Me: (Presses stop button on camera) we are clear guys. Nice footage from everyone and drama. It's like you really meant it.

Sparx: I think we did mean it considering this part was incredibly dangerous and insane!

Sina: Do you really expect us to act like everything was fine? I nearly got scorched.

Ignitus: Don't forget that some of us also had the same result from the saw blades. Never had I ever done something this violent in my life – except when I saved Spyro and Cynder through the fire.

Nightmare: (Holds up paws) Okay everyone. Since we did this part everyone go and rest up for the following part. Go to bed and whatever else there you can do. And follow the rules or else it is–

Cyril: (annoyed) we know and get it. Otherwise it's a decapitation and fixing while we are seriously hurt. Do you really need to repeat?

Me: …well he said it and means it. We already understand that rule so no need to mention it again. I've got to upload with words and write it out for Fanfiction to get the good idea for viewers to know. But first anybody want to help with the intro? Come on now don't be shy.

Spyro: Maybe I can do it. Which one? (handed a piece of paper by me) Okay. (recites puzzled) 'Dis author Ciner n Spyro fen haz no rights 2 teh charters from her and – this is stupid. It does not make sense.

Me: Because I rushed it.

Spyro: Well I think you meant to say was that Spyro and Cynder Fan 1.1 aka Derpboy 0 has no rights from the characters. Furthermore he does obtain the OC's used and can utilize them in his stories and others can with permission from him. Is that it?

Cynder: Sounds right. (sniffles). Least I feel a pinch better Spyro. Can you–

Spyro: No way. You still have to learn from now on, you are on your own! (goes out of cafeteria to his room feeling upset.)

Flame: Seems some drama is really meant.

Me: Yep. Do what this part contains Ember.

Ember: Fine. This part contains violence, blood, suggestive dialogue and scenes, and some language. Rated T for these. And if you hate Spyro then get the **** out and do something else.

Me: (holds a block making censor noises and plays with it) it works! Finally because I just freaking love those beeps. Someone say something very bad.

Nightmare: I ****ing love this mother****ing day because it is the ****iest piece of ***p ever p**sed on for b***hs and ***holes. Wow that really works…on some parts.

Me: I'll tune it up some more. And wow you need to wash your mouth. I think my ears are bleeding from hearing that. So guys and girls and maybe things read and review because it took some time. In other words enjoy, sit back, and relax reading this hot chapter. Be warned guys who are under aged reading this. (chuckles). Like anyone is…is there?

Chapter 10 Depths of severity

ASDDF

Everyone talked during the challenge room, marked from the door in the outside with a carving. The room was filled with many questions of whatever it might the challenge could possibly be. Cyril, Volteer, and Sina ignored the others who kept asking questions about it. They only told them that it is something random. No one got the hint or the clue from it and kept going.

The room was black lit by several fresh powerful light bulbs on the ceiling. The bright light gave a warm feel inside yet a creepy one. There was a door straight ahead full of a shadowy wall. It coated the wall with tough security on it. Nothing else in the room seemed special except the two lanes from both sections dividing the room. A large stand was in the right side with a microphone. Those two things felt like something was important about it. But answers were not certain yet until the time had come for it to start.

Cynder kept picking at the lock on the doorknob on the door continuously. She tried her best to use her talon to unlock it yet it was pointless; if the door was this well protected it would be nearly impossible to escape. It was the only thing that rang and beat in her mind. Her heart did not beat daintily, but for desperate suicide. Spyro had left her after everything she went through with him. She could not live for anything else that was possible. Only more shunning from her color and actions would be launched at her. She dented her talon after releasing and gave up. She held herself in terror and stared at everyone. No one paid attention to her but only questions filled their minds. Why Spyro. I can't believe this all because of Ember. She took everything away from me. She might be right, I am a whore. My life should just end here. I loved Spyro and he had the same affection for me, even though I was controlled before.

Flame noticed her sigh and knelt at the door and felt depressed. He felt sorry for her – because of Ember. Helping her might do some good to stop the reckless fights between them. She checked Ember lazily leaning at the wall bored. She probably won't see him in her state. He pretended to ramble around aimlessly while trying to get to Cynder. As he got close, he sat beside her.

"Cynder, how are you feeling?" he asked serenely. She turned away and spat some blew some strong wind at him. He nearly lost his balance but he stayed. Something was really up with a reaction like that.

"Why don't you just name me some insult to make me feel ashamed of myself? I deserve it for what I've done."

"No you don't Cynder. It's just that what Spyro said, maybe he doesn't mean it." Cynder blinked and grabbed his arm and squeezed it very tightly. He yelped and realized she was stronger than she looks; some of her old strength stuck to her.

"Don't you dare talk about Spyro like that you idiot!" she aggressively responded and squeezed harder. His arm felt numb and he wanted to back out. He did not stop and bravely continued, "Don't stop. Just release that anger, it's not healthy. Spyro still loves you dearly; I just know it and you still do too. He only wants you to learn and accept apologies."

She began to sink her claws into his wrists like butter. He kept trying to hold it in and not give too much attention. If Ember knew, it would be ruined. Some blood trickled off his paw painfully and stained the floor. "You've got guts to talk to me like that. I should just kill you now and let myself get killed! Just let me die and rot in hell!"

Flame pulled back as she went deeper slowly into him. He felt weaker and managed to pull his arm away. She grabbed him and pulled him down on his back. She removed a stitch from him and he made a sharp wince loudly. He looked out and saw nobody looking at him. He stared at Cynder's eyes, still blazing in hate. "Damn you, get away from him!" hissed Ember pushing her away. She fell on the door and some shadow formed around her. It formed chains and she was stuck. Ember helped Flame up and saw his cut a pinch open. She gasped and looked at Cynder. She pushed him away from Cynder and felt furious.

"I can't believe she wanted to single you out like this! What gives?"

"Well…" Flame thought about what to say. If he said he wanted to help her only more trouble would come. "She dragged me out and tried to kill me." Ember faced at Cynder and then back at him. She let go of him and went to her own business at where she was before. Flame then winked at Cynder. She felt puzzled as if he was up to something.

The lights blacked out and left the room in a dark feel. Everyone looked around in the darkness and felt puzzled. One light bulb flicked on and Nightmare appeared from the stand. "Greetings everyone here who came. It is much appreciated that I finished the preparations today for all of you to participate in and be ready because this will be big." Another light bulb turned on at Cynder, completely covered in the misty trap. "Cynder!" said Spyro seeing her. She heard his voice and felt relieved. Flame could be right but she denied it.

"Seems like somebody tested our trap for early starts in this competition. Cynder, our test dummy, has shown that if you go too closely at the door, you will be trapped and until I see it, you will be free…after a while. So now that everyone is here, I will explain today's course.

"What we are doing today is what I would like to call the classic 'Obstacle course'. Simple right? Wrong! It's rigged with many lethal traps and you must survive through them all as a team. It shall be determined by casualties in equipment – meaning if you break something I will deduct points for performance. You might have to destroy some to save up on life points. To keep track of everyone's current health, I will give you collars." Nightmare snapped his paws and everyone had a lightweight steel collar on instantly. It had some blue bars around it. "In a nutshell, each bar shall be worth ten points if each bar is full. A good bonus of twenty if no harm was obtained during the round for each perfected dragon. You all get at least eight bars for your health. It will become yellow if you are under four and red if under two. Each bar represents how healthy you in stamina and energy and if you lose too much, it will zap you into a state of unconsciousness and your team needs to drag you through. Death, what I'd call it, will result in a twenty point deduction and leaving them to die will be permanent loss at the finish line.

"So I will grade you all positively on performance if you do well. If you just end up failing by getting hurt or showing bad sportsmanship by being a terrible team member, you will earn very little points. That will be judged in the end when you make it. Find any silver flags and take them to the finish and you will gain three points for the team each. They are shiny so all of you can recognize it. Find all twenty and you will get a bonus round for more points that is extremely safe for sure. Maybe perfect win if you do manage. I will arrange four rounds and some number of flags are in each place so don't be so sure you got them all each round."

Nightmare walked to where Cynder was and heard her kvetch silently. He laughed and pulled a key from his robe. Another key, this one completely black, was held at his hand and he stabbed it at her. Not a shriek came except the shadow faded away and left Cynder at the floor. She got up and did not say a word. "Also after this, make a team leader and a name for the team based on the logo. Come on and get ready behind the lanes." He opened the door and it led to a blank room.

The room was not in any color at all; just the blank color of white filled the entire room. Upon entering, the room was y-shaped; both sides were extending out straight and seemed to go forever. A black line crossed the way to the other side at each lane. Oddly there were no marks anywhere except a doorknob leading to the right. Nightmare twisted the door and opened it. The door was even camouflaged in the same light image. A voice crackled inside from his room. "Get ready on my queue to get going. Once I say go, get on with it." He looked down at his sets of controls from his workplace. He played with it for a while as everyone talked.

"I still don't get how useful I can be like a dragonfly?" kvetched Sparx thinking about his power. Light was all he can give and how could he get hurt easily if he was tiny? Nothing else he knows he can do to help out. Cynder kept looking down at the ground feeling upset. She slowly lifted her tail at her neck until Flame noticed. He did not want someone out before starting. He quickly grabbed her tail and stopped her. "Seriously? You can't just harm yourself now. That's just terrible since we did not start!" She sighed listening and took her scythe like tail blade away from her dark neck. "Fine but still who's going to be the leader?"

"I think I should since I done this before." stated Cyril standing on the mark for their team. The wheel glowed with a blue shine under him. His tail was wrapped up with a knot of the same shape tightly. "Well I guess that means I am." he said and faced frontward. Flame slapped himself and stood firmly on the ground ready to start. She followed his example and readied for it to start.

At the other side Terrador kept talking enough to drive everyone crazy. He kept asking someone to pull his zipper off but no one listened nor understood him. Spyro faced at Cynder with regret. What if I was too harsh. I never felt so serious about anything in my life like that. As if I lost the best friend I had for years. Volteer yawned and looked at him. Something was wrong with him. He felt like asking until he saw who Spyro looked at.

"You've had an argument haven't you or some fight." he assumed. Spyro ignored him yet Volteer kept speaking, "You need to apologize or she needs to. I'm certainly against problems between friends for they are necessary to bond with. Just say it to her."

"Why should I?" he argued. "It's Cynder's fault when she attacked and started this mess. I gave her a few chances yet she toyed with me and did not listen. I don't care, she abused my trust." Spyro moved to the logo without noticing and a purple shine appeared beneath him. A knot flashed on his tail and tied a purple knot on it with a star shape on it. The room flashed with a blaring red siren appeared on the ceiling out of nowhere. The conversation stopped and Nightmare came again, "Let's start since I finished and both teams have a temporary leader for today. Their duty is to help the team so it's your fault if you are bad at this. Hehe. Let this chilling thing begin! Go!"

The room simulated an icy plain like field around in the entire room. A nearly blinding blizzard blowing formed around the air blanking the air with a blast of pure white and hail and snow. The air became much more cold and Ember and Flame were sensitive to the cold as fire dragons. Little resistance to the weather made them feel stiffer. Flame coughed badly as his wound that Cynder previously plucked off became frostbit and he felt fatigue course in his body. Some chills of icy wind offered some resistance to moving forward. A wall opened behind the two groups. An enormous spiny ball of ice rolled slowly to them. Cynder went close to the ball and accepted her wish to perish. Flame saw it and faced the ball. It got a pinch faster after a few seconds. Everyone left without them but Flame dragged her slowly. She stuck to the ground and paid no attention to Flame.

"Come on! We…got to go!" he commanded and flapped his wings to warm up. Flying could be the key to get past but his wings were frozen. Remembering an old trick he had known would be perfect for them. He took her by her shoulders and went backwards with her in a roll sluggishly. He blew some fire and formed a wheel of fire around them. The ball tumbled faster following them but the flames gave a better swerve cutting the snow in the air.

Meanwhile at the other side Sparx told everyone to burn the snow somehow to cross with ease. Spyro questioned his authority but followed the plan. Terrador built some stone walls to slow down the stone as it rolled. The team scorched the path with some techniques and alternating. After a few minutes the plan became useless – and the boulder of crystalline ice came much closer and everyone became frightened. Volteer kept running in his head ideas on how to stop it alone. What way is there to stop ice with our group I wonder.

Ember saw him daydream and got annoyed. "Now would be a good time to help!" she complained burning the ground with the team. Spyro followed and helped greatly since he learned to master it a while ago. Volteer saw everyone's strategy was too dull and simple. He began to ponder about combinations instead of the same exact plan. He observed how a ball can run over anything that's smaller than it. Fire could burn ice away, including snow and sharp shards of hail. Terrador can make an artificial rock to roll it over. Coated with roasting fire with an electric discharge at each impulse can melt most of it away flawlessly. That's the idea!

"Everyone we need to work together to make progress," he called out. Everyone stared at him for a brief second but ignored him. "Let's combine our abilities to maneuver through this frosted plain! First we need to haste the boulder with Terrador's stone walls. Next as it is contains enough obstruction, we must have him form a ball of stone and Ember and Spyro need to fire it up. I will then charge my paw to thrust a fist it other rock and roll it with an electric charge to spread through at each moment making the heat pass through all over." Everyone thought it was worth a shot as the stone stared down at them menacingly like a giant. Terrador kept making walls as the ball torn down it little by little. As some walls were put to give Terrador a moment he stomped the floor and made a large sphere of tough stone and kicked it to Ember and Spyro. He caught it and they blew abundant loads of fire at it together continuously for a minute and it was seared with embers. Volteer charged his fist with electricity and gave it a punch as Sparx was in the way. He called help until he rolled with the ball. The enormous ball rolled around progressing forward in lightning speed. All that was left was a trail of burned land and some glass paneling from the left showing a blur of red and black wheel by far ahead of them. Flame? Stay safe. Please! thought Ember as Spyro barked out orders for everyone to get going.

As the two sped through the snow it burned slowly ahead of them. The team members got scared but kept dashing to the end. Cyril bumped into large shining flag and fell to the floor. It was made of steel with a silver coating of paint on the triangle blowing with the wind. He snatched the flag and wiped the snow of him until he got caught in the hearth of Flame's wheel. "Sorry!" he apologized and he was stuck with them. The flag spun violently as the wheel rotated ahead. The team shivered at the end with a wall of sturdy dense ice. They moved aside seeing the flash of red and black and it crashed into the wall. It merely cracked and they flew a few feet behind from the impact. Cyril still held the flag but an extremely strong vibration filled the ground. Another flag appeared from the mess and Cynder picked it up. She looked back and saw a shadow of a huge boulder of ice aiming directly at everyone at a far distance. Flame got up injured badly and his neck brace shown only five blue bars. Some pieces of ice hung on him and he shook them off. The noise got louder and was easily noticeable.

"Break the ice with all you got team!" commanded Volteer breaking through the ice with his talons. It dented it and made tiny holes on it. Ignitus thought of a clever idea seeing the pointed edge of the flag and pushed his way in. He took Cynder's and handed one flag to Cyril. "Let's use this to drill the ice Cyril!" she suggested showing the sharp side. He nodded in agreement and told everyone to stand aside. They began to break away a small crevice of ice that was previously made and enlarged it. The tore piece by piece away as the ice rock came faster. Cynder knew that she wanted to die but not with everyone. Later would be the time. She came in between them and dropped a bunch of liquid acid at the tips. "This will help!" she said and went behind.

The crack got much larger and made a tiny hole, enough for a newborn to fit through. The acid melted the ice even more but was not enough yet for it to be big enough. The boulder rumbled the room and got much faster. Ironically it was not the one following them but the other team's that shattered the wall there by fire and force broke it apart. Flame joined in and blew some fire into it with Ignitus. The other boulder for them was getting much closer and everyone panicked. Cynder began to think of an idea to make it easier. She blew some loud fear waves at everyone and they saw the ice rock. They became scared intensely and worked many times faster. In a matter of seconds the wall broke off into an entrance and everyone went inside. Cynder stayed and waited or the ball since they were finally safe. Cyril counted everyone but found Cynder missing. "Where is Cynder!" he asked as everyone snapped out of the fear energy. Flame remembered what she did earlier and looked out. The giant boulder came very closely at her and he shouted, "Get in here before the boulder hits now!"

She did not respond and went closer to it. An earsplitting crash rang and a puff of icy dust filled the room. A loud boom came as someone yelled inside the room in pain. A glow of only one bar brightened the mist. Cynder groaned and crawled around aimlessly at the ground. The smoke faded and Cynder was still alive in front of everyone. The boulder stopped behind the wall and proved no threat at all now. She was bruised badly and bleeding with frosted cuts. Her pinkish wings were stabbed with a few long icicles and she breathed slowly. Cyril came to her and removed the icicles off her carefully. She was bad enough before but this was significantly far worse. "Don't ever do something that insane ever again!" he scolded her.

Some buzzing noises and swinging was heard from two other paths in front of them. One had four plunger like sticky pads to stick on. A rope was also near it with a hoist to wear. A weird demented maze that went downwards led to a pit of spikes and a thin bar of steel crossing in multiple directions, frozen and tough to balance on. A wall was in the way dividing the space to stop a shortcut. The one at their left had some swinging pendulums and slim walkways to cross. It was lethal and dangerous to cross. The same circumstance was in each route if it ended poorly. "You have got to be kidding me!" complained Ignitus looking at both passages.

The other team finally made it inside and Spyro tripped on a flag while Ember slammed face first into one. "Ow!" they both said simultaneously and took the flag with their team. They found it easy to move through with the ice melted and the way out to the next part. Everyone squeezed through the rock that nearly divided each path. Spyro and Ember went to the left side with a maze in front of them. "Okay everyone. We need to split up to find the flag around here so me and Ember and Sparx will take the left while the rest of you go to the right. Got it?" he instructed. The frozen boulder crashed into the first one and blocked the intersection between them. It was impossible to switch now. "Well Spyro you summed that up pretty well in a convenient time." concluded Sparx getting off the rock with no harm done.

Spyro quickly strapped on his gear on his paws. He dropped his flag and she held onto both flags on one paw. He slipped in the safety straps and tightened it firmly. "Ember help me with the hoist gear and rope. Just tie the rope on yourself then on me!" he commanded

"Sure thing Spyro." she agreed and took the rope on her. She tied it around her arms and Spyro helped tie it around her pink body. After a few knots she was ready and did the same for Spyro. Her eyes wandered a bit looking at him. She tried to snap out of it; she liked Flame more but something in Spyro was different. He had a feeling of protection and yet aggression in a perfect combo. They were ready and she checked him off with a nod in front of him.

"I think I am going to be sick." commented Sparx gagging a bit. Spyro looked down and saw Flame and Cynder go in for it. Ember tapped the glass and got their attention.

"What do you want? We are busy to win first!" said Flame. Cynder looked at Spyro and turned away. She could not bear seeing him for what she did as an awful potential death. Spyro turned away and looked down. "Not if we get down first!" declared Ember pushing Spyro to go. He nearly slipped and realized it was frozen making it slippery. "Ember hang on!" he said and carefully padded through the ice. She slipped and fell off the thing. He held on tightly to the bar and she was safe until she lost her grip. "Help!" she cried out swinging on the rope. It was still safe yet there was a long way to go. Flame went and Cynder slipped off, hanging limp on the rope. Spyro felt his heart stop seeing her in danger like that. Nightmare better hope she doesn't die! he thought and pressed on. Ember clung to the underside of the bar and followed his lead.

"Can't we go through at least another adventure that does not involve possible death?" added Sparx following them.

Volteer and Terrador crawled as low as they can to avoid the saws running around the walls in the first hallway. "What the hell are these things?" he mumbled as one sawed his zipper piece off clean with his mouth safe. "Phew. Finally I can talk without the trouble of not being heard." he said clearly. "Very nice Terrador now get on with our objective!" mentioned Volteer going with him. A flash of red jumped around the whole room too fast to see. Some ice saws nearly came at his paws cutting around them. The blades purred near them and grinded the interior around them. Volteer got annoyed to the point he wanted to break them. He felt the energy from them, some electricity on them. He sighed and charged some energy in him to slow it down. A clear wave of electricity came out of him and everything stopped. Terrador fell near a saw and panted. He became tired but followed Volteer through. They made it to the end of that hallway and Volteer powered it all up again and the saws running behind them.

They went to the right and saw the walkway to the right. There were some more traps lingering at their way. Some stone pendulums swung around at two tightropes. It was cramped with the walls giving little room to fly. Terrador glanced at the bottom and found a blazing pit of fire like a vacuum. "Oh fiddles in a frogweed!" said Terrador.

"Anyways congrats on getting the zipper off." remembered Volteer hearing him talk. He looked around and saw not much of a trace of Sina. Some grunts and leaps were heard from the other side and it caught their attention. Sina from the other side was holding four flags and some ice shattered loudly. A sword came over her head and stabbed the wall behind her. "Come on. You guys are slow!" she called and waved to them hyperactively. Volteer and Terrador were dumbfounded that she beat them quickly through.

Ignitus and Cyril crossed through the first trap with the saws quickly. "Easy with the power to stop time I should say." bragged Ignitus. Since he was given all the powers known he used them when he became a chronicler. In front of them some pendulums swung with the same trap from where the other team was. A close blade swung near Ignitus and scared him enough to make him jump back. "Seems like you need better powers for senses." muttered Cyril looking closely at the puzzle. Either we go head on and get nearly sliced badly or make a plan. What if I made a bridge of ice? Cyril blew some ice and made a crooked bridge in front of them. The poorly made ice shook and melted off easily. The bridge shattered into the abyss of fire as it swallowed the water.

Cyril took a deep breath. Ignitus was probably the most useful in the situation. "I bet you are enjoying the fact that you are probably the best in the situation to make really sturdy ice." he presumed. Ignitus looked at the remains in the poorly built ice and nodded. "Yes. And maybe you finally realized how helpful I can be." he frankly said stepping to the edge. His necklace shined in a cold blue light and it radiated some light evenly to the path. The entire glow formed an ice floor perfectly evenly and became solid. He checked the floor and tapped on it. Perfect as it could be with good strength. He made the necklace glow darker and the blades stopped and went slower. Soon they stopped moving and Cyril and Ignitus crossed with ease.

"Well that was a bit easy for me." commented Ignitus moving to the other side with Cyril.

"Very. You did all that and it did not drain much from you. Wait what do you mean 'a bit'?" Cyril examined his collar and saw it lost two bars. "Cyril when I use my powers in a dire situation I don't get hurt much. But if I use it for something unnecessarily I can get hurt. That's why I need crystals."

"And speaking of that, where are they?"

They came at the end and noticed a bunch of crystals – red, blue, and green – in a neat pile. They came at it and smashed some pieces. Ignitus absorbed some feeling more rejuvenated. His bars did not rise at all from the plain gems. "Why don't you feel better?"

"Unfortunately since it drains a lot from me I need special ones to help me. I feel better at the moment, not mentally."

Cyril had not a clue about the difference and left them alone. A click came and the wall formed spikes on it. The crystals shattered at them while a flag popped out from the spikes. Cyril grabbed it and an extra spike pushed it out on him and hit him hard at his head. Two bars disappeared from his collar and he ran with it. "Hurry up Ignitus!" he yelled and dashed to the end. Some tripwires appeared and tripped him up. Cyril hit his face down and injured his jaw followed by a snap. His bars were dropped to three and blinked slowly yellow as he got heavily hurt from the impact. The wall slid closer at them and Ignitus gasped seeing it come closer. He carefully ran and nearly tripped over a thing wire but stayed up. Cyril got furious and blew a sharp blade of ice in front of him. He pushed the frozen razor and it sliced through a load of wires in the path.

They continued and he found a flag on the ceiling. Cyril hopped and grabbed it quickly. The flag was stuck very well but with his weight it slipped off clean. "Easy!" he called and found two holes to jump through. The wall kept coming close and they jumped through clean. Another wall with more spikes came and slid closer slowly. Many collections of sharp ice were there but they crossed through. The chilling cuts from it were worth it to avoid Ignitus's use of his powers. Cyril's bars got deeply red and shown only one left. A pulse of electricity warned him and a loud beeping. They squeezed through another hole and made it out safely. There was a grand doorway marked exit on the door and they made it. They cheered until they remembered about Cynder with Flame and Spyro with Sparx. Ignitus became worried and called out for them from the other path.

Both Spyro and Ember pulled navigated through the maze of small ice bars with caution. One false move could end them down into an icy pit of impalement in their area. Straight ahead and they would be done. She kept climbing on the underside of the bar as they were directly under the wall. Flame was a short distance behind them and kept going faster. Spyro switched his attention short when he saw Cynder not caring about a thing. She just hung downwards to the bottom by Flame's harness and saved by it. He felt like what he said to her was too much. Volteer's words kept ringing in his head that he needed to apologize.

"Spyro, hurry up." Ember whined, "my paws are getting frosty!" Spyro quit thinking and kept going ahead. His sticky shoe pads stuck to the rim of the bar as he made it through. Ember hoisted herself up with his pads and finally got on top with him. "I'm ready now."

"Good, we need to get a move on." Spyro told her. Flame watched from his side and padded faster through the road and Cynder kept swinging around. No reaction came from her at all. Some spikes made of ice appeared around the way up and pointed at Cynder. Flame stopped and saw her crash into the mess that shattered. Her health bar went down to a half and beeped loudly. Spyro heard it and saw her injured covered in many pieces of broken glasslike ice. "No. Cynder! Come on!" he cried at her. Flame overheard him and repeated the same to her. "I don't…" she answered and flapped her wings to fly into the other spikes. They continued to shatter and some cold debris made it harder for Flame to see.

"Cynder even though we had many differences you need to get a grip!" Ember responded. Cynder's health bar flashed violently and she screamed. Spyro could not stand seeing it and felt his heart beat loudly. It drummed into his head and he felt pressured. Is the glass breakable? I need to help her even though I told her that earlier. "Ember stay here!" he commanded strictly. She knew what he meant seeing his eyes watering in pain. She took off his harness and he prepared himself to jump. He shot a fuming sharp blast of earth out of his maw into the glass and it shattered. The glass fell to the floor and Spyro took flight into the hole. "What the heck!" stated Flame seeing Spyro come in closer. Cynder kept dangling as trying to grab the other icicle near her. Her bar flashed with a tiny line left and beeped as Spyro came in. She grabbed the spear of ice in time before he came. Flame shook her to force her to drop it but it was no use. She managed to lodge it near her heart as he swung. "No!" yelled Flame seeing from on top.

Spyro stared at the sharp ice penetrating inside her and he removed it easily. With some relief because it was easy, he stopped noticing her collar. It was completely black and stopped. He looked at her and held her wrist. No pulse. "Cynder. Cynder! Don't die! Please!" he cried. He could not believe it. She died…because of him. He held her dead body and looked down to the ice trap. Flame quickly grabbed his horn. "It's okay. It's not your fault…you did the right thing but…" he told him. He looked up at him and decided it was the wrong choice. After all those years she died by suicide. "Hey. If it makes you feel better I will let you take her with you so you can, say your goodbyes to her. She may listen."

Spyro removed the rope from Flame's gear and held her. He cried tremendous loads of sour tears in misery. He loved her ever since they met but he had not known what it was. Until the encounter with Malefor, he realized what exactly it was. Love. The true feeling of compassion when one truly cares deeply for another. "Thank you…Flame…" he said to him. At the bar he put his gear on until Flame threw the rope at him. "Use it. You'll need it more than me."

Spyro nodded and reconnected the gear on him, Ember, and Cynder, on his back. First it was heavy for a second dragging everyone through as a leader but his unknown strength helped him go on. Ember carefully went with him through the tracks as Flame mirrored solo on the other side. She stayed silent about the whole incident. Knowing Spyro's will to keep going for a dear friend she thought Cynder was not all that bad. A pile of spikes was near the bottom and she grabbed it and got up while Flame did the same.

Somehow the floor felt heavier. A strong gust blew from the bottom and seemed to drag them in. Spyro and Flame kept pressing onward to the end. It was harsh as they nearly got sucked in. At the top he met up with everyone in the team: Volteer, Terrador, and Sina. They were shocked to see everyone safely sound. Surprisingly Cynder was on Spyro. They feared the worst as the others were there watching. Cyril put his paws against the wall and saw Cynder dead. "Don't die Cynder!" he yelled from the other side. He banged at the wall with a fist and cried hard. Everyone mourned for her loss and the room faded out with little light. The door as the exit blinked and everyone entered. It leads back into the starting room where they began.

"Are we back?" Spyro sobbed.

"As a matter of fact yes. You finished this round. Yet I can't say the same for her." sighed Nightmare appearing from the stand with looked up at him and dropped Cynder. He became furious and lunged at him from the top. Nightmare grabbed him at his waist and did nothing else. Spyro gave in and did not attempt to attack further. He opened a concealed door behind him by tearing at it. It was only the same color as the room except a doorknob was on it. He opened it and dropped Spyro inside. It was only a white room with a white bed. Of course. White for that medical feel, thought Spyro still upset. "Take her in guys!" he shouted. Ember held her up and took her inside the room. "On the bed?" Nightmare nodded yes and she pushed her up on it. The mark still showed on her and the dried blood.

"I can't believe this…she died…after all she did with and for Spyro."

"And let's get on with it. I need to fix her up good as new." he stated and went up to Cynder's corpse. He examined the place on where she stabbed herself. He grinned and laughed. "Everyone it will continue shortly in a while. I need some time with her so relax, calm down until she gets better somehow, and Spyro…take care. When I finish all you you report here ASAP and I will determine ranking for the round." He grimly meant the part of his words to Spyro. Out of every time he was not serious this time was different.

Everyone exited the room and began to talk about their escape. The whole room turned into a large lounge full of chairs and beds to rest on for a nap. Sina talked about her narrow escape and rush to get through easily without taking much time. "I just used my trained reflexes since I trained myself from being away," she stammered fast. "It was easy and simple to cut through it all except I had this very strange reaction," she rushed slightly speaking about it and vibrated a pinch. "Some reason I feel more energized yet I don't know what it might be or for what and wow it's bright in here. Can I relax, thanks." she laid on the bed and decided not to finish her story. She was about to talk about the ice knight before that was easy to melt but she stopped. Cyril felt confused about her reaction. She never felt that jittery ever since she accidently took coffee from her big brother. She never slept soundly from that camping trip. How did she even get it when we were like five that time? he thought and waited on the chair near her. Terrador and Volteer still remembered their nearly impossible escape solo crossing the tightrope. Their health bars still read only five bars from getting cut slightly by it on their wings.

Spyro sat over at a chair in the corner and looked into the wall. Cynder's condition still fluttered in his mind whether alive or not she killed herself, because of him. Cynder…I did not want it to come to that. I was too late to stop you when in your time of need. I am deeply sorry for my brutal mistake. Please come back…Cynder…I, I love you! He pounded a fist into the wall and broke a chunk of wood out and bits of stone. A long brown piece at the floor reminded him of the incident. Lifting the broken wood, he took it to his chest. A red paw held him at his shoulder and Spyro looked behind.

"Don't. I understand what you are going through and I will not let another death happen in my watch." reminded Flame to himself as he pulled the scrap from him and threw it down to the floor. Spyro looked down at the piece and tried to hold in his sadness. His wet tears began to drip on the wood; it sparkled brightly as he looked into it. He felt like he saw a reflection of himself in a tiny droplet and Cynder, since they were younger. They had a few laughs and were great friends. Until all this began he felt more connected to her. "Spyro…" a figment of imagination said to him like her voice. "Promise me…you'll live a good life…Spyro…and forget about me. Stay positive like always."

He cried softly in his paws until Flame felt the same. She was not as bad as he thought since the first time they entered back from war. She died with a noble cause fulfilled in the end with Spyro. He sat next to him at another chair and felt nearly as bad as he did. Flame kicked the piece away, "Spyro it's okay. She had a good life, and you gave it to her."

Spyro pulled his arms away from his face and looked up at him. "Thanks…but I know she'll be back." Flame was surprised to hear him. "And I'm sure she can't die that easily. We've been through worse and this may be bad but…she will survive!" He ran off to his room through the doors and closed them on him as he followed. "What was all that about now? He seems more jumpy than before." commented Sparx scratching his antenna. Spyro left Flame and Sparx in the lounge and he questioned his response. Spyro…Cynder…it's possible. She might live if Nightmare was right. Don't you die yet!

Cyril looked into the box Sina previously left under her bedlike chair. He pushed her paw away from the box on the box and examined it. It's just like the coffee incident! What if… He looked at the box for the ingredients label. Terrador saw him and became curious of his activity. He looked closely with him and spoke, "Cyril. It's just a box. It never did anything to you."

Volteer saw it and read the part he read carefully: the ingredients label. Skimming through there was one weird item in the mixture. Coffee. Non-decaffeinated coffee. "What is that kind of coffee? I know the decaf part but how strong is it?"

Ignitus reached into the box and picked up a smooth round chunk of chocolate. He punctured it with his claws on the table; a load of black liquid exploded off it. He inhaled the scent and sampled it. The bitterness filled his mouth and he spat it out. "Tastes far too strong for the average sweet. Please tell me she did not eat that?" he asked curiously.

Cyril looked at Sina, shaking a bit in her nap, and examined the chocolates. He took a piece and plopped it into his mouth. He spit it out as it exploded in his mouth. While he wiped his mouth with his paw he noticed it was terrible. "Crap. I think that explains why she was shaking like that."

"And during our section through all that." added Volteer.

"I like eating bugs with dirt on top…Cyril don't play with my feather hula hoop." she mumbled and shifted on her other side.

ASDDF

Me: Darn that was so hard to do without getting distracted.

I kept typing at the computer yawning between minutes. The part got me beat and I fell asleep on the keyboard. Several hours later in the morning I felt some tapping on my head.

?: Wake up.

Me: Not now Alex. I don't want you giving me the flu.

?: For heck's sake no! Get up! (pushes me off the chair)

Me: (Gets up feeling broken.) Ow. I feel sore. Too tired to care. (yawns with eyes still closed)

?: How's Cynder's condition? Is she fine yet? Tell me!

Me: (opens eyes and sees Spyro over me) Hey Spyro. Well Nightmare discussed the results and well I might just let you keep guessing. Now get off my work station and – wait how did you find it in this house?

Spyro: Followed you when you used the magic cube that Nightmare uses that was red.

Me: (remembers) Oh yeah.

Flashback: I finished lunch and returned to the corner. I went inside and pushed the funny wall open. Inside I pulled out a red cube and flicked it into the air. A noise beeped twice and covered me in a long square of light. Some rustling came but I could not see what it was due to the flash. Been transported to another room free of doors with my computer equipment and began to type. The bed moved a bit and I lifted the covers. Nobody was on it. I shrugged and went on with my business while watching the footage from the camera. I typed at a calm pace and went on with my job.

Me: Yeah that explains how you got there since Nightmare wanted me to go to a hidden location now instead of the area bringing all the stuff with me.

Spyro: Doesn't matter. Just tell me how she is doing.

Me: …No. But you can do the sneak preview for me. Maybe I should bring somebody time by time to help with the stuff. (hands him a piece of clean paper)

Spyro: Pfft. Least it's legible. (clears throat)

SNEAK PREVIEW: A surprise awaits from an answer and the challengers press on with some minor problems.

Spyro: Pretty short huh?

Me: (points) And self-explanatory too. Yeah pretty simple. More challenges and other stuff; that's it except it will be shorter for the story to continue. I think I might have made a long piece in today's portion.

Spyro: (enraged) Just tell me how Cynder is doing!

He stomped the ground aggressively with some loose sparks flying around. The energy blasted the lights and power of everything. It became completely dark and impossible to see. The computer imploded and smoked the room. I coughed and Spyro felt silent.

Spyro: (with nostalgic relief) Feels like how Cynder would feel because of me: empty with her heart smoking in pain. (sniffles)

Me: While I try to get all the power back on I will finish up our part. So also guys R&R because I took time in this for enjoyment. Any Cynder fans out there do not think I hate her. Because if I did I would kill myself because it's like saying the same about him.

Spyro: (lifts tail spade at my neck) Want me to help out? I can help with that.

Me: (pushes it aside) No Spyro. I was being hypothetical about that. Never been, never was. Sorry about his intrusion but also please comment on it because I noticed that this does not have many reviews like the average one like 20 or 30 so just send some feedback. Have a nice November and heads up! My birthday is in the 8th so I will be 14 years old and I will be glad to receive any reviews or messages about it. Thanks guys. By the way I meant that most reviews were on Spyro and Cynder stories and I am pretty sure why. But still, have a good day and enjoy yourself. Now Spyro. I WILL NOT TELL YOU A THING BECAUSE IT WILL SPOIL THE SUSPENSE! Calm down and go back okay?

I pulled out another red cube and tossed it to the ceiling. The light brightened the room and shown the power switch in the wall. I flipped the lever and made the lights return. The light blinked and we were gone.

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