CHAPTER 11-AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Cynder and Flame sat in her room, trying to figure out how they could help Ember. Unfortunately, since they are still among the living, they could only open the portal to hell with the right supplies, which they had used up opening the first one.

Flame was trying to solve one of Cynder's many brain teasers, all of which she had solved and reassembled.

"Ugh...this sucks! I think we should just tell Ignitus what we tried to do, and what we saw. Maybe he can tell us what to do." Flame suggested as he set the puzzle back on her desk and turned his head to face her, lying on her bed, looking at a picture she had of Spyro and herself outside the temple. Flame noticed her eyes watering up slightly.

"We're going to get him back Cynder, I promise we will..." he said getting up off the floor and sitting on the side of her bed next to her.

She put the picture back on the nightstand and looked away from Flame, still at the photo.

She remembered that day as if it happened a few hours ago. It was her first few days of being conscious since their battle, and he took her outside the temple walls for the first time.

-Flashback-

"Cynder...C'mon. Please come outside with me..." Spyro begged her at her bedside, his pleading eyes almost impossible for her to resist.

"But the other dragons are afraid of me...there just going to run away, or call me names..." Cynder said sadly

Spyro looked back at her, and made sure his purple eyes met her sapphire ones. his eyes were now reassuring as apposed to beckoning.

"I promise they won't. and if they do, they will have to deal with me." he said softly

She was finally convinced, and Spyro led her down the hallway by the hand and to the front door of the temple.

"Ready?" he asked.

Cynder swallowed hard and nodded, Spyro feeling her hand shaking from sheer fear of going outside for the first time.

He pushed open the door with his free hand and the sun shone in on her for the first time since she had been frred from the dark masters evil spell. The warmth of the sun warmed every inch of her body, she couldnt help but smile.

"See? Its not so bad is it?" Spyro asked leading her down the stairs and onto the green grass, which was soft unlike anything she had ever felt.

Cynder looked around the dragon village, at other dragons going about their daily lives, not stopping, staring, or attempting to hurt her, like she thought they would. Maybe she would be accepted here.

She looked down, and Spyro took a finger under her chin and raised it so she was looking at his head.

"Whats the matter?" he asked concerned

"Its just...all of this...our whole species...our way of life...I tried to destroy it...can you ever forgive me?"

Spyro looked at her and his expression went from sympathetic to stern.

"Cynder, listen to me. that wasnt you. That was the Dark masters evil...please dont hold yourself to the past. whats done is done. and no, I will not forgive you, because there is nothing to forgive. you were taken from the hatchery, and used by that bastard. you had no choice, please dont dwell on this." he said keeping the same expression as when he started.

She couldnt help but listen to Spyro's words, and take them in. They made her feel safe.

He lead her to his favorite waterfall spot and they swam in it for a few hours

Cynder soon got out and sat on the edge of the pool the waterfall created, with just her feet in the water.

Spyro swam over and stopped right beside her.

"Done swimming for today?" he asked playfully

"Yeah...this has been pretty fun, what else can we do?"

"Whatever you want to do babe. this is your day, tell me what you want to do." Spyro asked, gazing dreamily at her. this was before he began his romance with Ember, but after he traveled into the future and stopped himself from falling in love with Amber. He had begun to notice Cynder as a little more than a friend, and she was taking notice of this as well.

They got out of the water and on their way to the temple, they passed the schoolyard wing, where a few dragons were talking in a group. as soon as Spyro and Cynder got close all conversation stopped as they realized who he was walking with.

She felt all of their eyes staring at her as they walked by, and then what she feared most happened.

"Evil!" one of them shouted.

Spyro stopped walking and Cynder tugged on his arm.

"Spyto lets just go." she whispered

"Hell no!" he said back as he turned to face the group

"Who said that?" Spyro demanded

"I did. you got a problem?" a rather large dragon who was a lot older than Spyro stepped forward.

"Yeah I do scumbag, nobody talks to her like that!"

"You want to do something about it? Look kid I dont want to hurt you, so why dont you just take your devil dragon back to the rock she came out from under." he said, clearly not realizing who he was talking to.

Spyro's eyes narrowed, he charged an earth shot and fired directly at him.

This caught the other dragons and himself by surprise as it impacted his chest, sending him into the group of his friends knocking a of them down.

Spyro smiled and whispered "Strike" under his breath as he turned with Cynder and kept walking with her.

They walked back toward the temple, and into the field behind it, the same place that Amber had asked him to meet her to try and explain why she didnt feel the same way he did. They sat on a hill and watched the sunset over the mountains, just like he had with Amber at dragon shores. The flooding back of all these memories was almost too much for him to contain. He held his tears back in his eyes, but Cynder noticed his eyes welling up.

"Whats wrong Spyro?" she asked, oblivious to what happened to him while she was still recovering in the hospital.

He blinked the tears away and tried to play it off like he had something in his eyes.

"Oh...its no big deal...just some dust..." Spyro said as he looked up at Cynder to see if she believed him. her expression was a resounding no.

"C'mon Spyro...please tell me whats bothering you." she asked putting her hand on his own.

He looked back at her and smiled, with his eyes still a little watery.

"It was...this girl I knew once...I really liked her, but she didnt exactly feel the same way...but she lead me to believe that she did...its a really complicated story, but it hurt, a lot..." he said, his voice trailing off as the sun was finally set.

They walked back toward the temple and Spyro stopped at the steps of the temple and stopped.

"So...did you have fun today?" he asked looking into her sapphire eyes

"Well, other than those jerks by the school...it was the best day of my life!" she said laughing

"Thats what I was hoping for." he said happy that she had finally gotten out of the temple, and with him, no less.

Cynder hugged him and he turned to leave, when she called his name.

Spyro turned to face her, but was met with her lips on his.

At first, he was surprised, but he soon meted into it, closing his eyes and putting his hands on her hips as their tongues played in each others mouths for a few seconds before ending it.

"Ignitus is probably worried about me, I'd better get inside."

"Yeah...I wouldnt want him angry at me would I?" Spyro asked sarcastically.

They giggled and Cynder turned to go back inside the temple

"Goodnight Spyro..."

"Night Cynder, see you tomorrow." he said walking back to his cave, content with the outcome of the date.

"Wait wait wait...are you telling me you and Spyro..." Flame started but trailed off trying to comprehend what was just revealed to him.

Cynder hoped Flame would take this better, but he was clearly not ok with this.

"Please Flame, it was just a one time thing... he loves Ember, not me. I honestly never-"

"Saw yourself with him?" Flame completed "thats clearly a lie. I dont even know what to think right now. I thought I found a girl that Spyro had no effect on, but it looks like I was wrong again." he said getting up off her bed and walking fast towards the door.

"Flame wait!" Cynder called out, but he was hearing none of it. the door slammed and she was left alone in her room, her tears now flowing freely upon her realization that the dragons she once loved is now a demonic slave, and the one she now loved was mad at her. It felt like all she could do.

Flame stepped outside the temple and left for Embers old cave. he got there and collapsed on her old bed. her scent still barely on it, but he could detect it. he wanted to lose himself in it, just to leave this place and never come back...to go with Ember and not have a care in the world, in heaven. but little did he know, that was far from the truth.

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LEVEL IX

Ember stepped into the ninth level of hell, and oddly enough, it was cold. Ice cold...as a matter of fact, there were icicles everywhere, and what looked like a large frozen lake in the middle of the cave.

She stepped onto the frozen lake known as the Cocytus. as soon as she did, her feet felt numb as the unearthly cold chilled her to the bone.

She stepped toward the center of the ice prison, and noticed there were dragons frozen up to their chest's necks, or sometimes to their heads completely. Some of them cried, but their tears froze and sealed their eyes shut, denying them even the comfort of weeping. She got to the center of the ice lake and looked around.

"Well? Is this it?" She asked out loud as her voice echoed through the cavernous room. she then felt the ice crack beneath her feet, and fell through it, screaming on the way down until she hit the surface below her rather hard.

Ember gasped in awe as she gazed upon the Father of all lies, Lucifer himself. the ultimate sin is punished here, treachery against Shaydo, which is why he is here.

He was at least 200 feet tall, and he was frozen up to his waist in solid ice. He had three faces, one on the front, left, and right side of his head, one was red, one a pale yellow, and one black. Each face had a mouth that chewed on a prominent traitor, the left and right were Brutus and Cassius, traitors to the draconic emperor Julius Cesar, destroying a unified Avalar late in the 4th elder councils reign. Lucifer weeps from his six eyes which mixes with the blood of his eternal victims. He beats his six wings trying in vain to escape. the icy wind from his wings only freezes his victims more.

In the center mouth, the most brutal punishment in all of hell was administered here. And the traitor to Shaydo worthy of this was Judas, the murderer of the first Elder council, almost causing the dragon race to die out entirely. His head was forever crushed in the beasts massive mouth, and his body was skinned alive over and over again by his massive claws.

Ember was utterly disgusted by this and took a few stumbling steps back. Lucifer noticed this, and consumed his victims to free up his six arms, and roared loudly, pounding his fists into the solid ice, cracking it.

"You! Denizen of the the light! Why have you come to my realm of darkness?" Lucifer demanded in the loudest way possible.

Ember was scared out of her mind...there was nothing more evil than what she was looking at right now, and barely got up the courage to squeeze out a single word.

"Spyro..." she said almost as loud as a whisper

"BWAHAHAHA, You wish to see my new slave? He is the best I have ever had! He is on a mission for me, out collecting souls for my true freeing!" Lucifer laughed just as loudly as before.

Ember felt an anger build inside her.

how can he talk about her Spyro like he knew him.

she clenched her fist and a white glowing energy surrounded it.

she ran at the frozen beast and shot the energy charged in her hand at the center face. The recoil from her pure white energy caused her to back flip and land where she had started.

the center face opened it mouth and appeared to devour her blast, then laugh at her effort.

"Hahaha, you are no match for the king of all evil! But please, have a seat, and watch your beloved Spyro work." he said as a chair made of ice assembled behind her, and dark energy bands held her tightly to it. Lucifer then entered her mind and showed her what Spyro was seeing...he was just outside the temple, his flaming sword drawn, ready to attack...

only a few chapters to go! and Gp75, your idea will most likely end up in echoes of glory 3, in the next chapter. other than that, l8r!