Darkness was all that Spyro could see as he traced his paw along the wall of the pitch black tunnel that was the forbidden passage. For a few minutes of searching for something to light the way he finally found something. It was made out of wood and held onto the wall by what felt like cold steel. He grabbed in his claws, and after taking a deep breath he set the wooden torch alight with a puff of flames from his mouth illuminating the dark passage.
"GAH!" Flame shouted from behind a he roughly rubbed his eyelids because of the sudden blinding light. "Give a guy a little warning next time." He said as he roughly snatched the torch from Spyro and trotted over to Cynder who was holding Hunters map.
"Ok… If I'm reading this right… we head straight until we find the next fork in the path, and then take a left." She read out loud now that she could see the parchment. "I think…" She mumbled.
"This would be so much easier if Chief Prowlus hadn't insisted that Hunter remained at the village." Ember groaned as she tried to read the map from over Cynder's shoulder, but failed to read the cheetah markings that told the way.
"Let me see the map for a second please." Crystal spoke up as she was handed the map. "Flame a little light please." She requested as Flame drew in a little closer. "Thanks… Ok we do head straight, but I think this is the Symbol for left not right. They look a lot alike." She said as she pointed out the symbol in question.
"Are you sure? Because that looks like right to me." Cynder said as she came over to look at the map with the scout.
"Yes, see this mark right here?" She asked as she pointed out a mark shaped like a comma. "That extra mark means left… I think." She said prompting a sad sigh out of Ember, and an annoyed scowl from Flame.
This had been happening more often than not for the young group of dragons as they tried to traverse to winding tunnels of the forbidden passage, and now many of them were beginning to think that they might have lost their way a while back. Since they first entered the passage they've gone through six torches, and had to stop to ponder the map multiple times. Crystal learned the Cheetah script back in basic guard training, and Cynder learned it back when she was the dark master's servant, but both were a little rusty it seems.
As Cynder and Crystal debated over which way to go; Flame was stuck holding the torch, Ember was search the nearby walls looking for more, and Spyro was just watching this all take place at the edge of the light. He sat there and waited quietly as sometimes Cynder and Crystals Debates could take anywhere from a couple of minutes to an hour before they finally decide which path to take.
His mind was occupied by thoughts about both the group's navigators as he watched then bicker over which way to go. Crystal was his sister and he had come to terms with that, but he had no idea of how to be the brother she was looking for. And then there was Cynder. Ever since he first heard her voice, he knew she was the one who asked the question that kept ringing in his head, but he had no Idea of how to approach her on the subject or if he even felt the same way. But he did know one thing; to him she was as beautiful as a goddess, and maybe even more.
As he continued to mull over his thought he heard… something. "Spyro… come." A voice demanded in a whisper. He looked around for a bit, but nothing seemed out of place aside from Ember coming out of the darkness with two more torches wrapped tightly in her tail. "Come…" The voice sounded again, but this time he was able to tell that it was coming from behind him. "I have… something… that could aid you." The voice had piqued his interest now as he walked into the darkness without the other's even noticing.
The voice guided him as he walked through the pitch black nothingness that now surrounded him. He briefly looked back and realized that the light of the torch he lit was no long visible. "Don't… worry. I'll… guide you… back… later." The voice said as it continued to guide him through the darkness. "Left…, right…, right…" The voice guided whenever Spyro came to a fork in his path. Eventually Spyro saw a light in the distance rushed towards it completely tired of the darkness that surrounded him. He came to an underground lake with a large glowing gemstone in the center. After going for hours without water; he wasted no time in taking a sip of the lakes cool waters which not only refreshed him but also revitalized him with new energy.
"What is this place?" He asked the voice that brought him here, but received no answer. "Hey! You there?" He asked, but like last time the voice remained silent. Looking around Spyro once again noticed the glow of the gemstone in the lakes center. It had an ominous purple coloring in it, and it seemed to be calling out to him. Cautiously he flew over to the giant gemstone; once he was in arms reach he stopped and just hovered there for a while. He stared at it blankly for a few minutes, but after a while he decided to turn around and at least try to find a way back to his friends. But before he could get very far the voice called out to him again.
"Don't… go. It's been… such a long time… since I last had company." It said in a sorrowful tone
"Why didn't you answer me before when I called out to you? Spyro asked as he turned back towards the gemstone which seemed to be the source of the voice.
"I was… nervous… a trivial… thing I know… but it… happens." The talking gemstone replied. "Plus It is… difficult to speak… to the… living once… you no… longer walk amongst… them." It added.
"Once you… Wait a second, are you saying that you're dead?!" Spyro asked shocked at the news.
"That is… one… way to… describe what… I have become… but not the most… accurate." The gemstone stated. "I have…no time to explain… my state of being. I have… noticed that you… and you friends… are lost… and have… been for… hours now."
"That's just great." Spyro wined sarcastically.
"I have brought… you here… to aid you… in getting out of… this maze… of tunnels and… darkness. Just touch the surface… of the… gemstone in… front of you… and you will… know the way." The gemstone said.
Reluctantly Spyro slowly placed his forepaw on the gems smooth surface. At first nothing happened, but then as he was about to remove his paw; it started to glow. It glowed brighter and brighter until Spyro had to close his eyes, but once he opened them again he was no longer hovering over the lake, he was instead standing at the edge of the water. He briefly looked around taking in his surroundings until he realized that the gemstone was gone! He looked around for it, but it was nowhere to be seen.
"That gem was as big as a mountain." He stated confused on how something so big could just disappear. After pondering how it could have vanished like that he eventually decided that it was best to just forget about it and try to find the others, but as turned back to the path that brought him there he saw something. It looked like a glowing trail that cut through the darkness. He decided to follow it until he came to another fork in the path where the trail had stopped in the center. "Well that's just great. Now how am I going to find the others?" He asked in frustration, but no sooner had the words left his mouth did the tail continue on towards his right. He followed it and once again he to a fork in the road, and once again he asked it which way he needed to go. This continued until he came to the seventh fork, but just as he was about to ask for directions again he heard voices coming from the left path.
"…telling you it says right." Cynder's unmistakable voice rang out.
"But I'm pretty sure it's left." Spyro heard Crystal say as he moved towards the sound of the two arguing over which way to go again.
"Will you two just stop arguing for two seconds?" Flames voice rang out sounding annoyed.
"Yeah I kind of agree with Flame." Spyro stated as he finally rejoined the group and startled pour Flame into jumping five feet in the air prompting everyone to laugh.
"Ancestors Spyro it's bad enough that Ember keeps doing that; I don't need it from you too." The young fire dragon stated as he came back down completely unaware of the fact that Spyro was has been absent from the group for nearly two hours.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to startle you." He apologized acting like he's been there the whole time. As he walked over to Cynder to try and sneak peek at the map, but as he moved towards he the currently lit torch went out shrouding everyone in darkness, and in his blind stupor Spyro accidently tripped over a small rock and tumbled right into her.
"Is everyone ok?" Ember asked as she lit one of the spare torches in her tail only to be greeted by a humorous scene. Spyro who had tripped into Cynder was now lying on top of her with both their snouts touching each other, and they were both blushing madly.
***Meanwhile***
Back in Warfang in the dragon temple training hall both Terrador and Volteer were overlooking the training of two young dragons.
"Keep your focus Krogoth. Feel the earth shifting of the ground underneath you." Terrador said instructing a young earth dragon. He was green with a red underbelly; the brown horns on his head were curled back resembling that of a mountain goats, and his tail tip was the shape of a mace. He waited with his eyes closed as he did what Terrador had instructed, and the second he felt a shift he dodged left to avoid a pillar of earth that was would have nailed him in his stomach. "Very good Krogoth keep it up."
"No not that way Electra. You can't control energy, you can only aim it." Volteer stated while urging a young electricity dragoness who was failing miserably to hit the straw dummies that surrounded her. She had a pure black body with a blue underside and blue highlights on her forepaws that resembled lightning bolts. Her silver horns went straight back out of her head, and the tip of her tail resembled that of a lightning bolt.
"I'm trying master Volteer." She said rather exhaustedly.
"That's why you're failing. Don't try to do something, just do it." Volteer retorted. Meanwhile Cyril was busy talking to a fire dragon elder in another room.
"I see it as a great honor to be chosen for this task master Cyril, but I'm afraid that I simply cannot." The fire dragon said.
"But these two young candidates need a teacher otherwise neither one of them will make it to the level of fire guardian." Cyril urged determined to change his associates mind.
"I know that; truly I do, but I cannot simply be away from my son for that long. He is ill, and my mate fears for his life. If the circumstances were any different I'd gladly accept your offer. The fire dragon stated calmly.
"Your right of course. Your son's health should be your primary concern. I guess that we'll have to look somewhere else for a teacher to take on young Flame and Ember when they return with Cynder." Cyril stated in a defeated tone.
"And hopefully news of those missing scouts." The fire dragon added solemnly before leaving to tend to his child.
"No luck huh?" Sparks said as he hovered over to Cyril's eye level. "That's what five, six dragons to say that either they or someone close to them is sick." He said while remembering the past fire dragons that the guardians had asked to train the fire guardian candidates.
"Unfortunately that's not even a fraction of them little Sparks. There have been seven reports so far today, nine other yesterday, so many others throughout the last month or so. And the weirdest thing is that this affliction only seems to be targeting fire dragons." Cyril stated rather sadly.
"Most unfortunate indeed Cyril. Volteer said as he and Terrador entered the room done with their candidates training sessions for now. "All these reports show definite signs of a plague, one that could spell the end of the Fire dragon population… depleted already as they are." He finished sadly.
"One thing I don't understand is why the fire dragons are so few in numbers compared to the rest." Sparks said in a questioning tone.
"Sparks surely in the last five years of your travels you've come across other dragon settlements." Terrador stated at which Sparks nodded in agreement. "And surely you've notice that most of them are comprised only one on species of dragon." Sparks nodded again. "When the dark master's armies first attack, it was a fire dragon settlement that was struck first. Outraged the fire guardian of that time lead his people in retaliation against the horde that was Malefor's army. While they had the support of the others, the fire dragons took the brunt of Malefor's wrath in that battle, and they never truly recovered." Terrador explained answering Sparks' question.
"And now with this new disease going around… I fear that… the end of the fire dragons draws near." Cyril said rather solemnly. "And I…"
"Sirs!" a shout drew the attention of the guardians to young Krogoth who was standing in the door way panting heavily. "Miss Cynder has returned, and you're not going to believe who came back with her." He said with a huge grin on his face.