Elora found a spare cart and Spyro and Sparx hopped in. She covered it with a few spare bed sheets and dragged it up several flights of stairs before coming upstairs to the most glorious part of the castle. It was very warm and cozy; Spyro could almost fall asleep if it weren't for the constant vibration of Elora dragging them up the stairs. After a few minutes, she stopped for a while.

"Hey… it's lunch time, want me to get you guys some food?" Elora whispered. Once again, with the mention of food, their appetites returned.

"Yeah, whatever you can find is good, just don't make it look suspicious." Spyro whispered back.

"Alright, I'll put this in the laundry room for a few minutes." Elora said. Once again the thumping of going up and down stairs was upon Spyro and Sparx. Within a few minutes, Elora returned, holding some stale bread and some sliced tomatoes. She slipped some in the cart for them to eat.

"This is all you guys get?" Spyro asked as Sparx ate as much that could fit in his little dragonfly mouth.

"Yeah, they don't want us eating a lot, they can't have us gaining weight so we get lazy and don't feel like doing work". Elora answered through a mouth full of bread. "Well, better get going!" Elora said cheerily, tugging the cart up some more stairs. Sparx loved every second of it, but Spyro was tired and needed rest. Falling asleep here would be dangerous. He had to keep his guard up and stay alert in case anything happened to Elora. She may have just been some friendly kid, but now she's involved. Spyro thought to himself. He hoped that things would work out, somehow…

Hunter watched Ember out of the corner of his eyes while he ate the soup the yeti gave him. She finished hers in two gulps and was now watching the fire burn. After a few moments, she noticed him and stuck her tongue out. The look on Hunter's face was as if he had been told he was a worthless piece of scum. He was about to snap at her, but she interrupted.

"So… Hunter, what brings you to the desolate mountain in blizzard season?" Ember asked in her most innocent voice.

"Well, I was trying to track down this person who's wanted for war crimes, and ran away from me when I had her pinned. Do you know where she might be?" Hunter asked while biting his tongue.

"I haven't a clue" she replied with a faint smile.

"War isn't a nice thing, now is it?" Bartholomew asked. "What's the big conflict over anyway?"

"I'm not sure, but it seems stupid that people are joining the army without knowledge of what they're fighting for." Ember said.

"It's always a wonderful idea to get the facts straightened out first" Bentley said, stacking firewood in the back of the cave. He had apparently been searching for more wood when he found Hunter out there.

"Yeah, but it's a wonderful idea to review the laws before traveling to a supposedly dangerous place, huh?" Hunter asked.

"True, true. One must always be careful in order to keep oneself out of trouble. It's quite a big world out there."

"Yes, but in said big world, why can't we all stick together and be kind?" Ember asked.

"Being kind is only asking for you to be stepped all over!" Hunter snapped at her.

"And not being kind is basically teaching people to step all over everyone else." Ember replied, keeping her cool.

"And breaking the law is basically a bad influence to everyone else!" Hunter said, his voice rising.

"And being a complete jackass is a bad-"

"Enough! STOP IT." Bentley interrupted. "No more arguing from either of you. We all have different opinions, we all are free to express them in a peaceful manner." Ember snorted, but seeing the sharp, unhappy expression on Bentley's face, she decided to cut the snappy remarks for now. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Bartholomew spoke.

"Soo… what's it like down there, I mean aside from the war zones?"

"The Dragon Kingdom is really nice. We have nice weather most of the time, and if it snows on the rare occasion, it's just enough to make snowballs to toss at each, but not enough to get in everyone's way. The villages are all self-sufficient. All of our necessities come from ourselves and surrounding villages. Traders come to the villages sometimes, they have pretty nice things. We go to school to learn a few skills. I remember the peaceful afternoons when we all used to just sit around and watch the sun set over the hills, always wondering what lay beyond them…" Ember smiled and closed her eyes as she spoke. Everything she knew had been torn apart so fast. It felt good to sit back and remember how nice things were.

"Well, in Avalar, we haven't known much peace, due to the war. But we have large castles and everyone is kinda off doing their own thing. We've never been united, really. We only really speak with people from our own towns. It's not that we dislike everyone else; it's just that we just don't really speak to them. And the fauns seem to rule the roost, too. Why, I may never know, they're everywhere, too." Hunter said, trying to remember. He must have left home at a young age to become a soldier; it takes a while to instill trust in someone that young.

"Those both seem like nice places to visit. If we could, I'm sure we'd go one day." Bartholomew said, trying to keep the two of them in their happy moods.

"Yeah," Ember said in a daze. She could just feel the warm sunlight on her head she watched Spyro and some of his friends racing from the pond to the tree to see who was the fastest. Spyro would win every time, but he let some others win because he was a good sport. Cynder would walk up and challenge one of them to a play fight; she always had a grin on her face whenever she lost. Female or not, she always proved herself a tough opponent.

"Hey, you okay?" Hunter asked, giving her a poke in the side. Her daydreaming must have lasted longer than she had thought.

"Yeah, I guess" Ember mumbled back. She wished he hadn't interrupted her and she could've just kept on dreaming forever.

"Soooo… when it's safe enough for you guys to get down the mountain, do you want a way to remember how not to get lost around here?" Bentley asked, sitting down next to them.

"That would be really helpful." Ember said. Deep down, she wondered if Spyro was going to keep his promise that he'd come back and make sure she was all right. It wasn't like him to break a promise, but these were grim circumstances.

Spyro felt the presence of something familiar as they went up each step. He couldn't place what it was, but he sensed something. Whatever it was it gave him an odd sensation. It wasn't physically hurting him, but it felt as if he could sense the pain of whatever was suffering. He was going to speak, but the overwhelming feeling kept him silent. Whatever it was, there were nearing it. Spyro could feel it increasing. Why am I feeling this? Is it a message from somewhere? What's causing this to happen? He thought to himself, as they got even closer. Whatever it was, they were certainly going to find out.