Time passed in its fickle way; the nightmares worsened. Glimpses of a peek glowing ominous green, of the moons set to blot each other from the starless sky, a great collapse, and spectral, rotting green forms in the dark… A small form bathed in shadow, a great tree surrounded by ethereal mist, sending shivers up my spine.

The dreams always ended the same way—a small, white form staring out to the moons, tears like diamonds, and the wail of a broken heart.

For a dragon that had never had a natural dream before, the haunting images wavering eternally on the edge of my consciousness caused a great deal of sleep loss.

Still, my legs steadily strengthened, my tail no longer dragged. Any evidence the darkness had touched me was dissipating like smoke, leaving only a haunting edge of unease to remind me it remained.

I was stirred from another nightmare by Sparx; so restless that even the weight of him laying himself on my nose forced me out of the nightmare.

"Sparx, why were you up?"

"Just, er—enjoying the view! Look outside, it's beautiful!"

I cocked one eyebrow.

"Oh okay, I was just celebrating!" I didn't like that look one bit.

"Celebrating what exactly?"

Sparx flinched at the steel in my voice, "Eh, not much. Gonna enjoy tonight now the violent, purple sociopath is gone."

I jolted and stood up, careful not to wake Myst. "Sparx, you better not be joking. Explain. Now."

"I dunno! I was up enjoying the fresh air; haven't been able to sleep with turn-scale around. 'Course, that's when I saw him! Packing up like he was making to leave! Didn't wanna talk to him myself, I'd rather not get eaten this young!"

I growled, "For someone so young, you're awfully senile. Come on, we'll go find out what's happening."

"Why is it always this way with you! Break the rules, ignore the little dragonfly—who, by the way, seems to be the only sensible one in the place—go out where it's dan-!"

"Sparx," I cut him off, voice sharper than steel.

"Oh, alright." He could sense the harsh tint that he never heard unless I was truly serious.

"Where did he go?"

…

I stepped into the garden, relishing the cool breeze caressing my worn scales. Little comfort that it was, at least it was some distraction for what I was about to do.

I shouldn't feel like a traitor leaving; I'm leaving to protect everyone. Yet I know what their reactions would be… Sparx's suspicion, Cynder's anger, Myst wondering if there was something more she could do…

"Get it together," I muttered to myself, "you're doing it for them…"

Squaring my shoulders, I paced forward, proudly slashing a pair of frogweed to shreds. I promised myself before; I wouldn't let my guilt affect my better judgement and more. It was the reason I'd left, and if I had to kill, I needed to accept that. I'd come too far to turn back now.

I continued on, slashing barricades and frogweed that blocked the path. The mushroom canopy was thick, and I thought it best to take off further from the temple, less likely to be seen. Cynder was often awake even this late, as new to well. She always woke me up when I was screaming in my sleep, chasing the nightmares away, at least for that night. She was there so quickly now, I could only assume she didn't sleep well herself. Dread hung in the air, and at night the twin moons almost brushed.

I stepped into a clearing, glancing up at the cloud-sodden sky. I had to be far enough by now…

"What. The. Hell. Do. You. Think. You're. Doing?" A voice cut through the darkness, not masking a definite undertone of anger.

I flinched. I had never heard her that mad before. I turned, eyes looking at the ground, "I, er… I'm leaving, Cynder…"

Emerald eyes caught ahold of mine like magnets, glaring, "Why?And this better be pretty damn impressive, Spyro…"

I tore my amethyst orbs from her leaf-green pair, "I can't stay, not after everything I've done, everything I could do…"

"Spyro, shut up and listen. I could kill one of the guardians," she snapped, "just waltz up and slash out a throat. Anyone they trusted could if they had the speed for it. That doesn't condemn me –or anyone- for it being something I'm capable of."

"It's different with me!"

"How!" Her voice barely hid thunder.

"You don't understand…"

"What don't I understand? Ever since the crap with flab-fur, you've been being weird!"

"Exactly," I was shocked to find my voice growing angry, "that was the gem! It caused the arena to go ballistic! It called that thing here! What if he overpowers me again?"

A flash of pain, and I blinked as my cheek burned. Raising a forepaw, I rubbed it, blinking. Had she really just slapped me?

"One. If he could control you, he sure as all heck would have done it by now; he could have us all dead in one night as we slept. Two. I defeated you when you were about twenty times the size you are now—and don't start on me not having elemental magic; I didn't the first part of that fight either. Third; do you realize how much effort we would put into finding you? That'd be more of a hindrance than help any way you look at it."

"Stop it, Cyn," Sparx murmured in her ear, "I liked where this was going!" He was caught by her glare and shut his mouth. Quickly.

That's when Cynder collapsed.

No warning, no reason, no dizziness—as far as I could tell—only a click as scale and horn met the ground.

"Cynder!" I darted forward, pressing a paw to her neck—breathing normal, if a little speedy. Pulse fine; her wing membranes were just a little warmer than the air, so no fever.

"Cyn!" Sparx darted forward, only to be blocked by my tailblade.

"Don't wake her up—if she's sick or hurt, she shouldn't move—we both know that's not going to happen if she's awake."

A very irritated, glowing gnat glared at me, "Hurt her and I'll…"

I barely hid a snort, "Like she said, if I wanted to hurt her I could'a done it many times over by now. Let me make sure she's okay."

The little bug grumbled, hovering a few feet away and glaring. After finishing, I sighed, "Far as I can tell, some sort of vision pulled her away—it's like she's dreaming, but she won't react to anything in the physical realm. That can only mean something or someone is actively keeping her from waking up."

"Uh, yeah, I totally get it!"

I glanced at the clearly lost little dragonfly and sighed.

Why do I bother?...