Chapter 14

Spyro was, once, again inside the main hall of the tower. The king was waiting patiently with his queen; both had worried looks on their faces. Spyro noticed that the queen was now in leather armor as well, and both of them were armed; the queen with a longbow and the king with a broad sword. The sound of the massive doors opening drew the couple's attention. Leon stepped through with two other men. The trio all had matching leather armor; a silver javelin was strapped to Leon's back while the other guards were equipped with bows and short swords. Spyro could see that Leon's eyes were red, as if he had been crying for some time. The trio bowed to the king and queen.

"The city of Clarence has been…completely destroyed." Leon stated.

"Did you find her?" The king asked.

Leon shook his head and the man on the left spoke up; "We fear she might have been eaten or completely incinerated by the dragons." Leon shot him a look that caused him to fall completely silent.

"I'm so sorry, my son." The queen tried to comfort him.

"They'll be time to mourn later." Leon stated.

"He's right," the king began, "Arcadia is the last remaining human city. I assume that the dragons will attack within the next week. We have to prepare for battle."

"You two are dismissed." Leon said two the two other men, who bowed again before exiting the tower.

"Come Leon, we must discuss with the captain what our next move will be." The family disappeared through the hallway on the left.

Time fast-forwarded in front of Spyro, once it had stopped his eyes widened. He was once again over the human city, except that dragons filled the skies. Buildings were on fire and the fire dragons incinerated anyone who wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. Guards who attempted to defend the civilians were quickly torn apart by the dragons. "No!" Spyro screamed in his mind.

Time fast-forwarded again Spyro was over the burned remains of the city. The bodies of men, woman, and children littered the streets. A single black figure caught Spyro's eye. As he approached the figure, he realized it was Leon. He was digging frantically through the rubble of a collapsed building. Leon stopped digging and staggered back as if he had been struck. Before him lay the bodies of the king and queen. Tears flowed freely from Leon's eyes. He clenched his fists tightly before screaming loudly into the air.

Time fast-forwarded again and Spyro now found himself in a lit cave. Leon sat at a worktable with vials, papers, and dark crystals strewn about. He held up a light green concoction and added a small dark crystal to the mixture. The crystal dissolved into the green liquid, turning it purple. "This is it." Leon said aloud to himself. He filled a small syringe with the liquid and carried it to a tall mirror. He stared at his reflection for a long time before rolling up his sleeve; He also had braces like his mothers around his arms. Spyro watched as Leon pierced his flesh with the needle and injected its contents into his bloodstream.

Once the needle was empty, Leon removed it from under his skin and set it onto the table. After a minute of waiting, Leon sighed deeply, "Another failed experi-". Leon stopped mid-sentence and grasped his head. His face twisted in pain and Spyro watched in horror as veins that spider-webbed Leon's body began glowing purple under his skin. A warped scream emanated from Leon's mouth and a bright white light blinded Spyro. When the light died down Spyro looked at Leon, who lay on the ground. As he got up, Spyro could see that his eyes had turned to the purple color Spyro was used to. He looked at the cave entrance and let loose a massive shockwave of convexity from his body. Spyro yelped as he felt his subconscious being thrown violently back into his body.

Spyro opened his eyes to see that the he and the other vanguards had been blown across the room. Ignitus was helping the vanguards to their feet taking an occasional glance at the book that still floated on the other side of the room.

"You okay bro?" Sparx asked as he hovered above Spyro's head.

"I'm fine." Spyro said, slowly getting to his feet.

"What happened?" Crystal asked.

"I'm not sure." Ignitus said, "Such power…I've never seen anything like it."

"Well…we know why he's trying to kill us." Twitch stated.

"An eye for an eye." Zephyr said

"I don't believe it." Fang began, "There's no way that the dragons would just decide to commit a genocide."

"I'm sure there's more to it than that." Flare assured.

"Ignitus," Cynder began, "is their anything about me in that book?"

"Cynder…I fear that there is only pain in your answer." Ignitus replied, looking at her with sad eyes.

"I need to know."

Ignitus sighed. "Very well."

The vanguards carefully approached the book and their minds, once again drifted into the book.

Spyro was fast-forwarding through time again. He could see flashes of Leon murdering dragons who were unlucky enough to travel to close to his hideout. Time finally stopped and Spyro found himself at the entrance of the cave that they had rescued Cynder from. He entered the cave and noticed that the hallway had not yet been constructed. Leon sat in his room, meditating. A mysterious voice echoed through the cave. "I know your desires, human."

Leon calmly stood up and stared at the entrance to his chamber. "Is that right?" he said.

"It is." The voice replied. "We both want the same thing…although different reasons."

"I refuse to trust someone I can't see." Leon stated. "Show yourself."

A purple dragon emerged from the shadows of the doorway. Spyro felt fear grip his heart as he stared at the adolescent Malefore. "I'm aware of the pain that the dragons have caused you."

"Oh," Leon said becoming slightly defensive. "and how would you know that?"

"Your not the only one who can invade minds."

"I suggest you stay out of my mind, dragon." Leon warned. "Unless you want your entrails spread along these walls."

"I didn't come here to fight." Malefore said raising his paw.

"Then you shouldn't have come here at all."

"I've only wish to help you."

"The last thing I need…is help from a dragon."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, correct?"

"But if your friend is your enemy, then he is no friend at all."

"We both know that you can't kill every dragon in this world by yourself…eventually you will be discovered and brought down."

Leon couldn't help but see the truth in the dragon's words. "How do I know I can trust you?"

Malefore smiled evilly "Allow me to show you my plan." Malefore closed his eyes and a purple aura surrounded him. The aura grew until Leon to was surrounded by it as well. The aura disappeared almost as soon as it had appeared.

"Hmm, a partnership." Leon said.

"Indeed."

Leon sighed deeply "This should be interesting."

Time fast-forwarded again until it stopped at the same room. "This is ridiculous!" Leon shouted. Spyro saw that he was talking to Gual, the ape king. "What in blazes is Malefore thinking?" Spyro noticed the blanket in Leon's arms.

"The dark master says that she will be the key to his return, and that you are the perfect person to care for her." Gual explained.

"Bullshit! He's just doing this to annoy me!"

"Perhaps, but regardless he has ordered you to keep her safe and train her."

"Malefore doesn't give me orders."

"Then what will you do, kill her?"

Leon sighed before shifting the blanket around in his arms, revealing the head of a black dragon hatchling. She looked like she had just hatched and was unable to open her eyes yet. "Well…you did go to the trouble of bringing her to me."

Gual chuckled "The dark master has also given you the task of naming her."

"Hmm." Leon stared at the infant dragoness for a moment. "Why can't he do it?"

"He says that it's the father's duty to name his child. So congratulations, 'daddy'."

"If you weren't so important to Malefore, I would kill you where you stand." Leon said maliciously. The blanket shifted in his arms, drawing Leon's attention away from the ape. The infant dragoness cracked open her eyes and stared up at Leon. Leon looked back into her emerald eyes "Her name will be Cynder." He said. The small dragon cooed and smiled up at him before settling her head into the crook of his arm and falling asleep.

Spyro's subconscious was pulled back into his body. He immediately looked to his mate, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. "It was true." She cried. "It was all true."

"Cynder…" Spyro began. He tried to drape his wing around her but Cynder shrugged it off.

"No Spyro!" She sobbed. "This changes everything!" She looked at Ignitus, "Can we…can we change him. I mean…Spyro changed me so why can't we do the same for him?"

"Cynder," Ignitus began, "you were corrupted by the dark master, you had no control over your actions…Leon, however, has chosen his actions for revenge. It would be far too difficult to turn him away from such hatred."

Cynder looked at the ground, saddened by the answer. "We need to know where he is." Flare stated.

"Then let's see what we can find." Ignitus stated. The book flipped to the last few pages and the vanguards were minds traveled back into the book.

Spyro was flying over the burning plains. A massive orc army stood below him listening to Leon as he and the orc general stood near the entrance of a large black fortress. "Followers of Malefore," Leon raised his voice so all the orcs could hear. "too long have these murderous dragons been allowed to continue their evil existence. Too long have they kept you orcs under them as a lesser species. Too long have they gone without suffering punishment for the genocide of my race." The orcs listened intently to Leon's speech. "Now, it is us who will be doing the killing. It is us who will be committing the genocide. It is us who will take this world back from their evil reign." Leon stared intently at the crowd before him and raised his javelin above his head. "Death to the dragons!" The crowd erupted in cheer before Leon turned and entered the fortress with the orc general and several of his soldiers.

Spyro's subconscious returned back to his body. "We'll never make it there in time." Charlotte said.

"Don't be so sure." Ignitus said smiling he turned around and began glowing blue. The vanguards watched in awe as the large hourglass in the middle if the room was lifted to the ceiling, revealing a white portal. The portal flashed once and revealed an image of the black fortress that Spyro had seen.

"Come on," Twitch said, he was convulsing wildly, "let's end this."

Spyro looked at Cynder, who was still staring at the book. "Give me a minute." He said.

"We don't have much time." Flare warned.

"I know…but it'll only take a second."

Flare nodded and Spyro approached Cynder. "You with me?"

Cynder sighed, "I'm with you…but you have to promise me something."

"Anything." Spyro said.

Cynder gazed straight into his eyes. "I want you to try and help my father."

Spyro was shocked that by what she had said, "Cynder, you heard what Ignitus said."

"I heard it would be difficult, not impossible."

"He's probably killed hundreds of dragons, and he almost killed you!"

"I know, but we have to try. He's my father, damn it!" Cynder shot back as she began to cry again.

"He's not even a dragon!"

"And your parents are?"

"At least my parents aren't trying to free Malefore!" Spyro shot back. Cynder pointed her head at the ground and sobbed, immediately making Spyro feel bad about what he had said.

"I'm only trying to save the first person who ever cared about me, who I think still, deep down, cares about me." She said before looking back up at Spyro with pleading eyes. "Why won't you help me?"

Spyro looked into her eyes for a long moment before speaking again. "I promise I will try my best to help your…father." Calling Leon that left an odd sensation on Spyro's tongue.

Cynder lightened up and nuzzled Spyro affectionately on the cheek "Thank you."

The two dragons approached the rest of the vanguards "Are you ready?" Charlotte asked.

"Ready." Cynder said.

"Ready," Spyro began. "kill any orcs in the way, but don't attack Leon unless he attacks first."

"Are you insane?" Fang asked. "How do we know that he can't turn us all into dust with one attack?"

"That's an order, Fang!" Spyro said in a commanding voice. Fang glared at Spyro for a moment before backing down. Spyro noticed that the other vanguards all had looks of disapproval. He sighed deeply "Look, I know it may seem like a bad idea but just trust me…I won't let anything happen to you guys." The vanguards looked skeptically at him before nodding. "Okay, let's go." Spyro turned to Ignitus "Thank you for your help." He and the other vanguards bowed.

"Think nothing of it." Ignitus said. "May the ancestors watch over you, young dragons, and of course you as well, Sparx."

"See you later, old timer." Sparx said, issuing a chuckle from Ignitus, "Well, come on guys. We're not going to stop unspeakable terror from being unleashed from here."

"Right" the vanguards said simultaneously before they leaped into the portal.