Chapter 11: May the Ancestors Look After You

Author's Note: I'm sorry it took so long to post this chapter I've been so busy. But it's extra long! Enjoy! Keep giving me feedback!

Finally. Spyro has finished his last training session, mastering that last element. The element of earth.

"You've done well, young dragon," Terrador nodded.

Cyril interrupted…again, "Yes, yes pat on the back. Good going. All that other rubbish. But we must get going."

"Cyril is terribly obnoxious, but he is right, Terrador," Volteer agreed, "Ignitus is the final piece to Cynder's puzzle. If that last crystal is powered, the portal will open and we'll all be done for."

Spyro was confused, "Wait, what do you mean by portal?"

"Don't worry about it now, Spyro." Terrador said forcefully. "While I was on Munitions Forge, I heard one of the apes say that Cynder's final preparations would take place at her lair, where she lives in solitude among the clouds and towers. I am certain that's where she's taken Ignitus."

"Well, alright then," Spyro nodded and started to walk, "Come on… let's go."

"I'd give anything to go with you, Spyro," Terrador said regretfully, "But that crystal sapped the last of my will. I fear my fighting days are over."

Volteer assured him, "Every generation must pass the torch onto the next, Terrador. Our time is done."

Cyril agreed further, "Yes, it is Spyro's time to shine! Now go to it, young dragon."

"Yes, sir!" He said with a certain look on his face. He was ready for this.

"Wow," Sparx added, "You guys make even me wanna face Cynder!"

Sparx followed Spyro out the door, "Did I say that out loud?" he asked.

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Flame walked out on the balcony. He was pretty depressed about not being able to help Spyro and Sparx. Terrador followed him and sat down beside him. Flame stayed silent once again, looking down.

"How are you?" Terrador started.

Flame continued to look down, "Fine." He mumbled.

"Look at me when you speak, Flame." Terrador demanded.

Flame looked at him, slightly shocked, "Who are you, my father? You sure sound like him."

"Calm down, young drag-" Terrador was interrupted.

"Don't call me that!" Flame yelled, "I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm grown up. And don't tell me to calm down either! I have every right to be angry."

Terrador agreed, "I never said that you didn't." He took a pause, "But…must you take your anger out on me?"

Flame looked away, out to the burnt city. He realized he was wrong for snapping at Terrador. He never did anything to harm Flame.

"Sorry," Flame apologized, slightly embarrassed.

Terrador gave a slight smile, "Don't worry about it, my friend. I understand you've plenty to be angry about. So did your father."

Flame suddenly got an unpleasant look on his face, "No, don't compare me to him. I'm nothing like him."

Terrador chuckled, "You are mistaken. You're a lot like him. In fact, you two have more similarities than differences."

Flame rolled his eyes, "I thought you just called me your friend…" he said sarcastically, smiling a little bit.

"Fine," Terrador suggested, "if you really don't want to be like Ignitus, then don't let your anger get in the way of the things that are important of you. Because that's what he did, and I think he deeply regrets it."

Flame knew that Terrador was right. How could he have not realized this before? That night, Flame vowed that he'd be better than his father was, no matter what.

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Cynder's fortress was Spyro's next destination. Terrador was certain that that's where Cynder took Ignitus. There was ice everywhere. Shards of ice, sticking out of the ground everywhere Spyro and Sparx turned. A light rain came down on them as they started to walk into the fortress. The sky was a dark blue.

"Next time I say that I wanna face Cynder, why don't you just go ahead and punch me in the mouth," Sparx said, looking around.

Spyro kept walking forward, not looking at Spark, "No problem," he said brightly.

Cynder suddenly flew quickly by them, not noticing either of them. Spyro and Sparx froze for a moment, and waited until she was out of sight. They continued to walk. As creepy as this place was, it wasn't too different than all of the other places that they've visited. Spyro has gotten quite comfortable fighting off apes, and Sparx has gotten quite comfortable watching from a distance, pretending to help.

Spyro and Sparx approached a door, which they had to knock down to pass. Sparx flew ahead.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Sparx screamed as Cynder flew straight towards him. Not even noticing the small dragonfly, she touched him slightly with her wing.

Sparx fell to the ground, and Spyro ran over to him, worried, "I-I can't talk…. heart…breaking up…"

Spyro stared at him for a bit, still in shock, and then lowered, and rolled his eyes, "Come on, Ignitus is waiting."

Sparx slowly got up, feeling a little bad. He really cares about Ignitus… I guess I should take this more seriously…

After yet another interruption, they continued on again.

We can't stop now, Spyro thought. We're so close. We've come so far… we have to push through, no matter what happens. No matter if Ignitus is… Spyro stopped his thoughts right there. He didn't want to think of that as being a possibility. He never thought of that as being a possibility for any of the other guardians. But before he saved Terrador, he'd never been so scared. Scared for his life. Seeing Cynder so close made him realize how dangerous it was, what he was doing. He had butterflies in his stomach. He was so nervous for what was about to happen, but he knew that he had to go through with it.

"Wait a minute… is this… an elevator?" Sparx asked.

Spyro stared at the elevator, "Um, yeah."

"Great, well that makes things easier." They both went on to the elevator, and made their way up to where Ignitus was being kept.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The elevator raised both Spyro and Sparx to the top level of Cynder's fortress. There Ignitus was, up against the wall, being drained of his powers. He was barely conscious.

Spyro started to walk over to Ignitus,

"Uh… Spyro?" Sparx asked, but Spyro ignored him.

Sparx tried again, "Um…Spyr-"

"What?" Spyro replied, slightly annoyed.

"I don't like this," Sparx explained, "I feel like she's baiting us… I'm getting smarter."

Spyro didn't say anything. He just wanted to get Ignitus and get out. He didn't want to deal with Cynder, but Sparx knew there wasn't much chance of that.

"Spyro…" Ignitus cried out, "destroy the crystal…quickly…!"

"Let's get him out of here quick, before Cynder gets back," Spyro said to Sparx.

But, before Spyro could make his way to the crystal, Cynder slithered out like a snake, blocking his way. She stared deep into his eyes. She raised her head and puffed out her chest, to make herself look bigger and scarier.

"If only life were that easy, little one," Cynder said, in her dark, evil voice.

Her voice sent shivers down Spyro's back. It was so cold.

"S-s-s-s-so… b-b-b-b-big…" Sparx said to himself, staring at Cynder. He could barely move. No one paid attention to him.

"It's time you learned how complicated life could be," she said to Spyro.

Cynder didn't give Spyro any time to reply. She struck him hard with her head, sending him flying across the platform.

He got up slowly, shaking it off. He looked strong, but on the inside he'd never been so terrified in his life.

"Run… Spyro," Ignitus said as loud as he could, he was getting weaker by the minute, "Save yourself."

Spyro refused, "No… not this time. This time I fight."

Cynder interrupted their little conversation, "Ha ha ha, bring it."

They started to fight. Spyro took some hard blows, but he didn't give up. Cynder was so strong - she was so big. Spyro spent most of his time dodging her attacks, rather than attacking her. After a not so long fight, she stopped, and looked at him.

Laughing, Cynder said, "It's so sad that it must end this way."

She took one last lunge at Spyro, sending him flying once again. "Now, where was I?" She said to herself, walking over to the crystal that was being charged by Ignitus.

When she grabbed the crystal, Ignitus fell hard to the ground. Then, she took off into the sky, smashing the roof of her fortress. Shards of glass fell to the ground.

Sparx stared at the roof with his jaw wide open, "Does she ever use doors?"

Ignitus walked over to Spyro, who was slowly getting up, recovering from the last hit he took.

"There was something in her eyes, Ignitus. Something familiar," Spyro told him, not expecting him to have an explanation.

Ignitus didn't look surprised, "There should be, Spyro. You and Cynder share more than you know. It's time I told you the truth…all of it."

Spyro sat down; he was desperate to know what Ignitus wanted to tell him.

Ignitus began, "You see, after I took your egg to the silver river, I returned to the temple to find utter chaos. The other guardians had been overrun, and all of the other eggs had been smashed by the Dark Master's armies…all except for one. The Dark Master was torn; he wanted to smash all of the eggs to prevent the birth of the purple dragon, but he also needed a dragon for himself.

Spyro was confused, "A dragon…? Why would he need a dragon?"

Ignitus continued, "Because, Spyro, only one born in the Year of the Dragon could open the portal that served as the Dark Master's prison."

Spyro was finally starting to understand, "…Cynder?"

"I'm afraid so," Ignitus answered.

"But if we come from the same place," Spyro asked, "then why is she so…so-"

Sparx interrupted, "Evil? Monstrous? Big? Sexy? Oops did I just say that out loud." He put three fingers over his mouth and stopped talking.

Ignitus answered Spyro's question, "Because, Spyro, after the night of the raid, Cynder was corrupted by the Dark Master's poisonous powers…twisted by his evil lore. She's become the Dark master's monster."

Spyro couldn't believe it. He looked down, shaking his head. He felt terrible for Cynder.

Spyro continued to try and understand, "But why? What does this…Dark Master want?"

"He wants to be freed from the portal of Convexity," Ignitus answered, "to wreak havoc across the realms. And if Cynder gets there, he might just succeed. Now, she has the powers of each of the guardians, which is what the Dark Master needs to regain his strength."

Suddenly a massive light exploded into the sky. It revealed a portal, of al different colours. The portal that leads into Convexity.

Ignitus was concerned, "I'm afraid we might be too late."

Spyro looked at him in shock, "No, I refuse to give up… I'm going to stop Cynder AND the Dark Master."

Spyro began to walk when Sparx blocked him, "Wait, you heard the dragon, Spyro. He said, too late. We'll get 'em next time." He flashed a smile.

Spyro stared at him, not impressed.

Sparx tried to convince him, "Come on, champ. You did a great job and… let's… let's take five."

"No! I'm ready…now!" Spyro yelled.

Ignitus reassured him, "You're right, Spyro. At the very least, you have to try."

Spyro stopped before he started to fly towards the portal, and looked at Ignitus. He waited for him to say something more, which he did, "If the Dark Master escapes, a shadow will fall over the land…and who knows what will happen after that."

Spyro took one last look at Ignitus, and then proceeded with Sparx towards the portal. They were headed for Convexity.

Ignitus stayed on the platform for a moment, and before returning to the temple, he prayed just as he did when he sent Spyro's egg down the Silver River, "May the ancestors look after you, may they look after us all."