terrador, eager to go even though how late it was.

"Come on, we don't have all night!" Sparx hollered out impatiently, buzzing on out the temple and headed to the sight where the guards will set up the group to search for his legendary brother, leaving the earth guardian behind.

Terrador just rolled his eyes when the dragonfly buzzed out so breathlessly but he rather have that then him acting like a bump on a log.

It didn't take too long for them to reach their destination and once Terrador landed, Sparx flew up to his shoulder, hovering above him, and the massive earth dragon then sat back down on the decretive stony ground, waiting for the fire guard to return with the rest of the city forces.

After a few minutes of waiting, the earth guardian then noticed a dragon flying right to him and he realized it was Zalon. The head guard then landed on the ground right next to the massive earth guardian, and when he did, behind him were several dragon guards landing right after their head master. Once Terrador saw the massive group of guards, he slowly rose to his feet in greeting to the dragons of the city. As he rose up, he bumped into to yellow dragonfly who seemed to have dosed off a little while still flying in mid air. As soon as Sparx felt the jolt, he opened his eyes immediately and looked around to see whom or what has caused the jolt.

"What's wrong? Is that up tight no-good, dirty little rotten, non-brother-saver guard here yet? I'm getting tired of waiting for that dragon!" Sparx said with anger at the head guard, the thoughts he said about not wanting to set on search for the dragon that save everyone really disgusted the yellow-glowing dragonfly. Luckily, the head guard didn't hear him say all those things about him, and Sparx was completely unaware that he was right there when he spoke his complaint. Once Sparx saw that the guard didn't hear him, he wiped the sweat off his head with his tiny hand and also with a long sigh of relief.

"Zalon has returned with quite a few guards." Terrador whispered to Sparx. Once he finished, he then walked over to he youngish fire guard.

"Master Terrador, I have brought you the rest of our dragon guards. When shall you seek to dispatch?" Zalon asked with a bow of his head.

"Thank you, Zalon and how many guards are coming in this mission?" Terrador stood tall and asked back.

"There are about two hundred guards with us this evening, Master. They are what's left of the city's forces." He spat. However, the way he said it sounded a little demanding in Terrador's mind, nonetheless, he has done what he was told and now they could continue on with the search.

"Thank you; the moles should be good enough security as we mount this search for our hero's." Terrador said quietly, and then when he finished talking to the fire guard, he turned and faced the crowd of dragons so he could make a speech of what they all have been summoned for. The earth guardian expanded his massive lungs with air, stretched out tall and spoke loudly for all guards to hear.

"Listen to me!" Terrador shouted to get all of the guards' attention. "I have summoned you all here tonight for an important mission! We are still missing three very important dragons; these brave souls are the reason why we are still alive here today! The legendary purple dragon, Spyro, his companion, Cynder, and helping them on their victory is our fire guardian, Ignitus! We must find them at all cost even if it takes weeks or months, we will find them. So, are we ready to depart?" Terrador finished and asked to the massive group of guards. Every head turned to their head master and the Zalon gave a firm nod to the earth guardian in satisfaction.

"Good, now le-"He was suddenly cut off by a glowing yellow blur that zipped up in front of his muzzle.

"Hey whoa, whoa, big guy, you can't just leave without giving me a place to sleep." Sparx said in a loud tone with his arms crossed.

"Oh, is that so?" Terrador said but with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah, where am I going to crash for the night, since I'm not going?" Turning his head and mumbling to himself the last part but Terrador still could hear him clearly.

"Sparx, go back to the temple and up the main stairway. There should be some mole workers when you get to the second floor, ask them where you'll be staying, I already picked out a room for you and your brother. It's still under work but I find that your room will be to your liking."

"Ah, ok, now carry on." Sparx said and he backed out of the earth guardian's way but didn't head to the temple just yet, he wanted to make sure they leave as soon as possible in search for his purple brother.

"Now then, everything settled?" Terrador asked and he faced Sparx who was hovering to his right. Sparx didn't even pay attention to the earth guardian, he had his arms crossed and whistled off key to himself, staring at the crowd of dragons and waiting for their response. Nevertheless, after a few seconds and not one dragon made a sound, he looked back to the earth guardian and saw that he was staring right at him with his brow raised.

"Oh, you meant me? Oh yeah, go on, leave me in the forsaken city alone with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs and wait for one of you to find my brother. I have nothing better to do." Sparx complained as he waved his hands in the air, Terrador just rolled his eyes at the dragonfly by his invariable complaining; even the head guard rolled his eyes by what Sparx was talking about.

"Is that all?" Terrador ask giving him an eerie glare and annoyance in his tone of words.

"Yes!" Sparx crossed his arms again, gave a sharp nod and practically spat out that word out of his mouth.

"Ok then, now that is accomplished, let's get on with the search. We must travel a fair distance before the sun rises." Terrador spoke in a calm and quiet voice for only Sparx and the head guard to hear. Then he stretched out tall and spoke again but this time in a deep roaring voice.

"NOW, LET'S MOVE!" Terrador bellowed out, he then gave a firm nod to Zalon and the fire guard gave one back before he took to the night sky with all the other guard dragons flying behind him. Terrador was just about to take off when he felt a tiny hand touch him on the shoulder, he didn't need to guess who it was to realize that Sparx was the cause of the touch and he didn't even need for him to speak what was on his mind for Terrador to find out. The earth guardian turned and faced the yellow dragonfly with a small grin across his features, which rarely anyone sees; he didn't even let Sparx say a word before he did as he already knew what he was going to say.

"Everything is going to be fixed, Sparx, we will find him and nothing will stop us from doing so." Terrador spoke to the glowing dragonfly. "And I am curtain our young warrior is alive and well, I wouldn't be surprised if he returns on his own." Once the earth guardian finished, Sparx gave a little chuckle, knowing that Spyro would try his hardest in anything, even returning home on his own. "Either way, we will have him back in our lives again, it'll just take some time but you'll see." Once Terrador finished, Sparx took a sigh of relief, he believing that Terrador is indeed right, that Spyro will return and they'll be together again.

"Thanks, Terrador, I needed that. I guess I'm just a little upset that he's not here and all." Sparx mumbled and lowered his head.

"Don't be saddened by this predicament, we'll do the best we can and I'm sure he'll be here sooner then you will think." Terrador said, trying to perk up the lonely dragonfly, then he took a talon and raised the dragonflies' chin up. "You must keep your chin up, and expect the best. Become as strong as you can, that is all we can do for the time being." As soon as Terrador finished speaking, he spread his massive wings and with a mighty flap, he was in the air, racing to get in front of the group of guards to begin their search for the missing dragons. Sparx waited where the massive green dragon took off at, waving until they were out of sight. Once they were gone completely, Sparx finally flew back to the temple were he was going to find the room and hopefully get some sleep of what's left of the night.

After about a ten-minute flight, he finally made it back to the temple and entered through the double doors. It didn't take Sparx long to find the stairway and in no time, he was at the second floor where indeed two mole workers were working at such a late hour. However, he didn't bother to ask why, but he did fly up to the nearest mole worker to ask where his new room was at.

"Uh, hi, sorry to bother you but I was told by Terrador, the big guy, the earth guardian. Uh, whatever, that there is a room for my brother and I up here?" Sparx ask while he talked with his hands.

"Oh yes, Master Sparx, right this way." The mole said and stopped what he was doing, turned around and signaled the dragonfly to follow him.

"Oh, Master." Sparx repeated to himself, liking the way he was addressed by, and after he finished enjoying it, he then flew to the mole that was taking him to his and his brother's room. They continued on for a few minutes, passing rooms left and right, just when Sparx was going to ask how much further, the mole stopped in front of a big wooden red oak door with decorative carving throughout the door. When Sparx took sight of the door, he was now more excited to see the interior of the room.

"This is where you and your brother will stay. This room was specially constructed for you two as well as Cynder's which is next door, there is still a little work that needs to be done but we are done for the night and we should be done completely by tomorrow morning. I hope you find it to your liking." The mole said. When he finished, he opened the door and extended his paw for Sparx to proceed in.

Sparx then entered the room, but when he looked around and saw the whole place, he was entirely shocked by what lied in front of him. His eyes then widened in surprise by the size and the way the room was constructed.

"Oh, yeah, I can get use to this." Sparx said quietly as he twitted his hands for a few seconds, and then flew full speed in.

*.*.*

Zackary sat down alone on the rich green grass in the middle of a vast meadow, enjoying the day without anything to worry about. Everything seemed to be at ease, the birds were singing, the sun was high in the sky, there was a light breeze cooling off the air without making it to chilly, it was just picture perfect for the black dragon. Zackary has been sitting in the same spot for over an hour now; he could never remember another day where it was completely pleasurable because all was at war his whole life, now that he has this moment, he wants to take advantage of it for as long as he can.

After several more calming moments of relaxation, the young black dragon happened to look in front of him in the sky but he saw something flying to him from a distance. Zackary tried to focus his eyes on the oncoming object but to no success as for they were too far away, but not long after that, he could finally make out that the flying object were dragons, but what really through him in a loop was not one, but two dragons in the sky. Zackary couldn't believe that there were dragons in the area, the sight of the visitors made him so excited inside because he had not seen another dragon in years. However, what shocked him the most was one appeared to by black, and the other seemed to be purple. Zackary couldn't believe what he was seeing, after the sighting of a possible purple dragon, he blinked his eyes a couple times and looked back to the same spot to see if he was just imagining it.

Nevertheless, what he saw before was still there and getting closer and lower, like they were going to land in front of him. His heart raced when he knew that he is possibly going to meet the legendary purple dragon, something he dreamed about for most of his life when he heard the tale of the purple dragon and what his destiny was. He was so excited; he jumped to his feet with a big smile on his muzzle, and waited for the dragons, hoping they would land on their way through.

He didn't need to wait long to get his answer, because after a minute or so, the two dragons were close to the ground, getting ready to land next to him. Once they were close enough, they finally touched down to the ground and continued their way to the black dragon. Zackary still couldn't believe it, the legendary purple dragon was now only a few feet away from him. But then the black dragon's eye was caught to the other black dragon, it was a dragoness, but something looked familiar, as if he seen her before. Zackary couldn't put a claw on it but he knew something was recognizable with her but at the same time, something was completely different too. He continued to stare at the black dragoness with a puzzled look across his features until they were right in front of him no more then a few meters away.

"Hello, do you know where Warfang is from here?" The purple dragon asked.

"No, I don't, sorry. But, aren't you the legendary purple dragon? The one who ended the war and defeated the one who caused it all?" Zackary asked but he had a good feeling he knew the answer.

"Yes, that's me, my name is Spyro." He answered.

"Nice to meet you, Spyro, my name is Zackary, my brother and I had always dreamed of meeting the one who will save us all from evil and bring peace to the world." Zackary said with excitement that his hero is right in front of him. "I'm sorry to ask but who is your friend?" The black dragon asked, finally he could know why she looks so familiar.

"Oh, yes, this is my great friend, Cynder." Spyro said politely. The purple dragon's voice saying the one word echoed in Zackary's mind. The word 'Cynder' sent shivers down his spine of fear and his eyes widen of shock; it all was clear to him whom she was. 'The Terror of the Skies.' 'The Dark Master's Puppet.' The one who killed so many lives was standing right in front of him, the only thing he was confused about way her appearance, she is a lot smaller then she was but he didn't dread on that as much. Zackary stared at the black dragoness with fear in his eyes as he slowly backed away, Spyro had a confused look across his features as the young black dragon slowly retreated away.

"Zackary, are you ok?" Spyro asked worriedly.

"T-t-that i-is C-Cynder, T-terror o-of the s-skies, W-why a-are you w-with h-her?" Zackary hesitated by a wave of fear that came over him, he couldn't believe that she was next to the legendary purple dragon, could he be evil too? His excitement filled with terror and confusion in an instant.

"Oh, Cynder? No, no, no, it's a long story but she's not who you think she is." Spyro said as he shook his head, but when he looked back at Cynder, she had a devious grin on her muzzle, something that Spyro only saw when she was possessed, his playful smile instantly turned into confusion when he saw it.

"Oh Spyro, when will you ever learn?" Cynder asked in the same voice as when she was older. Now the purple dragon knew something was wrong.

"Cynder, what do you mean?" The purple dragon asked with a terrified look on his features.

"Typical Spyro, always asking questions but never succeeds on getting an answer. I can't believe you thought I was good inside, all this time I helped you defeat my master, and now with him out of the way, I can finally take back what's mine, and I'll start by taking your life." Then, without warning, a thick layer of dark clouds rolled in, blocking the sun from view; lightning then started to shoot out from them in all directions, striking everything in its path, and the wind picked up as it swirled around the once calming meadow. The black dragoness then grew to her massive adult self with an evil laugh.

Zackary couldn't believe what he was seeing, he also couldn't understand how the purple dragon could fall for something so obvious, but again, he didn't understand how she was younger too and why she was with him.

"Cynder! H-how c-could you. You were never truly evil, how could you do this?" Spyro protested as some tears started to form around his eyes.

"Things change, Spyro. Goodbye, Spyro." She said those last words before she took her massive talon and swung it at the purple dragon. Spyro couldn't even move because the one he loved turned against him, he was in shock. Zackary's eyes widened in fear when he saw Cynder's talon rake against Spyro's body, cutting in deep and throwing him several meters away, killing him instantly.

Zackary was stunned by terror as he just witnessed to legendary purple dragon getting killed by the evil Cynder, after all those years of wanting to see the purple dragon and when he does, he is instantly killed on the spot without even knowing it.

Zackary tried to turn around so he could try to run for his life but something was wrong, the black dragon tried as hard as he could but he couldn't move at all, like he was frozen in this one spot. Zackary started to panic as the large black dragoness started to walk her way to him; he thrashed his head and hollered out but still couldn't move. His mind wanted to run away but his body wouldn't respond.

"Why can't I move!" Zackary hollered, "What's going on, can someone help me?" He hollered again but nobody answered, it was just him and Cynder. But when Cynder became a little closer, he heard his name.

"Zackary."

A strange voice called out but very quietly. Zackary then stopped panicking when he heard it but only for a second as it sounded a little familiar to him, he didn't dwell on what he heard as he thought it could have been the howling wind. Then Zackary focused of the evil dragon and nearly jumped out of his scales when he saw that she was towering right over him with an evil smirk across her features.

"No one is going to save you, little one. Now that I have found you again, I can finally end your life and be apart with that purple peasant." The massive black dragoness said with a laugh. Zackary was scared to death as he was staring at the dragon he was terrified the most, now up close and about to end his life. Then Zackary heard the same voice again, this time, it was a lot louder and clearer to him.

"Zackary, wake up! Snap out of it!" The voice said again, and now, the black dragon knew who the owner is; it was his brother, Singe. Zackary was surprised to hear his brother, but he had no clue where he was.

"Singe? Where are you, Help me!" He shouted out with fear all over him as Cynder was going to end his life for good. He couldn't help keep the tears back and started to run down his muzzle.

"Zackary! You're dreaming, open your eyes!" Singe shouted in a firm voice.

"My eyes are open! Please, save me! Don't let her kill me!" Zackary hollered one last time. When he finished, he looked back up to see Cynder hesitating a little but then continued on what she was doing.

"Say good night." Cynder said with an evil laugh. Then, the massive black dragoness reared to her hind legs and swung her head out as if in slow motion. The black dragon could only watch as the black dragoness started to speed up with her talon coming at him, ready to slice into his body.

"NOOOOOOO!" Zackary hollered as he thought he was seeing his life flash before his eyes. He then closed his eyes and waited for his life to end, but then only a second later, he opened his eyes again and everything disappeared, as if it had never happened. But when he opened them fully, he saw that he was back in the cave, lying on the cave floor with his brother standing above him with a worried expression across his features.

"Where am I, what's going on?" Zackary wondered as he jumped to his feet and looked all around the cave, even though it was hard to see since their only light source was a small torch on the wall of the cave that Singe ignited when his brother woke him up.

"It's ok, Zack, you were just dreaming, and by the sound of it, it must have been worse this time." Singe said trying to calm down his younger brother.

"I-it w-was all a d-dream?" The young black dragon asked, stuttering in his words by the fear and terror that still trembled through his body.

"Yes, Zack, you're safe here." Singe said back, still trying to calm him down, but Zackary couldn't, he was so frightened by his dream that he couldn't hold the tears back any longer and they started to slowly trickle down his neck. He tried as hard as he could not to get emotional about it but alas he couldn't help to, and even though he was embarrassed by the way he was acting in front of his older brother, he jumped up and wrapped his forepaws around his elder brother in a emotional hug.

"She almost killed me, Singe, she almost ended my life!" Zackary sobbed, he had never been so scared in his life, and what made it even worse was he was all alone. Singe's eyes nearly popped out of his head when his younger brother mentioned someone was trying to kill him, and what confused him the most was he said… She…

"She, who do you mean she?" Singe questioned, surprised what he was talking about.

"Cynder… She looked like the same age as you but then she grew to her evil self and killed him and tried to kill me, b-but then y-you finally woke me." Zackary finished and then buried his head in his brother's chest with tears running off his neck and down the red dragon's scales. Singe was completely stunned when his brother told him it was the most horrifying dragoness in the world, the one who killed thousands of lives, and now trying to kill him in a dream. Then he thought back to what he said, he mentioned him. Who was he?

"Wait, who did she kill?" Singe asked.

"I saw him, Singe, the legendary purple dragon, he was with Cynder but then she killed him." Zackary finished and finally let go of his brother and back away a little until they were spaced out a few feet, but still with a few tears streaming down his muzzle.

"Well, it'll be fine, Zack, it was just a dream, it wasn't real."

"But I don't understand, we never seen the purple dragon before and we may never will, but I saw him in my dream." Zackary protested, knowing that this had to of mean something but wasn't sure of what.

"It might have been just dumb luck, Zack. You can't possibly think that you actually saw the purple dragon in your dream without even knowing what he looks like." Singe argued but also with a confused look by what his brother dreamed about.

He couldn't have seen the purple dragon, there's no way he could of known whet he looked like in person, unless there were some kind of connection to this predicament, but if there was, what could it be? Could he have some kind of power for him to see something without really meeting it, or is it something his mind made up to what he thought he saw as the purple dragon and Cynder in a younger form? The thought raced in the red dragon's mind, he didn't know what the black dragon was talking about but he knew now not to push this one to the side and forget it ever happened, there is something intertwined with this and he wanted to salve this solution.

"But Singe, it was him, I know it!" Zackary protested again, tired that his elder brother wasn't listening to him.

"Ok, ok, let's just talk about it in the morning, it's late and I'm tired." When he finished speaking, he then lay back down on the somewhat soft cave ground, getting ready to fall back to sleep. "Are you feeling better now, can you fall back to sleep? I hate to see you go through such torture." Singe asked. Zackary then took a deep sigh and looked down to his talons as he thought back to his horrible nightmare, and how frightened he still was, he waited a few long seconds before he finally responded back.

"No… I thing I'll go for a little walk to the mouth of the cave, just to try and forget about it and get a little fresh air, I'll be fine though." Zackary raised his head and slowly started to walk but the voice of his red brother made him stop.

"Let me come with you, you shouldn't be alone at night." Singe demanded and he rose to his paws, ready to go with his younger brother. Then the black dragon waved a paw in front of his brother for him to halt.

"It's ok, Singe, I'll be ok, I'll go alone, just for a short time, you get some sleep, I'll be back." Zackary finished with a small smile started to tug on the sides of his muzzle. Singe couldn't help but smile back in agreement and lied back down.

"Ok, but don't be too long." He finished and then rested his head on his paws.

"Fine, mother!" Zackary complained but with a chuckle, as Singe saying to protect him but also sounding like a mother dragon. After his little joke against his brother, he then made his way down the cave to the opening, which could take him a little while considering the length of the tunnel, but nonetheless, he finally exited the long dark cave to where it opens up as the mouth of the cave.

Zackary was greeted by the glow of the two celestial moons as the brought light into the night sky. When he finally made it to the edge of the cave, he sat down and stared up at the peaceful moons, delighted by their appearance. The sight of the moons put a grin on his muzzle as it did his whole life, even in the worst of times; the best way for him to calm down was looking at the magnificence moons. Even in the daytime, he would try to find them and if the time was right, he would find them easily, but when not; he tried to picture them in his head and it has always seemed to reassure him.

He sat in the same spot for several long moments, just looking at the night sky as some falling stars enter the atmosphere and burn up by the intense heat. He seemed to calm himself down from the tragic nightmare he had that sent chills down his spine, and after a few more minutes, he finally let the terrifying thought drift away and relieve his mind enough that he could once again enter the realm of slumber. He still had dreadful thought about his dream nevertheless; he reassured himself enough to sleep for the rest of the night undisturbed.

---

EWWWWWWW! Kissing scene! XP And, YAY, Finally they are out of their ordeal! :D

And, what does this mean for Zackary's nightmare? Well, don't ask me, wait til next time. XP Although it was pretty horrable for him, but he has his older brother to take care of him so.

So, whatcha guys think of it? Please R&R it and let me know. ;D

Oh, one more thing before I go, as some may have seen, I have a part in my profile that has when I'll update my next chapter, although I might delay but if I do, I'll let you know a few days before. Another thing, I'll try to update the next one faster but then after that, I'll be taking a 6 week break to catch up on my chapters. D:! I know and I'm so sorry but after the 6 week break, I'll update every 2 weeks for a good amount of time.

K, til next time. :D