Chapter 8: Over Preparing For The Future

With a slight shiver, Spyro woke as he needed to warm his body. Feeling the shivering from her lover as she snuggled up to him, it also woke her as he warmed himself up to warm her up. But with the light coming in from the window, he knew it was time to wake up anyway. A small sigh escaped from his mouth as he tried to open his eyes. Succeeding in doing so, he opened his mouth wide and yawned. Stretching out his body, Cynder stirred in her sleep a little and he knew she had to be awake at this point. Moving his head down and nuzzling the side of her cheek with his nose, he whispered, "Morning my love... Good, cold morning."

She smiled and knew she couldn't fake her sleep any longer. Pulling her head a little back, she grumbled as she looked over at him with her head still laid down on his paws. Opening one eye with a smile, he smiled back and to her surprise, he moved in for a kiss. She didn't move or resist it which made the morning kiss so much better. The two closed their eyes again as they kissed, getting the full feeling of one other's lips. Pulling his lips back off of hers slowly as to tease her, she giggled, "Tease."

The two opened their eyes back up, and Spyro chuckled at her, "I'm not teasing, just getting some more of that feeling as I pull away, that's all."

"Well, you remembered that promise you made to me last night so, teasing or not, I'm happy. Very happy in fact. Even though I had to snuggle up to you a couple of time for you to wake up and warm me up on this cold morning."

"Hehe, sorry. I slept a lot better then I thought."

"Not having to worry about the Dark Master helps you sleep doesn't it? Why do you think I sleep so well at night after I took my chains off."

"Aw... I thought it was because I was helping."

"You were and still are. I just don't have to fear of seeing you dead in the morning because of the dark master anymore. So, ever since, I've been able to sleep pretty well."

"Speaking of sleeping, you want to go back to bed? I will keep us warm this time, I swear. I was keeping you warm last night but, I didn't know the morning was going to be like, forty degrees."

"Well... I kinda want to talk with Carith some, which should also give you some time to spend with Malefor. What do you say to that?"

"You are trying to get me to be his friend sooner by spending more time with him, aren't you?"

"What? How dare you. I would never do such a thing... maybe today I would."

"Hehe, alright, fine, I will go spend some time with him. I'm going to tell Claire that you only wanted to hang out with Carith though."

"I didn't forget about her. I know that if I spend time with Carith, we would talk in the Guardians Chambers were she will already be. So, come on, hopefully we woke up before everyone else."

Standing up with energy and excitement, she jumped off the bed with a big smile on her face, and as Spyro stood up, he asked, "Hehe, what's with all the energy?"

As he jumped off the bed and stood next to her, she apologized, "Hehe, Sorry, I've just never knew what it's like to not have to worry or fear. I don't have to worry about you or Malefor killing one another, don't have to worry about a fight or, death or, anything like that. I hope that today will just be me, you, and the Girls. And of course the Guardians but, they will be talking with each other so, I'm not worried."

"You don't need to apologize for feeling joy, Cynder. This is what I want for you, a life without fear. If you're happy, then I am happy."

"Happy? I'm excited! Which means, if I'm jumping around and excited that mean...?"

"I should be the same, Hehe."

"Exactly. So come on, let's go have some fun!"

Seeing her run towards the door, she grabbed the door knob, twisted it, and pushed the door open to the point where it almost hit the wall in the hallway. He chuckled seeing her excitement and followed her out to the hallway. Pushing the door shut with his tail blade as he entered the hallway, the door swung close and shut behind him. As he approached the other room, Cynder had already opened it and ran inside. Walking in behind her, she sat near the front of the bed and awaited for Spyro to sit next to her. Turning her head and looking at Spyro as he sat next to her, she looked at the two as they slept with smiles and now wondered if it would be best to let the two sleep, "On second thought, maybe I should just get some of this energy out by playing around in the training room... I don't want to wake the two."

"Knowing Malefor, he was probably up all night doing something he shouldn't have been doing. And by, doing something he shouldn't be doing, I done mean his lover... Actually, what am I talking about, He doesn't have the guts."

His words caused his lover to blush a little harder then he thought his words would make her blush, but he planned for this. Because of his words, Malefor and Carith blushed pretty red as well. Seeing the red blushes on their faces, he knew the two were awake, so he didn't feel bad for trying to get the two out of bed. Taking his paw off the ground, he tapped Malefor on his forehead with his claw and said, "Hey, Malefor, wake up. If you hurry, the Guardians might still be sleeping. We could prank them and have a little fun?"

Malefor grumbled as he stirred in his sleep and let slip something that meant certain death for him, "Spyro, please... I was up all night trying to make my dark army since you trust me. Let me sleep in..."

Cynder eyes widened, and so did Malefor as he realised what he said. Pulling his head up, he bit his lip not knowing what to say now. Carith sighed with a frown as well. Hearing how silent it was in the room made her believe something was about to happen between the two. Pulling her head up and opening her eyes, she looked at her lover and then back at Spyro. She wondered what his reaction would be, but she was surprised to see he just sat there and smiled. Her eyes went just as wide as everyone else's from what he had said, "You are making those weak ass little creatures again? Least it gives me something to fight for real. Just keep them away from Cynder and we will be fine."

"Wh...But... I'm the Dark Master, Spyro! I could kill you right now, remember?!" Malefor cried, standing up and putting his tail balde to his side as to threaten Spyro.

"So, let me get this straight, you've always been the Dark Master? You've just been waiting to get my trust?"

"Yes!"

"Ha... hahaha, hahahahahah!" Spyro stared to bust out into laughter which confused everyone as they wondered if he did or didn't trust him, "You have to be one, haha, whiny ass Dark Master, hahaha. You were up against the wall crying and, Hehe, thinking about the Dark Master being a whiny little bitch is hilarious! Hahahah, I'm, I'm sorry, i just, Hehe, If that was the Dark Master back there, then I really have nothing to worry about."

Malefor blushed hard as even the Girls started to giggle at him. He could only sigh with a small smile, still keeping that blush from the memory. Wiping away a tear from his eye, Spyro was able to stop himself from laughing which was a little more difficult for him, but once he did, he apologised, "Sorry, Sorry... Ahem. So, be real with me. You saying you're the Dark Master, we all know that's a lie, so tell me the truth, are you really tired or not."

"You... you really trust me... don't you?" Malefor whispered as his tail balde laid down on the bed and he felt like smiling, but he knew if he did, he would shed a tear of joy, so he didn't know how to respond.

"Do you not remember anything what happened yesterday? If you want me to go back and treat you like the Dark Master, I can, I have..."

"No no no!" Malefor quickly interjected with a cry, "I'm just... I... Yes, I am awake and ready. I actually wasn't all that tired as I slept... really, really well. The only reason I woke up is because Carith was cold."

"Same here!" Cynder cried as she was having the same problem.

"Guess I slept a lot better then I thought. When we closed our eyes to go back to bed, you two came in so we tried to get a little more sleep in. Carith wanted to talk with you, Cynder, but I trapped her with my tail, and a kiss later, she couldn't even move anymore."

"Sorry, Cynder. It was a, really, good, kiss," Carith apologized, seeing Cynder wave a paw.

"Don't worry, I would've stayed in bed as well, but I was so excited for today that I jumped out of bed. I wanted us, and Claire, to have some girl talk once again. I hope, and don't believe anything else is going to happen today so, I wanted to make today fun, since yesterday was a disaster. Well, maybe not a complete disaster but... lets hope today doesn't throw a curve ball like it almost always does."

"Oh, don't worry, there is going to be some serious drama today. That little bitch of a Red Dragon gave me a nightmare, so he's going to pay," Malefor cursed.

"Don't call my father a Bitch, especially after your little cry and tears you had yesterday, you have not right to call any one that but yourself," Spyro defended his father.

"So, you're telling me, he never gave you a nightmare, or even Cynder to a point you wanted to hit him?"

"Well... Wait, you're right! That nightmare he gave my lover when me and her were out in separate rooms!"

"There shall be blood shed today... Well, maybe not that far but... maybe a slap or punch or... something."

"We could always set his bed on fire."

"Naw. I set fire to Ignitus's tail before when he was sleeping and called him a charizard. I told him if he put the fire out, it would kill him... But he still put the fire out by slamming my head on his tail and over the fire."

"Wow... I mean, you did set his tail on fire while he was sleeping."

"Yeah... But think, he did that when I set his tail on fire. Imagine what would happen if we set his bed on fire with Claire laying there trying to sleep."

"Oh Ancestors... So, what do you suppose we do?"

"We could always embarrass him in front of his lover."

"But they aren't lover's."

"Which we can pick on him about all Damn day about."

"Oh... I like it."

"And we should probably pick on Volteer as well."

"Why are you going to pick on that poor dragon?"

"Because, it's Volteer, he's just so easy to pick on."

"Maybe later, but right now, fire power needs to be directed to Ignitus."

"Alright, fine."

Jumping off the bed and landing next to Spyro's left, he looked over at his lover and asked, "Will you two be joining us or, are you two going to just chill out up here?"

"Chill out? Nice play on words. I'm going to stay with you of course but, following behind while I talk with Cynder. If it's cold up here, it's probably cold all around the building which means I need someone warm to cuddle up to if need be," Carith said, standing up and taking a quick stretch before jumping off the bed and landing next to Cynder's right side.

"Sweet. You ready for some revenge now?" Spyro asked as he turned around with Malefor and walked towards the main door.

"I came up with the plan, of course," Malefor said.

With the two approaching the door, it opened for them, and the Girls walked behind and followed. As the four walked out of the house, the door behind them shut. Walking down to the Guardians Chambers, Spyro and Malefor spoke about their plan while the Girls talked about how happy they were the two were getting along, they just had to keep it down a little so the two wouldn't hear. The first one to say anything about it was Carith as she was very happy to both see and hear it was true, "I think I might need to pinch myself on this day. They are actually getting along. Even when Malefor joked about him staying up all night to make his dark army, Spyro didn't seem to care at all."

"Your lover isn't the greatest when it comes to lying so, I wouldn't be surprised if my lover saw through his little lie," Cynder giggled as she picked on Carith's lover, "But you are right about needing a pinch. Spyro was surprisingly calm when he first woke up. He didn't seem so tense and just like him, I slept so well... so, so well. I can't explain the feeling..."

"Oh trust me, I know what you're talking about. I slept just as well. Feeling your lover as he curls up to you and his body is smooth, his breathing is smooth, and the wing that he drapes over your back to keep you protected while you sleep is so, so enjoyable... Last night was the first night in a long time. This was the first time ever since we got back from everything that has happened... And I enjoyed every second."

"I can't believe those two forgot to warm us up though like, how dare they."

"Hehe, well, I mean, when the sleep is good, it's hard to even think about anything else aside from comfort. I was comfortable so, even though I was cold, his body still provided the warmth I needed."

"Same here with, Spyro. But it was just for one night, and even still, I would rather wake up in a cold morning then having those two fight."

"Agreed. And, with us waking up to a cold morning, we get to wake up our lover's. Oh... I can still feel it now. Even though I was cold, when he apologized and gave me that kiss, instant warmth throughout my whole body... Ancestors it was enjoyable. Hehe, he was so cute when he apologized to me. He felt terrible that he didn't warm me up while I slept."

"Yeah... Spyro was the same... And when I think about it... I wish everyday could be like that... Now we just have to hope those two stay as friendly to each other as they are now."

"I have hope that Malefor won't screw anything up. And if he does something, I will put him back in place."

"Hehe, and I will do the same with my lover."

Seeing their lover's turn into the Guardians Chambers, they turned into the room as well. They stood at the front of the door as they watched Malefor and Spyro split and walk over to different walls. Malefor enter the Chambers and sat against the wall to the right while Spyro sat against the wall on the left. Seeing the two separate, the girls had already feared for the worst as they thought something had already happened when they weren't looking. Spyro looked over at the two who still stood at the door and he asked, "Are you two going to join us?"

"Well... of course but, if something happened, we don't want to interrupt," Carith said, making both her lover and Spyro confused as she said this.

"Something happened? What happened?"

"You two aren't talking. We thought you would want to sit next to each other and talk some more. And I thought you two were going to get back at Ignitus for what he did," Cynder said, a little scared that the two were already off to the wrong start again.

"Oh, that. Of course we are still going to get back at him, we already have it planned out. As for why we aren't sitting with one another, well, two thing; I would much rather, and he would much rather, have someone next to us that we can love, kiss, and protect. And the other thing is because Malefor prefers it this way. When he came back, he sat at that wall and I sat at this wall and it's been that way ever since, so he doesn't want things to change."

The girls sighed hugely, glad to hear they didn't get into any sort of disagreement. The two guys looked at one another, wondering what they were sighing for. With everything sorted out, the two girls walked over to their respective lover's and sat down next to them. With them cuddled, the guy's draped a wing over their lover's and continued to talk to one another while the girls watched and listened as the two talked back in forth, which turned out to be quite fun to watch for them. Malefor was the first one to start the conversation as he was confused about something, "Spyro, tell me the truth. If you were able to do what Ignitus did to you back when we all fought; where he tapped his claw on your forehead and sent you flying, would you do that all the time and spam that, or use like, just your fire?"

"Hell yeah. I won't even need to use my fire or any other element for that matter if I had power like that," Spyro answered.

"Alright, so, back in the day, there was this book I read..."

"You read a book? Congrats, Malefor. Did you know you learn when you do that."

He grumbled at him for that, "Shut up... Anyway, going back, when I read this book, something or another happened and this guy he was helping train turned into a monster when he was a kid. Kinda like the apes we fight, but bigger. So, the guy found a way to stop this, transformation, by destroying the moon. He destroys the moon, and the other guy turns back to normal. But here is the crazy part, if you can destroy the damn moon, why is there even a threat?"

"A threat for a guy who destroys the moon? That's wired..."

"I know right! Maybe there was an explanation for it but, I don't remember. But this is what I'm confused about; If you have a power that can destroy the moon, why the Hell won't you use it on someone and just spam that power? I'm pretty sure the moon is not as powerful as a simple dude. But apparently, the ability was like, never used again. And, even though the moon was destroyed, another guy was like, 'Burst open and mix!', Like, what?!"

"I mean, any normal Dragon who gets thrown against a tree would have their spine snapped in half compared to how I hit them and the trees themselves snap in half so, maybe the power was like, weak or something later on."

"Moon, Busting, Power! Don't give a Damn if you are invincible, you should still feel that."

"Don't know what to tell you aside from maybe plot armor, but that's about it."

"Oh, since we are on the topic about the moon, there was this other book I read where these guys were fighting on the moon and a girl made some dude a scarf but, near the end, the antagonist, cuts the moon in half with a beam of light! The protagonist, survives it! And then he goes on to beat the enemy's ass! Like... why? If you can survive that, there is nothing you can't survive."

"What books were you reading?"

"What ever was available to keep me from getting bored... I know one was like, had a Z at the end, or, they changed it to... Kia, at the end? I don't know. This one I'm talking about has a weird name to it. Just know that the guy is named after something you could eat."

"O...Kay... Going back, maybe there's is a reason behind it and you just don't know about it."

"Point of all of this is, if you have a power that can one shot anything, use the damn thing rather then letting the fight drag on."

"Well, I might let the enemy beat your ass first, then step in and wipe everyone out."

"Please, the only thing I have to worry about is you and Ignitus... Then again, you both have someone to love... which means if they leave you..."

"Are you afraid of the dark, Malefor?"

"What? Why?"

"Nothing... just practicing for the future."

"Okay... I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared. Cynder, you have no plans of leaving him, do you."

She looked at her lover up and down for a second, and looking back at his face, he smiled at her which made her smile. Looking back at Malefor, she assured him, "Don't worry, he's been doing pretty well in making a women feel nice. But it isn't me you should be worried about. Last I recall, you were the one who got left by your lover and you turned into the Dark Master so..."

Everyone looked at her with wide eyes from what she had said. Even for someone like Malefor, he was at a lost for words, "Wh... Ho... Yo..."

Spyro decided to pick on him as well since he was so vulnerable right now, "Man, I don't even think a volcano can beat the burn that you just got. It's okay, Malefor, we've all been there... Well, not all of us, maybe just you. Are you sure Carith was really in a coma, or was she just faking it so she could get some time away from you?"

"Chill out, holy Hell. What did I do to you two?"

"Hehe, sorry... I want to keep this day as positive as possible as everyone has been so happy lately so, I apologize for my words."

"You... apologize...?"

"And I apologize as well. No hard feeling," Cynder also apologised, causing Malefor to point a claw at one, then the other, and then back again, completely dumbfounded that the two were apologising, "Don't worry, you aren't dreaming. Like Spyro said, want to keep this day positive so, why not keep it that way?"

"Ye... Yeah, of course. Thank you, you two," Malefor thanked with a kind and warm smile.

It surprised him to see that only did Cynder apologized, but so did Spyro. Usually we would fight it out with one another, but now he... he apologized...? My head Is spinning and I might be going crazy, He thought to himself, wanting to make more conversation, but he didn't know what to say anymore. Luckily, the sound of a door opening broke him from those thoughts. Everyone looked over to see one by one, the Guardians walked out of the Chambers and sat down a little bit away from the door where they usually sit. Terrador and Volteer had slight shivers to them which made Spyro ask, "Let me guess, you all woke up cause of the cold, right?"

"Oh... yeah..." Terrador nodded, shivering from in between words.

"But I'm guessing the reason Cyril isn't shivering is because he is use to this, right?"

"One of the many perks of being an ice dragon," Cyril chuckled, as to him, this was a nice day to go outside, "Hey, Spyro, maybe if you aren't busy, we could maybe go to the back of Warfang and fight again. Maybe not all out fight because of course I would lose but, why waste this beautiful day staying inside?"

"Oh... tempting... very tempting. I will say maybe."

"Maybe? Thought you'd be all for it."

"I know I'm always up to train or fight but, you should also know that, since it is a cold day, I would feel bad if I just left Cynder in here all alone while she shivers... I would never feel good about myself."

"Ah, Spyro being Spyro, I understand."

"But now, as for the other, ice dragon, or, ice dragoness, tell me, do you like it when it is cold or warm?"

"I mean, for today, I do like it cold but, I would much rather be warm and cuddled up with, Ignitus," Claire answered honestly, but she was confused as she saw Malefor and Spyro look at one another with grins as if they were up to something, and even though she didn't understand, Ignitus did.

"How do you cuddle with, Ignitus?"

"Um... Well, how anyone would cuddle with someone they like; I put my body against his, I snuggle up to him, and sometimes, I nuzzle him underneath his neck... Wait, why are you asking? Did something happen between you and Cynder?"

"Oh no, it's just weird you say that. That's something me and Cynder did. But when we did it, it was a way to show not that we liked each other, oh no. We had much, stronger feelings when ever we snuggled up to each other. And I have to say, it must be hard for you, Claire."

"Spyro..." Ignitus whispered, waving a paw near his neck and then quickly putting his paw back down and smiling as Claire looked at him, then back at Spyro, wondering what he was saying.

"When ever me and Cynder snuggled up, it was hard for me to, only give her that, peck on the cheek. I felt bad knowing, I wasn't giving her what she deserved, what she desired. So, tell me, Claire, when you snuggle up to, Ignitus, do you ever feel like maybe you could be giving him more then a kiss on the cheek? You can't really have a good night without a... goodnight kiss, on the lip..."

"Okay, okay, okay... Okay... Fine... I'm sorry," Ignitus cried out, seeing the blush slowly grow more and more on Claire's face as Spyro talked, so he had to do something.

Spyro and Malefor looked at each other with a raised brow, wondering what he had to say to them. Ignitus let out a small sigh, and the two focused their attention back on him, ready to hear his apology, "I'm sorry, Malefor. I didn't give you that nightmare cause I wanted to, I did it because, I was afraid. I wanted you and Spyro to train to use the darkness, and I knew asking you to do something you didn't want to do wouldn't have worked."

"Ah, so you forced me?" Malefor asked.

"I wanted to push you to train, to use the darkness, and I also hoped that Spyro would see that, you really are trying to be who you are, and not what you were. I didn't mean to hurt you, I didn't want to scare you, but since Carith was there, I knew you'd be fine. And I was right; all it took was your paw touching your lover's chest and you were calmed, because you knew she was there... The nightmare wasn't true, it was nothing more then a boost to help you train, and in a way, it worked. But for the part that, didn't work out too well for you, I apologize."

Malefor sighed as now he kinda felt bad, and since he was having a good day, he let him off with a warning, "Alright, fine. Your depression makes me depressed. And I did get some pretty good training and knowledge out of it so... I accept your apology. Just, next time, use your words rather then giving me a nightmare that nearly makes me turn back from fear, okay?"

"Agreed."

"Okay, you gave him an apology, now what about my lover? That nightmare you gave her," Spyro asked with a raised brow, waiting for the apology.

"And sorry to your lover as well. It was just to show the Guardians that you two should never be separated. I didn't mean for things, and doors, to hit the wall from what happened."

"Wall? Wait, what all happened on that day? You were in Warfang so, I couldn't really spy on you two," Malefor asked.

"Creep," Spyro chuckled.

"Dude, Dark Master, not me."

"Oh really! It's almost like I already knew that."

"Just making sure! Holy Hell. Just wanted to know what happened."

"Who you talking to with that language."

"Language?! Last I checked, you told me to, 'Stay the Hell away from her', that being Cynder when I invaded Warfang. It's because of you this bad language has been flying around."

"At least I keep things alive and let them fly around."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"More things would be flying around if it weren't for you, if you know what I mean."

"Wha..."

Everyone hissed through their teeth from that as they looked over at Malefor to see his reaction, and the wrinkles as he showed his teeth and clenching his eyes from anger gave everyone the information to know how he felt about that. Pulling up and balling his fist, he wanted nothing more to strangle him right about now, "What happened to, oh this is a good day, lets keep it like that! You're a Bitch dude, I was having a good day up until you did that."

"Alright, chill out, I'm sorry. When did you get so butt hurt?"

"I'm, not, butt hurt."

"Are you, chest hurt?"

"What does that even mean?"

"Oh, yeah, you wouldn't know. It's when your lover lays down on top of you, and her chest lays on yours, guess it's never happened to you."

"I've laid on Carith's chest before, don't act like I haven't. I'm older then you and I've been with Carith longer then you've been with Cynder, so I know how to make my lover feel good, Alright."

"Funny, you've been with Carith longer then I've been with Cynder yet, you are at the same stage I am? How does that make you feel?"

Malefor blushed along with his lover as he knew what he was implying. He didn't really have a way to respond to that conversation without revealing something embarrassing, or something his lover would catch on to. So instead of saying anything to fight back against it, he stayed silent and ignored what the conversation was about. But as he tried to ignore it, the more he thought about it, and same went for Carith. Spyro right! What if, I don't make my move and become her mate sooner, and she dumps me for someone else?! And if I'm having these thoughts, what if she is as well! Malefor cried to himself, picking his head up a little from this realisation. Carith was having thoughts about whether or not Malefor did care to be her mate, but she couldn't think for long as her lover started a conversation just to break the two from their thoughts, "So, Spyro, when do you think we could ever train again? I know Cynder probably doesn't want you to go through something like that again, and I don't want to scare Carith so, what do you feel like doing?"

Spyro already saw through what he was trying to do and had thoughts about not saying anything just for his plan to fail, but he did feel bad for bringing up what he did and joined in on the conversation, "Well, for today, I just feeling like chilling out. Every time we have times to just, do nothing, we always do something. But then again, I'm afraid if I do nothing, Ignitus over here will give me a nightmare because he wants me to do something else."

"Hehe..." Ignitus chuckled and apologized again, "Once again, I'm truly sorry. But don't worry, I shouldn't need to cause anymore nightmares for today, or hopefully in the future."

"Wait, you are the one that causes nightmares?" A voice emerged from the entrance, and as everyone looked over, they saw it was the three Guardian looking teens, and the one who spoke was Blitz, "I had a nightmare a year ago that made me think I woke up as a female and that a bunch of dragons were hitting on me, and no matter what I said, they didn't leave me alone me... Ancestors that was a scary dream... Oh! My apologies! I shouldn't have spoken first without being respectful. Good morning Guardians, purple dragons, and friends."

"Hehe, Blitz, that isn't necessary. Don't worry, we are all pretty chill around here. I promise, you have nothing to fear. And as for your nightmare, a year ago, I wasn't the one controlling those dreams, but, I've seen and read of your past, and I know why you had that nightmare."

"Wait, what?! You know my past? You... You read my past?! But more importantly, you know why I had that nightmare?!"

"Indeed. The nightmare was supposed to show you that you shouldn't be so strong when trying to find a girlfriend. Those dragons that were trying to get to you was basically you, and the female role you were in was how they felt when you keep pushing a conversation constantly. You need to take things a little slower rather then rushing things."

"Oh! That makes sense. That would explain why those girls left after we had a little talk with them."

"Wait. So, those females, you invited them in the Guardians Building? There were a couple of Girls who walked past us days ago and I wondered why they were up here. This was back when Volteer was teaching us a, shocking, technique. Were they going over to you three?" Spyro asked as it now made sense to him as he was confused about why those females were in the building.

"Hehe, yeah, sorry. We were chilling out down there and told the girls were we would be. I am very sorry, Guardians, I said that I was cool with you four, and the legendary purple dragon, to try and get them to talk to me... it didn't work out unfortunately... But I guess I now know that I need to keep my mouth from running to much to get a girl."

"That makes so much more sense now," Malefor also agreed with Spyro, but it also brought up some more questions, "Wait a minute, you guys have been spending nights here? In the Guardians Building?"

Blitz and the other two felt a little bad as they have been doing it for a while without even asking, and he apologized for doing so, "We are terribly sorry. We didn't really think much of it, and after helping save Warfang, I guess it kinda got to me. I've always looked up to you all, the Guardians. You were able to take on armies, and you protected everyone in Warfang so many times now. Once should've been enough, but you four were always there to protect everyone... well, aside from Ignitus... where were you?"

"I was off doing something else that was very important," Ignitus chuckled, but he was quickly single out.

"He sat in his own building and watched as I and Cynder fought the Dark Master, and the Guardians struggled to survive. Even after the Dark Master stabbed his way into both me, and Volteer's chest, Ignitus didn't even bother to help either of us," Spyro chuckled, and the way he put it made Ignitus feel a little bad about himself, and in order to defend his honor, he explained what had happened.

"No, that's not what happened... kinda. Basically, I wanted nothing more then to help, but here is the thing. Being the Chronicler, I can't fight the darkness, that being the Dark Creatures as I can't attack them unless they attack me, and even if they do, and I kill back, it would still cause problems. I know it is strange to here and it is complicated. And if I wanted to help Spyro with his battle... I would've caused an event that would've killed nearly everyone..."

"Wow... You all have been through a lot, haven't you," Blitz interrupted him, now understanding the pressure they all had to go under.

"Well, Malefor didn't have the best of friend back then. His betrayal led to what he believed was his lover's death, so, by showing myself, it would've made the Dark Master take full control over him. Longer story made short, I couldn't do anything but watch. Carith was safe, and because of you three, The Guardians were able to go back there and help."

"That's why we've been fine with you three staying up here when ever you have. Me and Cyril were out here and we saw you two walk by. We didn't say anything because we feel like you three deserve the best for your help," Terrador thanked which made the three friends faces light up with smiles, "Don't be afraid to come up here anytime. Just uh, maybe to avoid starting any drama, don't tell everyone you know the purple dragon. They will only go after him and not you for reasons."

"Oh, yes, of course! We promise sir, Terrador... I mean, just, Terrador," Blitz thanked happily, trying not to jump up and down and embarrass himself.

"Hehe... You know, you three have put on a little muscle since we last saw you three. Have you all been working out?"

"Yeah, Sesal's dad is an Earth dragon so we ask him if we can train and he is always down for some training. We train outside the walls of Warfang, but don't worry, we stay very close to the walls so the moles can warn us, or, if we get attacked, Sesal's dad can throw up a wall and we can fly back into the walls."

"As long as you three are safe. But I have to ask, what are you all training for?"

"Never know when there will be another attack on Warfang. We have to be ready to fight by your side. I say we are pretty ready but, I'm also hoping we don't get attacked again, hehe. The time with the Destroyer was a scary experience, and the whole thing with all those Dark Creatures was fun and all but, there was still many building destroyed after that battle, so it was a pain helping rebuild."

"You... You three helped rebuild some of the buildings?"

"Well, of course. We knew you all couldn't because of what you all went through, so we decided to pitch in and help. We got some work done but, man, those moles really love to work. It's amazing how much work they can do with just a hammer. It's kinda like watching an upgrade; They hit away at the building, but there is no timer above it to show how much longer you have to wait."

The Guardians were all very surprised to see how much of a help those three were during and after the battle, and as Ignitus and Terrador looked at one another, they both knew exactly what one another was thinking. Bring Spyro to the back room so we can discuss something with him. Let's just say, I've checked, and these three would be perfect for the future, Ignitus said through his thoughts to Terrador's, and he nodded at his red friend. Pecking Claire on her cheek, she smiled at him and asked, "What was that for?"

"I'm going to be right back. Me and Terrador need to discuss something with Spyro in private," Ignitus explained.

"Alright, hurry back though... I want another one of those soon."

Pecking him on his cheek, he smiled as she pulled back and smiled back at him. Walking to the back room, Terrador looked over at Spyro and asked, "Hey, Spyro, me and Ignitus want to talk to you real quick. Can you come to the back room with us real quick."

"What? Why just me?" Spyro asked.

"We will let everyone else know later of your decision."

He sighed, "Alright."

Pecking his lover on the lips, he pulled back and whispered, "Be right back."

"You better," Cynder giggled.

Walking away from her, Spyro stopped, looked at Blitz, and threatened him, "You do anything or say anything to her, I will snap you like a twig. Malefor, tell me if he does anything."

Blitz swallowed hard from that, and as Spyro walked away to the back room, Malefor looked at Blitz with an evil smile and said, "Sure, do, Spyro."


Entering the room, Ignitus and Terrador were sitting next to one another.

"Shut the door behind you, please," Terrador said, and Spyro obeyed.

Shutting the door behind himself with his tail blade, it clicked shut. With the door shut, Spyro asked, "So what did you need me for?"

"Spyro, we wanted to, talk to you. Me and Ignitus have both seen it and, well, we wanted to know your input on our idea. In case anything ever happened to us, we would like for those three to take up the mantle of Guardians." Terrador said with a smile as he thought it was a fantastic idea, but the shiver he saw from Spyro made him instantly regret asking.

"Sorry, I... I don't think I heard you right," Spyro slightly growled.

"Ignitus checked and those three would be perfect to be Guardians. And, we were hoping that you would train the three in case something ever happened to us. What do you think?"

"This conversation is over. Don't ever bring this up ever again."

"Spyro, wait. We just... we know things aren't as easy as they seem, and it's, just in case, that's all."

"Just in case?! What would make them becoming Guardians any better?! Why should I train them when I should be training the ones who are already Guardians!"

"We aren't saying that we are giving up being Guardians, we just... It's just in case, Spyro."

"Terrador... when we walk out there, you, me, and Ignitus, we all forget this was ever a conversation, understand?!"

"Spyro, you aren't understanding."

"No! You aren't understanding! You never put forth the effort to keep yourself safe! You're throwing someone else's life into the life of a Guardian because you know you are all weak, and you won't do a damn thing about it! If you were looking for a lover, Terrador, would you want her to know you are a dead beat who put his job to another, younger, dragon?!"

"Spyro..."

"Oh that's right, I'm not Ignitus, so you won't listen to me when I say something. And there is no point in threatening you, I wouldn't get any fun out of beating such a worthless excuse of a Guardian!"

"This isn't something you can avoid Spyro! One day, we will all be dead! You think the world is at peace?! We took one step out of Warfang and got attacked! Others are still dying out there while we sit her, blinded by this, fake peace!"

"Well it's a good thing I was born then. The Guardians have never done anything to show they were worthy of that title. Couldn't save their own friend, couldn't save their parents, and couldn't save Hatchlings."

"Spyro..." Ignitus murmured seeing the tears run down his son's eyes.

"Fine. Since you've already given up on life, I will train them. Just don't show your face until you clean that pathetic off your face," Spyro spat.

Turning away from the two, he threw the door open and Terrador tried to get him to stay, "Spyro, wait...!"

He ignored them and walked out of the room. Ignitus and Terrador looked at one another with concerned looks, and knowing he left in anger, they knew they had to catch up to him quick and try to talk him out of it. Walking towards the door and out of the room, they stood next to one another and watched as their words had gotten to him. Spyro stood in front of them with slight tears and anger, and before they could ask what happened, he commanded them, "The three of you are going to follow me, understand!"

"Uh... yes, sir," Blitz shivered, not understanding what was happening, but he obeyed as if his life depended on it.

Walking out of the room, the three of them followed. Cynder tired to call out, but he was already too far for him to hear her, "Spyro..."

With the four of them gone, everyone focused their attention over to the other two, wondering what they had said to make him so mad. Terrador sat down with a frown and a sigh as he explained, "We thought it would've been a good idea at the time."

"What happened?"

Ignitus sat down as well as he knew it was too late. He didn't want Terrador to take all the blame, so he spoke for what happened as well, "We... I've seen and read their past, and with everything they done, I thought it would be a good idea to tell Spyro that those three would make great Guardians one day..."

"What?" Malefor growled as he interrupted Ignitus, "There can't be more then one element from a Guardian, so what are you implying?"

"The world out there isn't all as peaceful as we all think. In case anything ever happened, we would've wanted those three to take over our place as Guardian."

"Why?! Why are you so worried about death?! After everything Spyro did to make the world peaceful, how joyful he was, and you're just going to crush and destroy everything he did by bringing up the fact that nothing mattered; Because you all will still die and the world will never be peaceful, are you joking right now?"

"It... It was only a precaution, it doesn't mean it will happen."

"And yet, you sound so sure it will happen! Tell me the truth, Ignitus, who is going to die? Who are you preparing us to die?!"

"No, no one is going to die... But, Malefor, remember what is out there. There will always be some form of darkness, and at some point, we will not be strong enough to defend everyone, and if it comes to protecting everyone at the cost of our lives, we will give up our lives to protect everyone. That is the whole point of being a Guardian."

"Oh, it's the point?! Then why didn't you push yourself to come and save me when I flew away after I thought Carith had died?! Where were you four then? Spyro's been getting as strong as possible to protect everyone and you just told him to his face that everything he has done is pointless, and no matter what he does, you'll die anyway?! I can't even believe you two. Come one, Carith, Spyro needs us right now."

Turning and walking out of the Guardians Chambers, Carith followed behind, and quickly followed Cynder. Putting his paws over his face, Terrador sighed hugely as he didn't know saying something like this would cause such a big fuss, but Ignitus did see it was a possibility. While Terrador put his paws back down to the ground, Volteer didn't want to make the situation worse, but he did agree with everyone else about the whole situation, "I'm not surprised by Spyro's reaction. When it came down to how much power he had, he used his time ability to save me instead of helping himself. He tries and tries to make everyone safe and happy, and to throw it out that at some point it wouldn't matter... I'm sorry if I aggravate you two any more then you already are but... it's true."

"I know... We all know the darkness is out there, and I'm just guessing that one day, we will have to fight it again. While we are sitting here, laughing it up and having a good time, this new dark master could be making an army of apes and Dark Forces. If Spyro sees the dark creatures, we don't know what he will do to, Malefor. And if those two are fighting, we will have to deal with that, another Dark Master, apes, and Dark Creatures... it's just... I... I don't know... we aren't strong enough to handle all of that."

"Then, isn't that the whole point of us sitting around and joking?" Cyril asked, seeing a confused look on Terrador's face.

"What do mean?" Terrador asked.

"Well, I mean, Malefor and Spyro were getting along pretty well. And you even heard him, Spyro knows he isn't the Dark Master anymore, and he trust him. So, if they just sit around, talk and joke, wouldn't that help them become closer and closer to being friends? And if they do become friends, things could be a whole lot easier then you are making out this future war to be."

"He's right. Spyro is strong enough, so he deals with the new Dark Master, Malefor supports the other three so they can fight off either the Dark Creatures while we all fight the Apes. Malefor is pretty strong so they could clean up the Dark Creatures before we kill all of our enemies and he and his team can fly over and support us. Problem solved. We all go to bed, exhausted, but alive," Volteer already had a plan laid out for the four of them if they were to ever be attacked in such a way.

"But that is such a big if. Spyro needs to trust Malefor enough, Spyro needs to be powerful enough to take on the new Dark Master himself, and we all have to be strong enough to take on an army that could be the size of the one we fought when all those Dark Creatures invaded Warfang. Everything has to be in place for such a thing to work. Just like with what happened back then; One thing wrong, Ignitus interfering, just one thing wrong, someone would've died. And if we are put in that situation again... There is no telling if one of us will make it out alive," Terrador murmured, making the other three frown as well as he did seem right.

"If you guys were going to be like this, I should've just killed you three then and spared Ignitus's life as I did," Claire spoke, making the Guardians look at her, wondering what she meant by that, "If you aren't going to put forth the effort, then why bother doing anything at all? If you all are going to think like that, why do you bother breathing to save your life? How about you do something about it and train like every one else to keep something from happening rather then giving up? After all... I could've given up and let myself... kill, Ignitus. But I fought it, I pushed through and told myself I could be happy, and with Ignitus's help, I'm as happy as I want to be. So, are you all going to fight and do something about it, or give up?"

The Guardians all looked at one another as her words were a lot more helpful then she thought they would be, and it didn't take long for her to convince everyone, "Volteer, why are you going to give up when Ersa could be out there? If she is still alive, that means she hasn't given up, and neither should you. You think she would like someone who gave up on her and life?"

"Hehe, I was never for the idea of giving up. That was Terrador and Ignitus," Volteer chuckled, and puffing out his chest, he said, "And you are right about one thing, I do need to work out more if I want to keep this chest out with muscles to look strong for my mate... I mean lover...! Okay... both."

"What about you, Terrador? Surely one day you'd like to find love. Giving up won't get you the sweet feeling of your lover kissing you."

Terrador sighed and everyone's words and reactions had finally gotten to him, "Alright, Alright, fine. I do owe everyone an apology, especially Spyro. I know he has been through a lot, and he has tried everything he can to keep us safe. I guess if we keep pushing him to get stronger, he might be as strong as you, Ignitus. And, if we all train with him, maybe it will help ease all of our minds."

"That's the spirit," Cyril said happily, "Maybe you should put some more muscle on too. I remember when Spyro was young and your muscles were bigger than his head."

"Hehe, yeah."

Looking over at Ignitus, she raised a brow and said, "I know you better not be giving up. There was this really cute guy I met. If you really are giving up, I can tell him I'm on for that date."

"No! No no no, of course not. I wasn't giving up. All Terrador's idea... He forced me..." Ignitus chuckled nervously, quickly denying all allegations against him.

"Smooth dude," Terrador chuckled along with the other Guardians.

"Good," Pecking him on the check, he blush slightly with a slight smile, and as she pulled away, she whispered, "I want more."

"Hopefully everything will go well, and when we come back, I will give you as many as you like."

"Looking forward to it."

Now with everyone agreeing about what they should do, the five walked out of the Guardians Chambers and to the training room where Ignitus knew they would be. As they were walking, Ignitus even explained where everyone was, and he shivered as he saw what kind of training he was putting them through, "They are up in the training room along with the other four... And Spyro is not going easy on them... When we get up there, Terrador, me and you will try and talk him down, okay?"

"Agreed," Terrador nodded as he felt bad for everything he said and thought about how he could make the apology the best he could.


With Sesal on the ground, Bolt shivering from the pain he was in, and Blitz barley able to stay in the air, the three dragons were all out of breath as they fought their own dark dragon. They knew they were beaten in both strength and stamina as the dark dragons didn't even seem to have lost a breath. Even with some slashes and cuts they got on the dragons, they knew it wasn't enough to take out the dark dragon. Not giving them more time to regain their stamina, Spyro made the dark dragon attack the remaining two, and they weren't ready. The first dark dragon attacked Blitz by elbowing him in the back of the head, knocking him out of the air and sending his body onto the training room floor. Bolt took a stab to the chest and fell to the ground when the dark dragon took his tail balde out of him. The three laid on the ground, groaning in pain and begging for a break.

"Alright... Spyro... I'm... I'm tapping out," Bolt grumbled, barley able to stand nor breath.

Malefor, his lover and Cynder made it to the training room and walked into it. Standing by the door, they looked to see Spyro walking to the middle of the training room, lecturing them about what they did, "You can't take out some simple dark dragons?! If this was a real fight, you'd all be dead! So, get up like your life depends on it! You say your the saver of Warfang because you killed some dark creatures?! I've killed thousands on my journey! Now, get up and fight!"

The three dragons struggled to stand, and with all his might, Blitz was able to stand, but was quickly knocked back down by the dark dragon as he slashed the right of his cheek. As his side hit the ground, he begged for a break, "Spyro... please... it's becoming... hard to... breath."

He snarled at the way the three fought. The dark dragons all looked at Spyro and rushed him. Everyone watched as the dark dragons rushed him, and he did nothing. As they stabbed their tail blades into him one by one from different angles, everyone gasped. Pulling up his own tail blade, he slit the throat of one with his tail blade. Swinging his tail blade around, he stabbed it into the other dark dragon's neck, and at the same time, he used his claws to dig his paw right through the last dark dragon's chest. The three dark dragons cried out in pain before exploding into a cloud of dark smoke and disappearing. Blood dripped down his body from where he was stabbed, but he ignored the pain and continued to lecture the three, "All you had to do was take the attack! When one stabs you, he thinks he has the upper paw, but with him close to you, you have the freedom to use your tail blade any way you like. None of you have even mastered your abilities yet!"

Sitting himself up, Blitz looked down at the ground with a frown as he still felt just as weak as when he first met Spyro. Walking over to Blitz, Spyro tapped a claw on his shoulder causing an hour glass to appear. Turning the hourglass all the way around, he then pushed it back into his body, completely healing him of all his wounds and blood stains. He walked around and did the same to his other two friends. Cynder shivered seeing such an angered side of him, and even though she knew why, she still wanted to know if she was right by asking the other two, "This isn't anger. He's sad, and confused. What do you two think?"

"From what the Guardians said to him, I'm not surprised. I don't think he is angry to say. If he was, he wouldn't heal them. Instead, he would just make those three keep fighting," Malefor agreed with her feeling towards the situation, and watching as Spyro healed the last friend, his sigh only confirm it, "He's stressed to say the least. You know, if you go out there and give him a really good lock lips kiss, you might be able to help him out a lot, and probably save the lives of those three."

"Yeah... I'm going to go and talk with, Spyro. He will talk to me."

The three stood in front of Spyro in a line with their backs facing the wall, wondering what he was going to have him fight next, and he gave him the run down of what he was going to do, "Alright, we will start off a little simple and work our way up. You three will fight one dark dragon, then we will move on to two, then three again in one continuous cycle without a break. If you lose and can't win the three fights in a row, you'll restart, and restart, and restart, until you three get it right, understand?"

The all wanted to say something as they wanted a break, and even with the heal he gave the three, they still didn't feel up to it. Luckily, backup was on the way as Cynder walked up right next to her lover. She nuzzled him gently on the side of his neck, and pulling away, she looked at him with a nervous look, scared he might be doing a little much for the three. Spyro sighed and said in a little softer tone, "Take five you three. I will give you this break, but we will be back to it in a couple of minutes, understand."

The three all let out a huge sigh of relief as they fell to the floor, but they all thanked Spyro in unison, "Thank you, Spyro."

The three were able to slowly get up and walk over to the other two who stood near the door, but it did take some time as all they wanted to do was sit down and rest. Looking at her, he felt bad for the way he treated those three and he apologized in advance for that, "I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm just... I don't understand, Cynder. Does this mean that everything I do will be for nothing. What if all my training can't even protect you, and I lose everyone I love and care for... what do I do?"

"Spyro, if there is one thing you've taught me out of everything, it's that, even when things seem impossible, as long as you don't give up, you can do it," Cynder assured her lover with a smile, and as she sat, he sat as well, "Like with our love, after our fight with the dark master, twice, and your near death experiences. We never gave up, and we were able to over come any obstacle. I know you won't give up because you have someone to protect, remember? Or... do I need to make you remember what you are fighting for."

"Hehe... I remember, but... can you make sure I remember?"

"Oh, I think I can make sure."

Moving her head, closing his eyes, and locking lips with her lover's, she could feel the stress slowly wash away from him as the kiss slowly became better and better the longer they kissed one another. As Cynder went to pull away, Spyro pushed back into the kiss to her surprise, and she even had a slight shiver of pleasure go down her spine as it was an enjoyable surprise to her. This time, he pulled away from the kiss and smiled at her. Opening her eyes, he did the same, and she smiled back at him and asked, "Feel better?"

"Much, much better... But, I need to know, from you... do you think I will fail? Do you think that a day will come when I won't be strong enough, and one of the Guardians will pay with their lives?"

She shuck her head and answered honestly, "With how powerful you are, I'm not afraid. You were able to take everyone out. And even though you didn't take out Malefor, he gave up, remember, so he might be a lot stronger then we think. You and Malefor make a fantastic team. I know there is nothing you two can't face. But when you need to face something, Malefor will be there with you to face it head on."

"Hehe, don't worry, Cynder, I trust Malefor enough not to kill him... maybe even more then that. You are right; I don't know what he is fully capable of. He might not be as far off from me in power which could help ensure everyone is safe, but I won't know for sure until we one day have a little brawl against one another, but... I will let it slide for today. I don't want to hurt him, and I've already used three of my time powers which... I'm kinda feeling the pain."

"I hope you have another one to heal yourself."

"Unfortunately, I don't think I do. If I use another one, it will be pretty painful on me."

A white circle appeared underneath him and made it's way up his body. As it moved past his wounds and blood, it healed him, and made all the blood disappear. As the ring reached the top of his horns, it disappeared. Spyro snarled slightly as he knew exactly who did it, but he didn't want to look back to see who it was. Ignitus and Terrador stood behind the two, and as Cynder looked back at the two, she asked, "What do you two want?"

"We want to... apologize," Terrador spoke, and seeing Spyro lift his head slightly, he knew he was interested to hear what he had to say, "We, and the other Guardians talked about it. We weren't easy when it came to telling you what we had thought. Now that I think back about what I had said, it made it sound like nothing you did would matter but... I realised how wrong I was in saying that."

His words made Spyro warm up to him a little more. He turned and looked at Terrador while he continued to apologize, "If it wasn't for your training and trust, Malefor would've died, and you saved him that day. Even after what the Dark Master did. You saved all of us when we were captured because of your training, and you saved the whole world because of your training. Also, with many thanks to your lover for keeping you safe."

"Tell me the truth," Spyro spoke to the two, and they were surprised, but they didn't say anything as they wanted to let him speak, "Ignitus... are you saying this because someone is about to die? You wanted to help me prepare for the future before with everything that happened before. What are you trying to tell me? What ever it is, I need to know. Even if it has to do with the darkness, I will... I can hold back my anger towards, Malefor... I... I trust him."

"I can promise you, no one is going to die, from what I know of. I'm not certain of the future, but as of right now, I can say for certain we are not in any danger. The only real threat we have is the apes of course, and those dark spots that those dragons got a hold of that one time, but that was it. And even still, you showed you could handle everything, so I'm sure we aren't in any danger," Ignitus answered honestly, and he is glad he did as he saw his son put a paw on his chest and sigh hugely, "Hehe, don't worry, nothing is going to happen today from what I can see. We only wanted to tell you of what we thought."

Putting his paw back to the ground, Spyro shuck his head and disagreed with them, "It's funny. If you can see everything, Ignitus, then why can't you see that I will never let anything happen to you all?"

They gave warm smiles to hear him say that, and to see that he had calmed down which was good for everyone as well. Looking past the Guardians and over at the three friends, he saw they chuckling with the others and Blitz trying to size up Malefor. Looking back at the Guardians, he did agree with them about one thing, "I will agree with you on one thing, those three do have potential. And when I mean by that, that doesn't mean they will become the Guardians but... They aren't as weak as they appear. Guessing that all out brawl we gave them helped a lot as well."

"It didn't seem like they were training for all that long. I know it took us a little to get up here but, did they really do that well?" Terrador asked.

"Well, I didn't make it easy on them. I made them basically fight the Dark Master worth of strength. They were able to hold off pretty well for a little bit of time; Getting a few scrapes and slashes at the dark dragons, and even though they had failed, I'm surprised they tried to stand. I didn't even tell them about your plan. I just said I wanted to train them, that's all... And it will stay that way, understand?"

"Of course. We are sorry for the trouble we have caused. You are right though, we do need to train. So, I owe you one. When ever you need us to train, all of us Guardians, we will. Hehe, well, maybe not like, first thing in the morning but, we will be up and ready. Sound fair enough?"

"Sounds fantastic. And... I'm sorry as well, for what I said back there. That was... uncalled for. I know it wasn't your fault. You tried all you could. I don't even know if I could've been able to take on the Dark Master, apes, and dark creatures, all in an effort to protect all the eggs..."

"How do you...?"

"Ignitus told me what had happened. It also gave me some information on what could've happened to Ersa but, nothing super helpful. But, going back to what happened, I need those Guardians back, the ones who could take on an army and still be able to fight with their lives. I mean, I can't really ask Ignitus this because he doesn't need to train but, Terrador... If one of those eggs belong to you because you had one with your loved, what would you have done?"

"I... I can't say... I don't want to think about it."

"That's the point, you can't think about it. You would do everything you could to make sure you are strong enough to protect that Hatchling of yours. To me, all of you are my family. I have to keep my family safe like how someone would keep their hatchling safe. If you, Cyril, or Volteer find love one day, you will understand why I push myself every single day. It is tough, but nothing comes close to the permanent pain of losing someone."

Terrador understood where he was coming from with what he was saying, and even though Ignitus didn't need training, he wish he could just in case something ever happened. When Spyro thought about his words, he wonder what Volteer would've done, and since Ignitus could hear his thoughts, he explained to him what happened, "You know you are right about what you are thinking about, Spyro."

"What? About Ersa and Volteer?"

"Even though those two were working constantly on trying to work to bring Malefor back and, other projects, Volteer would always find spare time to train. He thought the same way you did. He trained and trained because he was afraid that something would happen one day... Even though he wasn't successful, he was a very, very valuable in the help of defending what we could of the Dragon Temple. He was strong, smart, a quick thinking; He was everything you'd want in a fight. To be honest, me and him were pretty close in strength. Terrador of course being the strongest. Cyril was kinda a lazy little dragon."

"Hehe, poor Cyril... But this proves my point. Does that mean I need to help you get a dragoness in order for you to train, Terrador? Or... What is it that will make you become the strong dragon that didn't take anything from anyone?"

"I guess I can't really hide it but... it does feel pretty lonely. Malefor, you, and Ignitus all have someone to care for and I guess I'm just, a little jealous. I wish I had someone to protect the way you all do, but I've already had a bad experience with relationships in the past, and after that one bad experience I just, never really wanted to go through something like that again. Already had my heart broken once, don't really feel like going through that again."

"Terrador, there is someone out there for you," Cynder stepped in as she hoped she could provide some help to him, "I mean, look at Spyro. It took us saving the world, him saving me a couple hundred times and a journey from Hell and back for us to be lovers. Hehe, obviously, you could also take the easy route and just fall in love naturally like Malefor and Carith did. Ignitus helped Claire with her past and they've become lovers..."

"We... we aren't..."

"Oh shut up, even a girl like me sees the desperation in your eyes. Not wanting to kiss her and comfort her in a loving way is difficult, isn't it?" Cynder shut Ignitus up, and all he could do was blush as she was right by saying.

"How did you two do it back then? The thing with the arrow when Spyro was hit, when ever you thought you hurt him, but it was just an arrow... how did you two not kiss one another out of comfort. Even when I was comforting Claire out in the rain I... it took everything in me to hold back a gentle, ever so loving kiss for her... What if that was the right thing for me to do and I messed everything up?!"

"Um... Ignitus... Claire is right... behind you," Spyro snickered slightly, but his words caused Ignitus to jumped slightly as he looked behind himself to see she was all the way over near the entrance talking with Carith.

Looking back at his son, he yelled at him, "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, Ignitus, Spyro did get you there. But going back, all it takes is that special moment. Hopefully you don't have to wait as long as we did because... that was... tough, not being able to kiss Spyro with the love I wanted to show him. But, when you do have the moment, things line up perfectly, and it is the most, amazing, heartwarming, body shivering with pleasure inducing kiss you will feel. And it gets better and better the more you kiss your lover."

"Ugh..." Ignitus whimpered, slightly blushing and making a sad looking face as now he wanted to kiss Claire even more, but he held it back with everything in his power.

"You know, Spyro, Malefor acted the same way you did to our... uncalled for plan. When we told him about it, he was just as upset and didn't even want to talk to us. Sounds like you two would get along pretty well, not wanting anyone to die and all," Terrador hinted at it a little, and seeing a big sigh escaped Spyro's mouth as he grinned, he wondered if he already had his mind made up.

"Oh for the love of Ancestors, im not going to kill that poor Dragon, alright? I'm sure I already said I trusted him as well. Don't make me keep saying it. It gives me chills just thinking about his smile... But it also kinda makes me smile to see him happy. But don't tell him that, that stays here, and when we make another conversation, we forget what I said," Spyro slipped up and said, but as he did, he regretted saying that.

"Sorry, Spyro. Everything you've said has already been written in your book so, if Malefor one day goes back to that place, he will know everything you've said about him, even this conversation," Ignitus chuckled seeing the fear on Spyro's face.

"Then before I slip up and say something else, lets just go back and talk with those others. I still need to apologize to the three for what I did."

"Well, don't feel too bad. You did get some training in them so, maybe it will help them out in the long run?"

"Hopefully."

Just before the two could turn back, Spyro asked, "Ignitus, wait!"

"What?"

"The training room... How is it all fixed again?"

"My clone fixed it up over night. Pretty simple fix to be honest."

"Oh, okay."

Walking back over to the others with his lover next to him and the other two following behind, everyone stopped their conversations and looked to see the two were walking over to them. Blitz stood in front of everyone, causing the other four to stop in front of him. They didn't have to ask or wonder for long as he had already spoken before they could, "Spyro, don't be mad at the Guardians. Even if they wanted us to be Guardians, we would've declined."

"Wha... Who told you this?" Spyro asked, and looking at Volteer, he very scarily raised his paw.

"We are very glad you trained us and all but, the Guardians were just looking at things as a worse case. But I know you, you'd never lose a fight; Not to the Dark Master, not to the dark army, not even to the apes. To be honest, I want to be more like you. You're strong, protective, and... You have a smoken hot girl to go with you."

Cynder giggled while Spyro raised his paw ready to slap him, but he quickly apologized, which made Spyro bring his paw back down, "Sorry, Sorry, please don't hurt me. The point is, no one can replace the Guardians. It wouldn't feel right being a Guardian. I like the Guardians we have now. Which one would sound better; Bolt, the yellow Guardian, or, Volteer, the yellow Guardian? It's one of those things where, no matter who you put in their place, Volteer will always be the yellow Guardian for us, along with the others."

Sighing from hearing his words, Spyro chuckled a little as he talked about the Guardians, "You know, it's funny. There was never a purple Guardian and yet, I was still one... But, Blitz, in order to be, me, it takes a lot of training. I saved the Guardians when I was ten, I saved Cynder when I was ten, and I stopped the Dark Master when I was thirteen. I went through a lot to get where I am."

"Well, we still technically have the Dark Master so, I can always fight him when ever. Beating up dark creatures and killing apes aren't a problem, I've been there done that. As for saving someone I love... I'm pretty screwed on that. I mean, of course I have my parents but uh... that would be one weird ass relationship."

"Gross."

"No kidding. But now the problem is, even if I saved her, how would I save her, what if I do something wrong... why does she need saving? How did it go for you all?

"Well, lets see. I saved Cynder from her dark self. Ignitus saved Claire by helping her have a life again, and Malefor... Well, we still don't know how Carith came back so it's still a mystery about that. But, he did use the time power on her so, maybe it has something to do with that that saved her."

"Yeah, speaking of," Malefor interrupted, looking over at Ignitus with a raised brow as he was confused about something, "Ignitus, when I was at the Dragon Temple, you showed me Carith was alive and well, but then she disappeared... Carith, before I continue, know I love you, and I know it isn't true, but... How do I know you aren't using the same trick on me now, only permanently?"

"You think I'm a... clone?" Carith asked, shocked her lover would think such a thing.

"No no no. My Love, I know you aren't a clone. I just wanted to ask."

"Well, Malefor, there are multiple reasons why. One; No way anyone in this world could have that much power. Using that ability takes a lot of power. Two; I can make clones, but not realistic clones. If you were to kiss her, you wouldn't feel anything. The only thing you could feel is her scales, that's it. And Lastly... I can't believe you would call your lover a clone like... Malefor, why?" Ignitus teased him more, and seeing Malefor look at his lover as she frowned and looked away from him made it even better.

He knew an easy way to make her feel better. Looking down at his lover, he whispered to her, hoping this would get her spirits back, "Where and for how long do you want to kiss?"

She looked at him, just barely with her lips in front of his as the only thing that touched were their noses. Smiling with almost an evil grin, she already had the perfect idea for what she wanted, "For calling me a clone, I'm going to make you know I'm not. You can only feel my scales if I was. So, how about you feel those lips of yours on mine for a good thirty minutes, and when you finally escape, tell me if I'm a clone or not."

Seeing those two smile as they had everything planned out made Cynder jealous as she now started to pick on her lover, "You know, now that we talk about the whole clone, thing, I kinda wonder if my lover is a clone. I only ever feel his scales and that's about it."

Turning his head over to her, he smiled at her and asked, "Oh, and what of that kiss I gave you this morning."

"Oh... Oh... Okay... never mind. When can I have another though?"

"You two are terrible. Forgetting to kiss your lover and all," Ignitus joked, but as he said it, the look on Spyro and Malefor's face as they looked at one another instantly sent regret through his body.

"Like you would know, Ignitus," Spyro spoke first.

"It's not like you ever kiss your lover in the lips," Malefor finished the sentence.

Payback for what you did, Malefor laughed in his thoughts, knowing he could hear him. But how red his face was with a scared look on his face made Malefor wonder if he even did hear him. Claire was the same, and since she wasn't a fire dragon, it showed right through her scales for every one to see, even Ignitus. Spyro chuckled as he used his thoughts to communicate with Ignitus as well to embarrass him, It's embarrassing, isn't it. Especially since you both have thoughts of kissing one another. Trying to get his mind a little away from it, Ignitus yelled at him in his thoughts, I'm going to break your arm like I did before! And plus... You don't even know if she has thoughts about kissing me, so you can't even say that.

Oh please, it is so obvious, it's sad. Claire shuck her head and tried just to forget about it, but in a way, she still held on with hope that she would be able to kiss him and love him like how the other do with their lovers. Trying not to make the situation all that embarrassing, she looked at Ignitus and asked him, "Hey, Ignitus, since everyone else is just going to stand here and not really do anything, do you want to go down to the sleeping Chambers and talk like we did before? I found it pretty relaxing."

Ignitus was surprised, but also happy that she wasn't embarrassed enough to not talk to him. He smiled and nodded, "That would be lovely."

Walking over to her, he stopped before he passed Spyro and asked, "Even though I want to hurt you, is there anything else you need from me? I know to never bring up such a thing again and I apologize once again just in case. Just making sure everything is going to be okay."

"Everything is all good here. Me and Malefor got our little revenge in for what happened so, we even?" Spyro asked.

"Alright, fine, we are even."

Walking towards the door with Claire following beside him, the two walked out of the room and to the Sleeping Chambers. As the two approached the door, Ignitus looked at Claire and asked, "Which one do you want me to give a nightmare for what they did? Spyro? Malefor?"

She giggled at him as it was embarrassing for her after what those two had said, but she let them go with a warning, "Well, I will let that one slide. After all, you did already give Malefor a nightmare so, I would feel bad if he couldn't sleep well because you keep giving him constant nightmares. When we go to the Sleeping Chambers and talk, we will forget all about it, I'm sure."


Feeling a little better now that the Guardians agreed it was stupid for them to say, it still got Spyro thinking of what could happen if he wasn't strong enough. Volteer was a little afraid himself as he thought about his death. Seeing his friends alive now, he was scared to see them go too. With these thoughts, he started to think about Ersa, which made him more afraid of the future. Feeling a paw rest on his shoulder, he looked at the paw and then looked up to who it belonged to. It was Cyril's paw, and he looked a little concerned for his friend. Making sure he was okay, he asked him, "You feeling okay? Is there something bothering you?"

He had to be honest with him as he wanted to know what his thoughts were about it, and as Cyril took his paw off his friend's shoulder, Volteer spoke, "I'm still not feeling my best... What those two were talking about got me thinking; We are weak. We are not as strong as we use to be. And because of this, I've been thinking that, they are right. We aren't safe, and we both know that, the other two knew that, and that's why they brought it up... And when it comes to safety... I then think of, Ersa."

"Why?"

"Because... Which one is worse; Dying by yourself... or watching tears from the one you love cry for you as you died?"

"Oh... Yeah, second one sounds way worse."

"What if I'm that dragon and I don't have the strength to do anything? You never know what could happen. I'm going to train with Spyro some. I can't shake the fear and I know the only way I will feel better is by training."

"I'm going to probably feel this tomorrow but... If it makes you feel any better, I will train with you as well so you aren't alone."

Volteer smiled at his help, "Thank you, Cyril."

Walking with Cyril over to where Spyro sat, he over heard the conversation he was having with his Cynder and didn't want to intrude. The two sat down near Cynder and waited for the two to finish their conversation. But just as they sat, it seemed their conversation had just finished as Spyro looked over at the two a little confused and asked, "What are you two up to?"

"Well... I was hoping you could help me and Cyril train if that's okay with you," Volteer spoke, and the words that came out of his mouth made Spyro even more confused then he thinks he has ever been in his life.

"Wha... wait wait wait. You two, intentionally, want me, to train you two...?"

"Um... yes..."

"Hold on... my head is spinning. Cynder, we are in an alternate reality where everything is inside out and the exact opposite."

"Well, technically, if your body was inside out, you wouldn't really last long as your heart would fall from where you chest..."

"Just joking, Volteer, hehe, you crazy little dragon. Point is, I don't think I've ever heard someone intentionally put there life on the line to train with me. Even Malefor isn't that dump."

"So... Is that a no?"

"Don't worry. I will be putting you two through harsh training, but not today. Maybe tomorrow or the next day. I want everyone to be as healthy and healed up as possible. I'm not going to go easy on any of you for putting off your training. And, I might be a little more aggressive with you, Volteer... possibly."

"What? Why?"

"A man needs to be stronger then his opponents if he wants to keep her safe."

"Did... did you hear what I was talking about?"

"I'm assuming you were talking about, Ersa. That's what me and Cynder were talking about as I was wondering how I could help you especially."

"I was also talking about, you know, what those two were discussing. With the whole, we could die, thing."

"Oh yeah, that. I'm not going to let that happen. You two should know that."

"We trust you, Spyro, we truly do. But when it comes to thinking about Ersa, I can't let you be her protector. If I could get stronger with your help, it would help me feel better knowing that I can protect her without difficulty. And, maybe along the way, if Terrador isn't doing anything like usually, I could pass him in strength."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on," Terrador finally intervened as he was listening to the two talk for a good while, "Hehe, that's not going to happen my friend. Spyro, how about you train me some more? After all, it's easier to lose muscle then to get some so, if I keep up this laziness, it will take me forever compared to Volteer here so, how about you help me out?"

"Not to be a Hatchling or anything with my words but, I asked first."

"Want to arm wrestle for it?"

"What? No."

"I win by your forfeit. So when can we start, Spyro?"

"Ladies ladies, please, I already have a lover," Spyro joked which caused the two to stop bickering, which gave him time to talk, "Look, me and Cynder want some time to ourselves. And like I said, either tomorrow or the day after, I will be training you all with as much power as I can think of using. It might not be me fighting you as, with the training room, I can make your opponent as strong as I want. But it would still be fun to fight you all so, we will see how things play out. For now, lets just enjoy this day. We don't get many."

"But..." Volteer said, still wanting to train before he went in search for his lost lover.

"Volteer, calm down. You don't need me to train. The training room is all yours. It may be a house you all made for me, but as long as you aren't charging into my room or do anything that will disturb me or Cynder, then you are free to come up here. And like I said, you can make any enemy you fight as strong or as weak as you want. Although if you almost kill yourself, Yeah, maybe having Cyril here to run and get me might be a good thing."

He sighed as he knew Spyro was right. And since he couldn't get his mind straight, he decided to train by himself for now. Looking over at Terrador, he asked, "Well, you going to train with me then? Me, you, and Cyril?"

"I guess it doesn't hurt to have us all training," Terrador agreed with a smile.

Seeing they were going to train, Spyro looked over at Blitz as he was talking with his friends and apologized as he interrupted them, "Hey, Blitz. Sorry to interrupt but, The Guardians are going to train. Would you like to join them?"

Waving a paw near his neck as Blitz looked at him, he declined, "We would be getting in the way of the more powerful. And with the training you've already given us... we are kinda burned out. We were going to head out and probably take a nap after that. Also need to try and get some ladies now that I know what I need to work on."

"Hehe, as long as you stay away from Cynder, I'm fine."

"Oh, of course man, respect. But if things go south, I'm always available, Cynder."

She giggled at him which made Spyro growl a little bit, causing Blitz to cry, "Well, gotta go!"

Quickly running out of the room with his friends following behind him, Spyro watched as they ran out of the room, and he asked his lover, "Can I hurt him?"

"Oh don't worry. He is all bark and no bite. And like he said, he will stay away as long as we don't break up so, we shouldn't have anything to worry about, right?" Cynder asked as she looked at her lover with a raised brow, and as he looked at her smile, he chuckled, already knowing the answer.

"You're right my love... And I will make sure of that when we go to our room."

"Oh... better be a really good kiss you have for me coming up."

"You know me."

Nuzzling his lover on the side of her neck with his cheek, she smiled. Pulling his neck away, he looked at the other three and said, "Me and Cynder are going to go lay down and enjoy this day. You all can use the training room as much as you like. And if you do need me, just knock. Or I will probably hear a loud crash or cry but... hopefully you three won't be too reckless."

"Don't worry. We will try not to disturb the happy couple," Cyril said, hoping that it wouldn't come to that.

"Alright. Good luck you three. And also, thank you, all of you. I was a little upset... Okay, more then upset when ever you all dying was brought up but, talking to you all again, and with help from others, I know we can all do it. Just like with the Dark Master. If we can make it through that, we can make it through anything."

They all smiled with nods which made Spyro smile back. Walking away from the three with his lover right by his side, Volteer sighed as he knew he wouldn't be able to make a promise he couldn't keep, "Terrador, I'm not going to try and fight something stronger then you but, if it looks like I'm trying to do more then you, it isn't because I'm trying to beat you or impress you. I just... I need this strength. Just like with Spyro, unless I'm as strong and I push myself as much as I can, I will not be satisfied."

"Gem room is always open. Just make sure you don't almost kill yourself, okay?" Terrador said as he had no problem with his way of thinking, just as long as he didn't kill himself doing it.

"I will try."

Standing next to Malefor, Spyro decided to talk to him a little bit before he and his lover went to their room, "Hey, Malefor. Me and Cynder were going to go to our room and cuddle up together as it still is a pretty cold day even in the training room. Are you going to do the same with Carith or are you going to train with the other Guardians?"

"Well, Carith would kill me if I put training over her so, you already know what I'm going to be doing," Malefor chuckled with a smile, and surprisingly, it also made Spyro smile with what he said, "I'm surprised myself that you aren't going to train with them. I know it's because you have a day off and all but, it's training, and your, Spyro."

"And my lover is, Cynder. I've put myself through a lot and most of the time, Cynder knows what I need. And right now, I just need to rest. I've always been on edge, constantly at the ready to attack or defend someone. But for today, I'm going to put my trust in Ignitus to tell me if something is going to happen."

"Good. Good... You rest easy knowing no one will get hurt... Hush little dragon... nothing will happen when you sleep."

"Carith, if he does anything, I know a guy who would love to meet you."

"Stop man! Not funny... But what is funny is, I knew something would cause drama today. And what are the odds. Cry Hatchling Spyro was the one to cause the drama. Tell me, was it because of something you saw? Was it because, the big bad Dark Master is living right down your door?"

"Shut up. You knew what it was."

"Funny thing about that," Carith cut in, wanting to embarrass her lover, "Malefor acted the same way you did when he found out what the Guardians were planning. He was so mad, he stormed out with me and Cynder following behind him. I asked him on our way there why he was so angry, even though I already understood it... But..."

"Carith... Don't do it," Malefor whimpered as he blushed and put a paw over his face.

"I love you, Malefor, and I will make it up to you when we lay down. But, going back, when I asked him why, he was really open about it. He felt terrible for you. He was going on about how it was his fault you ever had these fears. He felt terrible and he blamed these thoughts and actions the Guardians had all on himself. He said he was willing to help you and hoped he could calm you down."

"Aw. Malefor, you'd do that, for me? I really was wrong about you," Spyro teased him as he put a paw on his chest while Malefor put his paw back on the ground, still blushing from embarrassment.

Putting his paw back to the ground, Spyro wondered why he didn't talk to him then and asked, "Wait, if that's the case then, why did Cynder step forward before you did?"

"I was a little scared that you'd attack me or something from anger, so, when Cynder stepped forward, I decided it would be best to let her handle it. And being mushy is kinda your thing," Malefor explained as he thought about Spyro's dark form and what it could do to him if he said or did something wrong.

"At least you put some thought into it. Shame too. If you would've calmed me down, I probably would've talked with Cynder a lot about you becoming my friend."

"Don't... Don't do that... Don't you dare say, I would've, but you really wouldn't have. But if you really were... I'm going to hate my existence."

"Well, Carith did give you a good word about what you did, and maybe Cynder will give you a good word as well so, maybe I might put it into a little more consideration."

"Little more is better then none, that's for sure."

"Well, we will see. We will talk to you either later in the night or tomorrow."

"Alright. But just remember! I was going to help you so, who knows, I could help a lot more in the future."

"Uh huh... Like I said, Me and Cynder will talk about it."

Malefor sighed seeing Spyro smile as if he was teasing him or getting his hopes up, and there wasn't much for him to do so he could only hope that he would come to some kind of agreement with his lover that would help him. The two turned away from the other two and walked out of the training room and over to their room. With them gone, the Guardians were still talking amongst one other, wondering what they were going to do. While they talked back and forth, Carith already had an idea of what her and her lover should do, "Hey, Malefor. I guess since everyone else is doing other things, that means we could have time all to ourselves to do what ever we wanted. We could kiss, or snuggle, or whisper to one another... or... we could... do something more?"

Malefor wasn't even listening as her voice was a little low when she spoke and he was thinking if whether or not they would be discussing if Spyro should or shouldn't befriend him. Slightly frowning as she wish he would've caught on even a little to her last sentence, she even let out a soft and sad sigh. Poking him in his back side with her tail blade, he looked at her seeing her slightly sad and frowning face and cried, "Oh no! What did I do?! I'm so sorry! I was thinking and I didn't hear what you were saying... please forgive me... I'm swear I'm listening now. No distractions."

She wish she could have the power to say what she said before, but couldn't as now that he said that, she knew there was no way she could. Instead, she just had to stick with what they usually did, "I said that, since everyone is doing something else, we can lay in bed together, snuggle up and kiss without a distraction. I don't know what else we could do but, maybe... if you have a suggestion... we could do that."

"A... suggestion? Um... I don't really know anything else beyond snuggling and kissing. Well, of course nuzzling but... If I think of something, I will let you know."

"I love you, Malefor, I want you to know that."

"Carith, I'm scared. What did I do?"

"Nothing. You are just my cute little dragon, that's all."

"I did something. Which means I need to give you a good enough kiss to make you forget about what ever you are thinking."

"Depends how good of a kiss it is."

"Challenge Accepted."

Knowing and feeling confident in himself, Malefor knew he would have to make the kiss good for not listening to his lover when she spoke to him. Even as they walked out of the training room with one another, he was on high alert, ready to listen if she was to say something. With the two heading to their room to lay down, The Guardians still stood their, talking with one another about what kind of training would be the best for them to undergo. With the first to speak in the conversation was Volteer as he was the one who was most into the conversation, "Stronger enemies, tougher challenge, more muscle gain. Or we can do weaker enemies, only there will be four times as many. Strong enemies, A little easier challenge, maybe a more helpful muscle gain."

"We've been sitting here talking for so long about this, everyone else had time to talk and leave. So it's either we are going to fight, or we are going to sit here and talk about how we are never going to fight. How about, you two both come at me and we will see who the winner will be. You both already know, and so do I so, it will be way more fun for me when I win," Terrador suggested as he knew it would be faster and easier to go up against the two then anything else.

"I would rather fight, Spyro. At least he can heal me with the time power," Cyril declined the idea.

Sorry you three, but none of you are going to be training today, A voice spoke through their minds, and they all already knew who it was. What do you mean? Terrador asked through his mind. I need you all down here so we can talk some more about the future. Even if you all train, that doesn't mean we will be ready for what is to come. We need to discuss topics such as the Dark Master's return, Spyro and Malefor's friendship, and, What If, case, scenario. Volteer was against the idea as he knew training would help a lot more, Ignitus, I already know everything I need to know. And if something happens, I can think fast enough. I need to get stronger, I have to get stronger if I want to be prepared for the future, we all have to be. Since the others could also hear the conversation they were all having with Ignitus, Cyril did agree with his friend on his idea, but Ignitus still wanted them to come down to the Chambers, Volteer, don't worry, you will be able to train. We should just get this out of the way now so we all can be prepared rather then being caught off guard. I know how much Ersa means to you, and you will get the chance to train. But you know how important planning is. Volteer sighed as he decided it would be best to agree as Ignitus would be persistent and make them come to the Chambers sooner or later. Alright, fine. We will be down there as soon as we can. The joy he had for training now disappeared as he had to abandon the training room for planning.

"We better not keep him waiting I guess. He will probably keep using his little mind powers to force us more and more so, I guess we can train some other time of day," Cyril said even though he wished he could've trained with the other two, but plans had changed, "I know you aren't really happy with going down there when you could've trained but, look on the bright side, maybe he knows something we don't. Maybe this, something, could help us in the long run."

"I guess... It would probably also be better if we train while Spyro watches so he can help us see what we aren't. He has mastered his abilities, and maybe he can help me find other ways of defense using my powers. Like how he can use his abilities as armor depending on what condition he is in or what he is fighting," Volteer agreed which helped him a little bit more so he didn't feel all bad for leaving the training room.

"It would help. And maybe even Ignitus knows something that can help you. He knows everything after all."

"Not... everything..." Volteer murmured as he walked away from the two.

"What was that about?" Terrador asked as he looked over at Cyril.

"It's about, Ersa. But he will be fine. He is just scared and Ignitus won't give him the truth of what happened to her or where she is so, I'm guessing he believes that Ignitus already knows what happened, but is keeping it a secret... Come on, we should walk with him so he doesn't feel alone in this," Cyril ended his words by walking with Terrador over to Volteer's side as they headed to the Guardians Chambers.


Ignitus sighed, glad that he was able to convince the Guardians not to train. With that sigh, and him looking down at the bed and not at her, Claire wondered what he was up to. He seemed to be stressed, or even bothered by something which made her worried as well. Since no one was around for the time being, she wanted to ask him and hope that he was as open and honest with her as he should, "Ignitus, what's wrong? When I asked you before about why we couldn't just lay here with each other, you only apologized and said this had to happen. I need you to tell me the truth so I know how to help you. I can keep a secret, I promise."

Looking at her, the cool feeling coming from her body as they had been snuggling up with one another when laying down on their bed made it comfortable for him. Even though he couldn't read her mind and figure out what her true intentions were, he believed he could trust her. How will we ever be lovers if I keep secrets from her? He thought to himself, only making him feel more guilty if he didn't say. Since he had the time to explain, he did, "I will... I will be honest with you. But promise me, this will stay between us."

"You trust me with this information, so I won't say anything... Which, in advance... thank you for trusting me."

"I don't want to lie to you, and I don't want you to be worried. The reason I called them down here is, Well... I can only stall for so long but, I can't have the Guardians training, especially not, Volteer. If they get the taste of training again, and with the way Volteer wants to train to protect Ersa... It will be a lot more difficult if we have to calm him down by force. If Volteer is a lot stronger then he is now, it will pose a problem for everyone."

"So, without him training, since he is a lot weaker, it will be easier to subdue him in case he attacks out of rage."

"And I'm afraid he will attack one of us, maybe because he blames us for not being strong enough. He could attack Spyro for the promise he made to him but, she was already died and he knew that. Or, he attacks Malefor out of sadness and anger because he believes it is his fault. Either way, no matter what happens, when he finds out, it's not going to be good for anyone. So, I need more time to prepare, but... I don't know what to do."

"Maybe you should... tell him the truth."

"What?"

"Look at how my old lover turned out. You remember what you told me, and what he was going to do to me with his friend. It would've tough, especially since I believed he loved me, but, it's the truth, and sooner or later, I would've found out. And since he died, and now I was with you, I wasn't as upset. All I'm saying is, you could either wait, or maybe talk Spyro down from giving him too much hope. I like Spyro, I do. He is a very helpful dragon. But, I don't think he likes the idea of anyone he or his friends know being died."

"But I tried to talk to him about not getting his hopes up and he wouldn't believe me. He didn't want to believe she was died but... The only time from my memory when I couldn't find someone was either those who wondered off into the dark parts of the outside world that are swarming with darkness, or when Spyro and his lover beat the Dark Master in the volcano. I've looked and I can't find her. The old Chronicler is right, she died that day, and there isn't anything I or us in the past could've done."

"Ignitus, you know, Volteer. You've been with him and the other Guardians for a very long time, and since you are the Chronicler, you know everything about him. What do you think deep down he will react when you tell him the truth? And how long did Volteer know her before everything had happen?"

"They knew one another for about a month... But... Volteer said that, he wanted to be her lover, to be her mate. And he is so sure of himself which only makes it a lot more difficult to walk up to him, or even sit down with him and tell him, 'Look, She's died, it's time to move on, but we are here for you'. I just... I... I don't know. If only like before we're we could use the vision of another past to prepare but, we can't... I can't."

"Then you don't have to."

"What do you mean?"

"Like I said, Spyro is very helpful to everyone around here. Volteer will feel crushed and probably hate Spyro for getting his hopes up, but... He won't let anything happen to Volteer. Even if he were to attack him, he would do everything to calm him down. With me, he used a scare tactic to get me to leave. He wanted to see if I would and, I didn't, so he trusted me. Maybe he has some way of calming others down. Who else has he been able to calm down aside from his lover of course."

"Um... Well... he was able to calm down Malefor when ever the darkness attacked him. He's been able to severely calmed down Carith without even realizing it because he trust her lover. And he honestly has been able to calm us all down with his training and strength, which makes us all feel a little better... Maybe Spyro could be the key that could help Volteer out. He knows the truth, and he can tell him why he covered up the truth... I could tell him why I covered the truth..."

As he was catching on to something, the door opened with the first one walking in was Volteer. Behind him was Terrador as he was the next one to enter, and Cyril was the last one in. He closed the door behind himself and the three walked in and over to the front of his bed. Volteer stood at the front of Ignitus's bed looking down at him while the other two stood off to one side of him with Terrador on his right and Cyril on his opposite. Tapping his claws in a wave on the ground, he waited for Ignitus to say something, and to him, he was taking too long, so he asked, "You said we need to be planning and yet you aren't even bringing forward what kind of plan we need to be preparing for. If you are done wasting my time, I'd like to go back to training."

"Whoa, Volteer, calm down. What's wrong?"

"Some of us have to train around here. I don't need books, or plans, or, anything else right about now aside from training. Just tell me what we need to be planning and I will come up with a plan that can counter a counter, a worse case scenario, best case scenario, middle case, and even a, what if scenario to plan for that. Now what is it so I can go?"

"Is that so. Well, let's test that little theory. Malefor turns into the Dark Master again and attacks Cynder. Tell me your plan."

"Fine. Worse Case; Spyro could kill him. Best Case; Spyro saves him and forgives Malefor for what happened depending on the circumstances. Middle case; Spyro is able to help save him but doesn't trust him for what happened. What if scenario; What if we just use the time power to put him to sleep while we work out a way to take his powers away? Okay, we are done, can I go now?"

"Volteer, please call down, we are all your friends here. There is no need to be snappy."

"If you were my friend, then you would know that I want to train, but you won't let me do that. It's a little suspicious though that you bring up Malefor and the Dark Master though. What, do you not want us to be trained when he attacks so you can get some more amusement out of watching my chest get dug into by a monster?! I don't see a reason I shouldn't train as all it will do is help me, so why are you taking that away from me?"

"I want Spyro to be there to watch during your training in case you get injured or worse. It will also be better if you all train with Spyro instead so him, and you all can find what you all can really do. And, like you said, Spyro has already mastered his abilities so he could help you with more ways to use these powers as a defense. Maybe he can even show you a way to use your powers in an offensive way as well."

Volteer sighed with a small grumble in his breath. Seeing his anger already made it seem to Ignitus that it would be nearly impossible to calm him down if he was to learn of what happened. I'm not use to seeing Volteer this frustrated before. It's a little scary to see and yet... I remember he gained his happy go lucky attitude because of, Ersa, Ignitus thought to himself. Instead of bringing up training or anything that would make him frustrated, he instead tried to calm him down rather then putting fire to the flame, "Volteer... I've never seen you so mad before. I know you want to train but, what happened to being joyful? The times where you would shake your body from side to side while putting one paw up and the other one down constantly from one side to another while saying words that meant the same thing?"

"There is no point for me to be happy right now. I'm weak, I have knowledge that I can't do anything with, and unlike you and those other two, there is no reason to use my wings unless I have someone I love underneath them to comfort... I know I shouldn't complain. We have everything and so much more compared to other out there, but... My mind, everything I learned, everything I studied, prepared for, designed, and theorized about... nothing could've prepared me for the future... nothing could've prepared me for her death..."

"Volteer..."

"I know she's died, Ignitus. I know you looked in her past to see. A mind like yours is similar to mine. We are desperate to know the equation to a problem. When a new element comes up, we are quick to dig it clean of everything for the first neutron to its last atom... And when it comes to her death, you were just as curious as I was to know. And if she was died, you'd hide it from me, and if she's alive, you would've already told me as soon as possible... So, look me in the eyes and tell me the truth... What happened to her?"

Ignitus felt terrible seeing and hearing the desperation from his voice as all he wanted was the truth. He thought back to the conversation he had had with Claire, and he thought it would've been much easier, but with how he looked and sounded now, there was nothing he could do to bring himself to tell his friend the truth. I'm... I'm sorry, Claire, but... I can't bring myself to tell him the truth. It sounded easy before but... when he is right in front of me... I just... I can't, Ignitus said in his thoughts to Claire's. She tried to be as helpful as possible as she understood the pressure he must be going through, Ignitus, it's okay. Just go with the next best thing. But think quickly or else he will get suspicious. I know you can do it. He sighed for a couple of seconds to quickly think of something. In those seconds, he was able to find a perfect way to tell him without hurting him, or telling him the truth, "Volteer... There are things that not even I look into. Your lover's life... your mate's, life, is just something I don't want to look into to. But I will make you a promise right now. If the day comes where you give up on her, where you feel like she truly is died, then I will let you read the book for yourself. Only you will know, and only you can respond in what you feel is necessary."

It sounded like a very tempting offer for Volteer, but it still made him eager to know if she was died or alive. He couldn't think about it either as Ignitus would read his mind and make him change it, or he would probably try to interrupt his train of thought and make him forget what he was saying. It was the only option he gave him, so with a sigh and a nod, he agreed, "It's never going to happen but... Fine. I will agree to your terms. I've been to where she supposedly died to everyone, but I'm not giving up... I will never give up."

"And that's fair. I will not stop you from your search. Just make sure if you go anywhere, go with Spyro. Especially if it is outside the walls of Warfang. He will keep you safe."

"I know he will... He's saved me multiple times. And now I need to save, Ersa."

Turning away from Ignitus, Terrador backed up out of his way and let him walk past. As he walked to his bed, Ignitus spoke, "I know what it's like... to feel lonely."

Volteer stopped from his words, wondering what he meant by that. He didn't look at him as Ignitus continued to speak, "Those ten years, when you all were captured... I was all by myself for so long. I had no one to turn to, no one who loved me, no one to care for me. But... I did have my family. My mother and father were survivors of the Dark Master's attack. If she is... died, we are here for you. We are the family you can come to if you feel lonely. Please believe me when I say that... I know what it is like to feel lonely."

Frowning slightly from his words, he had never really given it thought about what had happened while he was captured. Turning his head to look at his friend, Volteer felt a little bad now for being so aggressive towards him and apologized for the way he acted, "I'm, sorry... When I was captured... those years were pretty tough. And with life now, I don't know how I made it through... And if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't look young, or have smooth and fixed wings compared to the... abused ones that they ripped and cut."

"We all went through a lot. The last thing I want is for us to go through such a thing again. By healing everyone and bringing us back to our younger selves, I wanted to erase the past from our memories. I know not everything deserves to be erased from the past, but, I do still believe that, we will make it through what ever challenge comes our way. We survived then, and we can now."

"Hehe, with Spyro and Malefor watching our backs now, yeah, I'm pretty sure we will be fine... And, now that you say it, we have come a long way, haven't we. To get to here."

"Hehe, yeah... we definitely have. I just hope those times are over."

"Me too... But, I'm going to pull a Malefor in saying but, if you had no one to turn to, or love, or care for, does that mean your parents weren't there for you?"

"Hehe, sorry. What I meant was, I had no one as in, I had no lover to love. No friends to turn to, no friends I could care for and protect. And when you all came back, and things had calmed down after Spyro rescued Cynder... Hehe, Spyro caught me crying out in the back of the Dragon Temple because I was so glad you all were back. And, just like now, he even had Cynder with him when he went looking for me."

"I feel bad for her. He never lets her go anywhere without him. She must've been scared out of her mind."

"Well, that's the funny thing, she actually enjoyed having him walk with her everywhere. Which, you know, is pretty obvious."

"Hehe, yeah, I guess you are right."

"Those were, pretty good times... But, the whole point is, we are here for you. If it turns out she is dead, and I'm not saying she is, I just want you to know, we will make it through it, together."

He nodded at his friend with a smile and thanked, "Thank you, Ignitus."

Ignitus nodded back at his yellow friend. Walking back over to his bed, Volteer jumped up onto it, curled up into a ball and laid down. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about the bad, but instead, he thought about what the two did back then. Both Terrador and Claire were confused both for different reasons, and Terrador was the first to speak of his curiosity, "Wired. Why is he going to bed so early? We still have a some good sunlight left."

After he spoke his question, Claire spoke hers with a pretty big blush, "Ignitus... I know it's... Embarrassing to ask but, how did you go ten years without kissing or loving someone? You were a lot older then eighteen years of age so... how did you do it?"

Ignitus blushed pretty hard at her question, but was able to answer both their questions, "Well, First, to answer your question, Terrador, he isn't going to bed. Lets just say my clone is having to write down a lot of words just on his thoughts as he is going crazy with them about a lot of things. And as for your question, Claire... it was very hard to think about kissing or... other things because, the world was overrun by apes, and the Guardians were captured, and I was trying to stay alive along with helping my parents so... I didn't really have time to think of myself."

Claire gasped at his words, "Wait! So you mean to tell me... You haven't really, put your lips against your lovers lips?!"

"Hehe, Claire, is this is a test? I promise you, I've never been with anyone else out there."

"How... But... I... Wait. That would mean that you three also haven't had lover's before, have you."

"Well... I was kinda in a relationship before but... yeah. Things happen," Terrador said, not really wanting to bring that up.

"Well, technically, the only one who has been in a relationship is of course, Volteer. But other then that, no, none of us have had lovers before."

"You poor, poor dragons. Why don't you all go out there and find someone. Being in love, the first kiss and the kiss after is like waking up to a new day that's warm and sunny..." Pausing for a second, she took a peek at Ignitus before looking back at the other two, and she tried to hint to her wish to be lovers, "Honestly, being kissed or pecked on the check is like, a three. But being kiss on the lips, like a ten. Never really got to the making out part but... maybe that will be an experience for someone else I love."

The three all caught on to her little hint which made them blush, but not as hard as Ignitus did, and Terrador teased him for that, Hey, Ignitus, I don't think I have to be a super genius like Volteer but, I'm pretty sure she is hinting that she wants the heat from your lips and less from your body. Just saying. His words only made it worse as he ducked his head and put his paws over his head from how red and embarrassed he was. Looking at the other two, she wondered if she would be able to get a kiss from him one day. So, she mouthed the word and hope they could understand, "Well...?"

Both Terrador and Cyril gasped as they were able to read exactly what she said. They looked at one another and then back at her. Their reactions made her blush as she realised what she had said. Hearing his friends gasp, Ignitus picked up on his head and looked at them, then he looked at Claire and asked, "What? What happened?"

Claire looked away and up towards the the corner of the room, not showing her blush, and also hoping that the other Guardians wouldn't say anything. Luckily, they were both nice enough to keep things vague while also giving him his answer. As Terrador walked over to his bed, he spoke as he did, "All I'm saying is, if you are doubtful about something, you are wasting your time. It will happen if you just say something, or even do something but, what do I know?"

His words only made Ignitus even more confused. Cyril did the same thing as he walked over to his bed after Terrador had laid down, "You know, Terrador is right. There is no reason you should be doubting yourself. If you feel like you should say it, then say what you have to to be happy. And if you are ever worried about what could happen, image what will happen if it came true."

With Cyril now laid down on his side, Ignitus looked at him, then over to Terrador and asked both of them out loud, "What is, 'it'? What am I supposed to be knowing? What am I wasting my time on? If this is some kind of mystery this late, there is no way I'm going for it. So are you two going to tell me what, 'it', is, or...?"

The two had already closed their eyes and pretended to fake snore, telling him that they wanted to sleep. He grumbled at the two, and looking back at Claire, he asked, "Can you believe those two? It's funny how Terrador picks on Volteer for wanting to go to bed so early and yet, there he is, laying down himself, trying to take a nap. Unbelievable that dragon is sometimes."

"Hehe, I mean, since things are kinda nice and peaceful, I don't blame anyone for going to bed early. After all, I'm sure me coming in and trying to assassinate everyone didn't exactly help everyone sleep so well. But now since they have nothing to worry about; No training, no threat. They are probably just enjoying this time to sleep," Claire giggled from the memory, and Ignitus had to nod as he now understood one reason the three could be wanting to go to bed so early, "So, now that we have this time to ourselves, what do you want to do?"

"Well, I am comfortable just laying here with you. And, Claire, you know it wasn't your fault for that attempted assassination, right?"

"Hehe, I know, Ignitus, you comfort me all the time because of it."

"Oh, hehe, sorry."

"And I know you are comfortable laying here with me, but, we could always go somewhere else for privacy."

"Where do you have in mind?"

"I don't know, you were talking about the White Isle which, sounds like fun to go to."

"Hehe, you want to go there? The only thing there is books, more books, a couple of rooms which; Two doors contain nothing but millions to billions of books on dragon lives, another door contains a pool of visions, and the last room is, well, my sleeping room... kinda hard to sleep on that bed since the old Chronicler slept there. I have nothing against him... kinda, but it's wired to sleep in a dead dragon's bed."

"Sounds like you're comfortable when you sleep there. But, wait, I thought you said that the Chronicler doesn't need sleep. Why is there a bed in the White Isle?"

"Any one can still sleep. Like, even now, I don't really need to sleep. It's just something that feels good to do, especially now that I have you. But, if you really want to see the White Isle, I can take you there right now if you want to. Compared to flying there, we could be there in a blink of an eye."

"It would be fun to snoop around. And maybe even read all about your past."

"Oh... That... I don't know if you want to read my past."

"Of course I would."

"Even for someone like Volteer who could read at holy speeds, it would take him ten years to get to my twenties. That's if he never slept and he always kept reading. Up to the time I am born, everything I do is written down. When I walked, what I did, what I thought about. There is nothing interesting in there. I'm not saying you can't read my past as, I give you permission but, it's pretty boring."

"Well, there is one thing I have always wondered ever since I got here."

"How you were going to assassinate one of us?"

"Hehe, well, that too. But one another thing I wondered was, how did you all become Guardians? Did you all know each other or something or, did it happen by chance?"

"You know, you are the first to ask this. I'm surprised Spyro has never asked me before but, it's a little understandable."

"Well, all I know is, from the old stories, many Guardians lost their lives during the battle against Malefor's armies. I'm going to guess this was made up to make Malefor look like a bad guy again? And it's also wired because, I thought the Guardians were supposed to be the masters of that one element. How could there be more then one Guardian, or, master, of fire? So, shouldn't there always be one Guardian of one element compared to two?"

"Well, I wouldn't say, many, Guardians, lost there lives, more like, four others. When ever we were chosen, the Guardians that chose us were still very much alive. We got along with them very well. And while Warfang was being prepared, We took command over there while the other four watched the Dragon Temple. We sometimes switched as to who watched where, but it mainly felt like home in Warfang. And, yes, there can only be one Master of fire, and at the time, Sear was the Guardian of Fire."

"Sear? Well... I guess before we get into the Guardians, how was life like when you became Guardians?

"Us becoming Guardians... hehe, well, the beginning was, difficult. Volteer was smart, pretty straight forward and got to the point back then. The reason he spoke in such big words later on is because of, Ersa. With all the work they did, and how much fun they had, they learned a lot together. And as for Cyril... He was a difficult one. He didn't really like Volteer since the beginning."

"Why? Cyril doesn't seem like the difficult type. He seems fine to me."

"Well... Lets just say he had a brother who he looked up to and admired. But one day, his brother got into a bad fight with another, yellow, Dragon, and his brother... died. Ever since then, Cyril hated yellow dragons for what they did, and when he saw he was going to be working with one, he hated his guts. He later opened up and talked about what happened and they became, easier to handle. Volteer was sacred to even go to bed because he thought Cyril would kill him."

"So Cyril was more fiery then he was cool... Huh. Well, going back, why did they select you four? We're they getting old or something?"

"When Warfang was being built, they knew it would be impossible for them to move back and forth, trying to keep everything well organised and safe. So, they were looking for Guardians to watch over Warfang and we were the lucky ones. It's just, really hard to keep something safe if Malefor's dumb ass keeps attacking. Then, he attacked it again with the Destroyer... then he attacked one last time... with his army which the Guardians took care of but... the repairs... Why am I upset that I give Malefor nightmares?"

"Hehe, I know I would if I could too... But, man, hearing it now, you all have gone through a lot over the years. With the apes, the Dark Master being your best friend, the dark creatures themselves and just, so much more. How did you manage all of this? Even after all that, I don't think I would be able to walk around with a smile on my face."

"It was tough but, at times, we would be able to have that laugh, just that one moment of joy that would push us to keep moving. Remember how I talked about Cyril's anger? Well, One day, when Warfang was being built, we all laid down in the grass near a camp fire and we... we all talked. We learned a lot about one another that day. It was a little easier to get along after that but, it was times like those that I fought, in hopes that we could lay down in the forest once again in peace; Absent of war... It was a time, that's for sure."

"I would love to read about that time, if you wouldn't mind."

"Hehe, not at all. Just, promise you won't pick on any of us when you read about how many times we shed a tear or something."

"I will... try. But it sounds like back then wasn't as fun as it was now."

"Well, that all changed when Malefor approached us."

"Ow, and when did this happen?"

"It happened a little later after that night at the fire. During that day, the Guardians came over and switch us out so they could discuss the plans more with the moles, I even remember that Volteer helped out a lot as well. But as we were chilling out in the Chambers... Hehe, I still remember how he approached us. He came in through the front door, looked at all of us, and said, 'I'm going to run things around here. Who ever is the strongest of you four shall fight me. If I win, I take over the role of all four Guardians'. This was the first time we had ever even seen a purple dragon so, this was very new to us. We laughed at him, wondering who he was and why he was purple... Times were pretty good after that time we met him."

"Wait, what happened? A fight? An altercation? And what exactly happened to the other Guardians?"

"Maybe some other time, I will tell you. History is, very confusing. And, it's a little tough to go back and think of those memories."

"Is that why you've been shivering at some points when you spoke?"

"Hehe, yeah."

"It's okay, Ignitus. That time is over."

"I know, it's just... I've always had this fear, and I'm sure many have but, you ever have that fear where, things seem good but, you feel as though, if you blink, or if you sleep, as soon as you open your eyes, you realise that everything was just a dream. Hehe, I know I control dreams and all so I know this isn't one but, even still, it's scary for me to think about," Pausing for a second, he laid his head down on the bed with a frown and continued, "That's why I pushed Spyro to train those three. I know it could be over in the blink of an eye, I know something could happen. Me and The Guardians, Malefor... we've all been through it."

Laying her head down next to his, she nuzzled him in hopes it would help. Pulling away from the nuzzle, she looked to see he was smiling a little more then she was which made his frown disappear. Laying her head down next to his and closing her eyes, she agree and disagreed with his way of thinking, "When I think about the future, I'm not all that scared, and you want to know why?"

"Why?" He asked, directing his eyes towards her.

"Hehe, because, even when I close my eyes and everything goes black, I can still see that bright red smile of yours. When I think of the future, I still see that bright red smile, that warm feeling, the jokes and laughs we have in the Chambers. I'm not worried at all. Spyro and Malefor are both purple dragons with four elements that kick ass. I mean, just Spyro's punch ripped the hallway in half. Combined with his help from Malefor, what's there to worry about?"

"Yeah... what is there to worry about?"

Yawning as she now felt tired, she apologized with a giggle, "Sorry. I was hoping we could have gone to the White Isle but, now even I am tired. I guess this peace is pretty relaxing... I'm snuggled up and happy, and I hope you are too."

"Of course I am, Claire. I will always be happy with you around."

"That makes two of us. But, if you have something else to talk about, I'm right here if you need me, okay?"

"You've been a big help and I know you are tired. I have nothing else to talk about. We can talk more in the morning."

"Okay... Goodnight, Ignitus."

"Goodnight, Claire."

With Claire now falling asleep along with the others that slightly snored, Ignitus laid there with his eyes opened. His mind racing with fear and memories of the past. What if we do go back to that time? Warfang has been able to withstand attacks of course but... what if there is that one day something goes wrong. Ugh! My worries of the past, the future, someone's death, the whole thing with Ersa...! It's all just... it's all too much to handle... I... I need to make sure Spyro is as strong as possible. He can protect everyone... I know he can. We can't lose anyone... not now, not ever, Ignitus thought with fear as his mind raced with questions left unanswered and fears of the unknown. I can have a clone at the pool of visions just in case, one is writing down dragon history, and another one I can have snoop around all over the Isle for anything that can help me, anything that can help, Spyro. Picking his head up and looking at all the Guardians, listening to their slight snoring, he wondered what he could do to help them out as well. I have to let them train. Taking them away from that training they were going to have probably wasn't a good idea... If Spyro trains them, I have to let it happen. Even if Volteer gets strong, he will not be stronger then Spyro. He will help... I know he will. Laying his head back down next to Claire's, he apologized in his thoughts, I'm sorry for this, Spyro. Giving you a nightmare is the only way I know that will push you to train as hard as possible. I will make up for what I'm about to do, I promise. Closing his eyes, he tried to get some rest in hopes it would take his mind off of things which didn't provide much help.


"Haha! Lets see Spyro beat that kind of record. What are we at like, kiss number twenty? Maybe twenty-two... Oh Hell, I lost count,' Malefor asked himself back and forth, wondering what number they were at, and while he did that, Carith laid with her back on the bed and her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth with her eyes closed as she had been completely satisfied with the kissing that her lover was giving her, "Um, Carith, are you okay? Oh no, did I do something wrong again?! Tell you what, I have a fantastic idea. Instead of saying I did something wrong, agree with me that we should say Spyro did something wrong, just to see what his lover will say. What do you, say, to that?"

Opening her eyes and looking up at her lover as he stood on top of her with her back on the bed, she put her tongue back in her mouth and declined the idea, "I'm satisfied. I'm no where near disappointed or, upset, or, any negative feeling for that matter. You have done very, very well to satisfy my needs for your lips. But what I wonder is, why are you trying to pick on that poor Dragon? Spyro trusts you, he is contemplating on being your friend, and you want to see if we can make his lover turn against him?"

"Oh... Oh no! Abort! Abort!"

"Hehe, yeah, I thought so. And plus, just like them, how do you expect we turn those two against one another? That's next to impossible."

"I'm the Dark Master, remember? I have control over the darkness in Cynder, which means I could make her turn into her dark form and attack him at any point. She will feel bad and run away. Then, that's when you come in and tell Cynder to move on because she is better then Spyro and he would never understand that he isn't good enough for her. Bam. Full proof plan... or I think it's called, Fool Proof plan... I don't remember."

"Oh no, my lover's making a plan. Malefor, I'm going to help you on this so you can now how badly your plan will backfire. One, having control over Cynder and her darkness isn't even a bad thing. They will just turn it into another way they can mess around and tease one another while they kiss. And also, Spyro has more control over the darkness so, I'm sure she would be fine. And if I told Cynder to move on, hehe, she would come back, Bitch slap you like she did that one day in the training room, and then she would run to Spyro's wings, they would make out, and everything would be fine. Aside from the fact that he would hate you."

"Oh... Hell... Not the Bitch slap. Oh yeah, speaking of that, did you know Spyro slapped me the same day too?"

"Hahaha. When did he... when did he do that?" Carith laughed, feeling slightly bad for her lover, but it was still funny to her.

"I thought he said he was going to help me with something, but instead of saying he was going to help me, he said he was going to slap me, and he did! He actually slapped me! I was rubbing the side of my face for the longest time too because of him. First Cynder, and now Spyro. I wish I was still feared. At least then, I got the respect I deserved. Now I'm nothing more then a slap bag."

"Careful what you wish for, Malefor," A voice emerged from the darkness.

The voice caused Malefor to scream slightly as his scales felt like they had stuck up on end. Before the figure even walked out of the darkness, Malefor put a paw on his chest and sighed hugely before he started yelling at Ignitus, "Ignitus, you bastard! Knock man. You scared me half to death. And why do I have to get haunted by you? I'm gonna get the Ghostbusters on your ass if you keep sneaking in here."

"Stop using out dated references no one knows. I'm sure no one has read that book... Aside from me."

"What?! Carith, you've read Ghostbusters, right? It was about those four male dragons... which, a newer book came out and made them all females for some reason... But still, you have to at least read one of those books, right?"

"Um... would you hate me if I said no?" Carith was hesitant to say.

"Wha... Carith. Okay okay, I will give you pass, but please tell me, you've at least read like... what was a good book I read when I was like... eight...? Oh yeah! Please tell me you read like, Goosebumps. Everyone read that book back then."

"Sorry..."

"Carith... no..." Malefor whimpered.

"Yeah, Sorry, Malefor, not even I read that book when I was young," Ignitus chuckled.

"That's because you were a sick little dragon. Did you even read back then? Wait, I've got a couple more, and please tell me one of these rings a bell. Alright, Um, 'How To Kill A MockingBird'? 'The Dragon, The Witch, And The Wardrobe'? 'Dairy Of A Wimpy Dragon'?! These were like, the books back then. There are so much more and I know you have to know one of them... right?"

She shuck her head slowly, not knowing a single one of the books at all. Pulling a paw up, he started to pet the top of her. Moving his paw from her head, he moved his paw back down to behind her neck and repeated a couple of times as he whispered, "You poor, poor, Dragon. Don't worry, your lover's got you... You've fallen down, but I got you... What about, 'Lord Of The Rings'?"

"Nope," Carith giggled.

"Damn."

"Don't worry, Carith," Ignitus spoke, "Spyro hasn't really read any of those books either so, he is also missing out on history. And also Cynder because, well, Malefor wasn't very good taking care of a Hatchling so, she kinda had to learn history on her own."

"No, that wasn't on me, that was on Ghaul. I told him to take care of her, and he didn't."

"Uh-huh... Oh, speaking of Cynder having to learn, Carith, you ready for the sweetest thing Spyro ever did for his lover?"

"Of course. What happened?" Carith asked, intrigued about the conversation.

"Since she didn't know how to swim, he stayed right next to her in the water and help her swim."

"Aw. That's so adorable."

"She was scared of the water too, believe it or not."

"Oh, I'm so picking on that girl about that some day."

"If someday would ever come to pass. What do you want, Ignitus? Me and Carith were just about to go to bed... probably. I guess I can't lie since you can just read our minds and know what we are thinking," Malefor asked as he was a little tired, but was nowhere near wanting to fall asleep as he was having a fantastic time with his lover.

"I guess I can't really lie my way out of this but, even for someone such as myself, I still fear for the future. I talked a lot with Claire about the past and all the years I spent alone after that attack on the Temple," Ignitus was honest with him, and already seeing the frown on his face as he went to apologize, he assured him, "And I'm not saying that because I blame you. You don't need to feel bad. But, as I was talking to her, it has dawned on me more and more about what could happen in the future that could put us back to where we were before. "

"What?"

"Well... If some deaths happen... it could one day happen."

"Not this again. Ignitus, try and enjoy some peace and quiet for once. I know your mind is constantly working and all but, getting everyone all bummed and crushing Spyro's hopes isn't the best of fun... I mean, I would do it of course but, you? Come on, man."

"I... I didn't know how to tell you this but... I want to be honest with you. I told Spyro and of course, Claire but... I can't keep it from you anymore as well. Soon, i will have to tell the Guardians, and, after he finds out, I have to tell Volteer the truth."

"The truth about what?"

"Ersa is... she's... died."

"What?! How can you be so sure?" Malefor asked as he moved himself off of Carith and stood to her right side.

"I lied to him when I told him I didn't read of her past. When Volteer and Spyro went to the back of the Temple, the conclusion he came to was the same one the Chronicler had... Aside from the fact that the Chronicler knows all about what happened. When she escaped, she ran into the trees, later being ambushed and killed by the Dark Master's dark army. There was nothing we could've done back then."

"No... No that just... that doesn't sound right."

"Do you not remember that day? Me and The Guardians did accomplish trapping you and saving Spyro but, even with big victories, there were also big losses. The Hatchlings, the other Guardians were beaten and taken... And Ersa was taken away from us as well. Even the smartest of minds know when they are beaten, and, unfortunately, there were just too many apes and dark creatures."

"I... But..." Malefor sighed sadly as he didn't know what to say as he never knew her, so instead, he wanted to get to know her and asked a couple of questions, "Ignitus, tell me, what did Ersa mean to Volteer? What did they do, where did they go? What did they work on? Maybe something from there past will help me better understand how I can help."

"Well, I know we walked in on them almost kissing like, twice but... they never confessed their love for one another. They never once even pecked one another on the cheek. As for what they did, well, she was the mind behind what helped us trap you, or, well, the dark you. They did a lot of work and had a book full of this work. She accidentally destroyed everything they worked on but, Volteer was happy about it because they were able to do it all over again, together. After that day, I don't know, they seemed even happier together."

"Damn... I was going to say she maybe had something to help her but... if everything was destroyed then... Well, you all did still trap me so, that means not everything was destroyed. What else did they still have or, what else did they make before the attack?"

"We have no idea. I can go back and read everything they built but, it will take some time to find everything they built. Maybe two days if I really stuck with it but, problem with that is, Volteer is getting restless. If I don't do something soon and he finds out... He will be heartbroken. I've thought about best case, worst case, and, decent, outcomes. I would ask how you would feel if your lover was dead but... we already know how that turned out so... that kinda makes this situation even more difficult."

"Well, they weren't really lovers so... maybe it won't be, too much of a, kick to the gut."

"You know how back then, Volteer would usually goes on a rant about words that meant the same."

"Hehe, yeah, of course I do. Who needs a book when you got that."

"Well, I would like to say that, it developed from, Ersa. It didn't get, bad, until he met here."

"Bad? What's bad about it... Aside from the sound."

"Those two were, like, connected when they did it."

"How do you think Hatchlings are made?"

"Shut up. What I mean is, when he would say... Wait, just use what Terrador told us that one day as an example. They would be in sync with every word they used in some way and we never knew how."

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that conversation... Oh Hell... now that I'm remembering... I also remember how Volteer said how he would make Ersa his mate when ever he sees her again."

"Which is another reason this is getting very difficult for me."

Malefor sighed once again as now that he remember what he had said, it did seem difficult to understand what to do. Sitting down on the bed, he knew there was no point to think about what he was saying, so instead, he just said his thoughts out loud to also see if his lover could have an input on what to do, "So, if we come out and tell him, he wouldn't take it so easily... And with Spyro constantly getting his hopes up that she is alive... it's just going to make things more difficult... Well, even still, Volteer isn't as strong as me or Spyro. If it comes to a fight, we can calm him down if it comes to that."

"But here another problem, the Dark Master killed his parents, and when he finds out they killed his lover, he isn't going to look at the purple dragons as heroes. After all, think about it, He will never trust Spyro ever again which won't help, and he will blame you for the deaths of everyone he loves which, also does not help anyone. Maybe one of the Guardians could calm him down but, it wouldn't be helpful in the aftermath."

"Oh, Volteer... Why couldn't you plan ahead...? Alright, well then... What if you put him in a dream and let him say goodbye to his lover at least?"

"If his lover is in the dream, why would he want to leave?"

"Ugh... I'm actually at a lost... What if you, tell Volteer that his lover was really killed by apes which were technically under the control of the ape king, not me so... maybe it will help out just a little bit."

"Well, it's not a terrible idea. But even still, it all comes down to, how will Volteer react to Spyro when he finds out? We can't avoid anything from that for many reasons, one of which, those words came from Spyro himself, and second of all, he constantly has told him everything will be fine. I understand my son is trying to be helpful but, if he keeps giving him hopes about someone who is dead..."

"No... I get it. When Carith supposedly met me at the Dragon Temple, it only made it more difficult for me to stay in control. I knew what happened, I knew she was died and yet, there she was. I gave in and wanted nothing more then to cuddle with her. Just as I was calming down, she disappeared. All the anger boiled up inside of me because I knew who did it. But I didn't know it was you just trying to help me... Wait... why don't you try the same trick on, Volteer?"

"There are many problems with it. If that fake version of Carith would've kissed you, you wouldn't have felt anything. And even for the Chronicler, I couldn't use the power for long. Compared to just clones who are just a copy of me, I have to make sure I get every scale right, the horn position, color of her wings and body, everything I have to make sure is perfect. It's a difficult ability to use."

"But it could work. Spyro keeps saying she is out there, but, since we know she is dead, there could be a way to still make things play out in our favor."

"How?"

"If you use that clone and make it seem like she has moved in with someone else, then he will feel heartbroken at her. But, he won't be upset at me, nor will be be upset at Spyro because he was right; she was alive. So, if you could hold it just long enough to have that conversation, then, when the crowd walks in front of his line of sight, we distract him and you make her disappear."

"That... that could work. Unfortunately, it's a plan by you so, it might have a flaw."

"Go to Hell. I'm trying to help you and you say something like that? Unbelievable."

"My Love... there might, actually be, something wrong with that plan," Carith spoke, causing the two to look at her, wondering what she had to say, "If Volteer wants to be her mate, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't just give up just because she moved on. He would want to fight who ever she loves or is the mate of to win her back. This was similar to what happened to my mother's sister. She met this one guy but, didn't see him for a good month. She moved on and found love elsewhere. The other guy came back and tried to fight for her lover... Sadly enough, the other guy she didn't see in a month... he lost."

"And we can't have Volteer lose against this, fake mate of ours. Because... then he will never want to leave the Chambers."

"Or he will bulk up from anger and try and fight him again later on, possible killing himself from the training," Ignitus said.

Everyone sighed as they didn't think it could be helped. There was nothing for them to do as everything that seemed positive turned out to have a downside to it. All Ignitus could do was think back to what Claire had told him about what he should do, and he thought about it, Is telling him the truth really the only thing for me to do? Brainstorming one last idea, he told them about it to see what they would say, "I have one last idea. Claire told me it would be best to tell him the truth. Maybe... maybe it isn't such a bad idea. I can put him in the dream world I have, calm him down as much as possible, and if I need to, I can bring anyone I need in to help. But, until I know he is completely calmed down, I won't release him."

"So... you are going to hold him against his will?" Malefor asked.

"I don't see any other way. This may have a downside but, he can't hurt anyone or himself when he is in the dream world."

"Hehe, well, look on the bright side. You and Volteer being in that dream world of yours, I'm sure he would enjoy being with another guy like you all alone."

"Hehe, there it is. I was wondering if you would make a joke from that."

"As soon as I thought about it, I could not say it."

Knowing what would be best, he believed he got what he came for in case of information. Yeah... I think keeping him in that dream world could calm him down if need be. It's our only best bet, Ignitus thought to himself with a sigh, wishing there was something else they could do for him, but he was at a loss. Giving a nice smile to his friend, he thanked him for his help when he needed it, "Thanks for the talk, Malefor. I was going to also go bother Spyro about what to do but, he is going to have a lot to deal with soon so, I don't want him to have to worry about more."

"What do you mean, 'he has a lot to deal with'?"

"Oh, nothing to worry about. The Guardians are going to want to train soon so, he is going to have to help them soon."

"It's about time they trained off some of that weight."

"Hehe. They are just trying to enjoy this peace after plus fifteen years."

"Oh yeah... all that time."

"Thanks again. I will let you two go back to bed, or... what ever else you were doing."

"I should be thanking you. It's nice to talk to you when ever. Just, not when you appear and I have to go from all loving to, hey, let's talk about Volteer's fate so, heads up next time would be great."

"Of course. Goodnight you two."

"Goodnight, Ignitus," The two lovers said in unison.

Turning away and walking over to the door, he opened it with his paw and walked out of the room. Shutting the door behind himself with his tail blade, he let out a sigh, wishing he could tackle one situation at a time as it was all too much even for him. Looking over at the other door to the other bedroom, Ignitus thought to himself, He could soon be in the same boat Malefor is in. A difficult friendship, difficulty in trust... Volteer might see that from Spyro just as Spyro sees that in Malefor. But, Spyro has changed, his trust has grown... maybe after Volteer finds out, it will just take some time. With a white light that consumed his body, his clone disappeared, giving all the information he just got to the original.

With an open mouth and a loud yawn, Malefor agreed that it was time to go to bed. As he spoke, he stretched out his back before laying down on his stomach, "Well... Ugh... I guess I can see why Ignitus is stressing. I feel bad for Volteer though. Even though I don't know, Ersa, she sounds like a pretty fun dragon to hang around. It's a shame I will never be able to see her but... She probably would've killed me for what I put Volteer through, especially if those two really did love one another."

With his wings laid down on the bed, Carith rolled over to him, picked out his left wing, and rolled underneath it. Cuddling up with his body, perfectly laid down on her stomach from rolling over to him, she giggled a little from his words, "Who isn't out to kill you?"

"Hehe, right."

"But, I do feel bad for him. Maybe like how we helped Ignitus, we could all help Volteer find someone else he loves. I know it's not easy moving on, but... It could be the only way."

"And that's the problem. Take me for example; There was no moving on. I was so determined to be with you, I was willing to blow up the world... Well, blowing up the world was the Dark Master's idea, but... I'm scared to know what he will do. Even with Cynder, back when everyone thought I killed Spyro, Terrador tried to tell her to let go but... She couldn't. And, if Spyro did die, I'm sure that either, I would be dead by now, or, to this day, she would still be by his body, laying there in a pool of tears... it's scary to think about but... it's true."

"That was a... difficult day to say the lease."

"Hopefully there is something me or Spyro can do to keep another day like that from happening... I do hope you had a good night though, my love."

"Hehe, of course I did. Every night and day with you is fantastic."

"Sorry I have to be the one dragon Ignitus won't leave alone. Kinda ruins the moment. Even when the dude has a girl and friends, he always needs someone to talk to."

"It's better then the old Chronicler, that's for sure."

"Oh absolutely."

Laying her head down on her paws, she closed her eyes and whispered to him, "I believe you two can do it. So... I'm not all that worried. It will still hurt to see how much pain Volteer will be in afterwards but, that's what friends are for. We will be there for him when ever he needs someone to talk to... Goodnight, Malefor."

Laying his head down next to hers, he nuzzled her slightly. Pulling his head away and laying it down right next to her head, he whispered, "Yeah... I believe me and Spyro can accomplish anything... Goodnight, Carith."


Laid down next to his lover on the bed, Spyro's face faced the door as his lover slept peacefully. Picking his head up with a sigh, he looked at her, seeing her lay on her side with his wing draped over her, he was at least glad she was happy, but to him, he was bothered. He couldn't shake the feeling, the thoughts and images he had when it came to the death of the Guardians. Do they know something I don't? It sounded like they were so sure of themselves... Could it have something to do with a dragon, or, the apes, maybe even the darkness... Not like they would tell me, Spyro thought, laying his head back down on the bed behind his lover's. Hey, Ignitus, I know you can hear my thoughts. Tell me the truth, which I know you probably won't but... what is out there that I don't know about. Waiting a couple of seconds, there wasn't a response. "Sorry, was getting some work done," Ignitus apologized through his thoughts to his son's. Work? Aren't you sleeping? Spyro asked with confusion. "You should know about my clones by now. Of course, me myself is sleeping. I'm working at the White Isle right now."

Well, you going to tell me the truth or am I going to have to find out the hard way? The fact that you were also on Terrador's side doesn't help me feel better. Once again, it went quiet for a second which only made him wonder more of what was going on, but he did speak after those couple seconds of silence, "Sorry, working and talking is a little difficult, but I have put my work aside so I can speak to you. But, Spyro, in all honesty, I do agree that something could happen to us. The apes are still a threat, and with those dark spots, there is no telling what is going on outside of Warfang. And with Ersa and her death, it could split us apart and one of us could die of someone makes a decision so, I can't say we are safe." His body shivered slightly knowing he was right about the darkness. His words also made him think more about Ersa and the apes, but he was sure he could handle something like that, The apes aren't a problem. With Malefor by my side, that's not something I have to worry about. I know Ersa isn't dead so I don't fear for what will happen, and as for the darkness... if it does get to the wrong dragon... it could be a problem. But that one Dragon had darkness in him and I took care of him quickly so, I don't see a need to worry about the darkness. As long as their is no dark master, there will be no dark creatures so, we are fine. "You say that but, what if there were dark creatures?" What do you mean? "I'm not saying there are dark creatures, I'm just saying, you don't know if there are or aren't. I don't know if there are because I can't see what the darkness does." Well... if there are... I can deal with it when I see it. "Why only you? Just before, you said you'd deal with the apes with Malefor and yet, now you want to take on the darkness alone? Are you afraid of him? You think he might turn against us?" I never said that. I would just feel more... comfortable... dealing with something like that on my own. "So if you saw a dark creature right now, and it attacked Cynder, what would you do? Who would you blame? I know you, Spyro, I know your tone. You also can't lie to me, because I know everything." Then you should already know my answer. "Why do you bother saying you trust him, and that you'll make him your friend if you will stab him in the back when something like the darkness comes up? He is just like all of us. You don't have to crush his heart every time." I wouldn't kill him...! "Then what would you do? Prove me wrong. Tell me something that not even the Chronicler would know."

Spyro stopped as he did wonder what he would do in such a situation if his lover was attacked by dark creatures. Not even he could lie to himself about what he would do, but when he thought back to what happened in the training room with Malefor, his mind slowly changed more and more about what he would do. Finding a way that would satisfy everyone, he tried to tell him what he believed would happen, If Cynder said everything was fine... If she was for sure happy even after what happened... I don't know if I could... be his friend, because I know there are dark creatures out there. But, after kicking his ass to a mess in the training room... I... I would... "Watch as he bleeds on the ground in fear for something he didn't do? Watch as he begs and cries for you to trust him and yet you just attack and slash at him while his lover pleads for you to stop as well? Sounds like a fantastic plan." With that thought now burned into his mind, he sighed, now feeling a little bad for what he would do. "Sorry if I'm being hard on you... I'm just, I'm scared that the death we will have in our family will happen from someone in the family. If you want the truth from me, Malefor isn't the problem. He is who he is now; He's happy, joking, try to get along with everyone, self. I also want to be honest that... The Guardians, one of us, we could die at some point. I... I don't want to scare you, and I'm not saying you aren't strong now. And with Malefor's help, you are sure to tackle any problem..." How close am I to your power? "What?" You once put a percentage on how much power you used. I want to know, how close am I to your power from a one to a ten. Full out darkness mode would probably be the best for you to put in the equation. "Um... Full out power... You still haven't mastered the blue of all elements or purple so... I'm going to have to say like a... five, or a very close six." His paws clenched on to the bed as it frustrated him to hear he was so weak. So low... huh. Which means that battle I won against you was nothing more then a lie. "Spyro, don't beat yourself up. The fact you are even close to the Chronicler's power is amazing. You could beat anyone you come across I'm sure." That's the hope of training... isn't it. "It's going to be okay. I will let you know if anything is going to happen so you can prepare. Just sleep for now. I will work out everything for you." Sleep... yeah... I guess I will try. "Oh, and just to lighten up your spirits, you kissed Cynder a lot longer and for more time then Malefor kissed his lover so, I'm pretty sure Cynder went to bed a lot happier." Hehe, that's something I could pick on him about later I guess... thanks, Ignitus. "You're welcome, my son... Anytime you need to talk, i will be there."

Closing his eyes and trying to get some sleep, the talk he had with his father only made it more difficult for him to shake the feeling of the future.


Relaying the conversation the clone had with his son, Ignitus sighed and apologized through his thoughts, I'm sorry for what I'm going to have to do to you but... I hope... I hope you will forgive me for this nightmare. It's the only way I know how to push you without telling you the truth of what is really out there. Opening one eye, he looked at Claire as she slept. And your advice about telling Volteer the truth is probably the only way, Claire. Listening to the slight snoring of the Guardians, it made he feel relived to hear their snoring, to know they were alive and well felt good to him. Closing his eye and trying to go back to bad, he thought, I'm sorry I lied to you, Spyro. Your power was beyond what I believed a normal Dragon could achieve. When ever I get the chance... I will apologize... I will make it up to you.