A/N: I'll give an explanation for my absence at the end of the chapter. This chapter has been shortened in an effort to get this chapter out sooner. Sorry for the brevity!

The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber

Chapter 14: Preparations and Poltergeists

A light shaded dragon put a paw to his head as he slowly tried to rise from his slumbering position. He had a headache again, the third one in two days. It was a searing pain in his head, and it almost prevented him from performing any sort of action. However, he was stronger than he looked, and the dragon stood on his four paws, observing the room around him.

He had been sleeping on a cold straw nest, which was mostly made of small straw and small twigs here and there, for the second night in a row. It was more painful than he dared to admit. It was...humiliating. The walls around the small straw nest were stone and looked as if they had been tainted with dark energy. They almost glowed darkness...if that was even possible. The light dragon wasn't used to an absence of light in his life, it had always followed him, but the dark walls around him prevented any large amount of light to reach the room. Only a torch in the hallway outside the small room illuminated his surroundings. The floor was not much better. Being made of a stone, it was hard and cold. The dragon had tried to sleep on it the previous night, but the hardness of the surface had immediately dissuaded him from that course of action.

The room itself only featured enough to live on. The nest, a small place to sit in the corner of the space and not much else. He probably shouldn't even call it room, considering that the door was made of iron bars and the window on the far side of the room featured the same wrought iron bars as the door.

It was a cell.

The light dragon sighed to himself and put another paw to his forehead, trying to drain out the throbbing in his throat and head. He never felt such a nagging pain. Thinking made his head hurt, but his daydreaming brought his memory back to what had happened that led up to his incarceration.

He had been defeated in combat, flung against a wall in the Citadel and knocked out. He had awakened for a few short moments during his jailing, he had been dragged by two other dragons with dark scales that looked all too much like the black walls around him.

He had been defeated...that was something that he had never had to say before. The light dragon never had to fight, peace usually reigned in his life. However, now that streak was broken. The darkness had taken hold of the Citadel and cast out the other members of his kind, or they had been killed by the Darkness' forces.

Emuleta and a few of the lesser Light Spirits had perished in the Clash at the Citadel. She had been the most powerful and the wisest of the remaining spirits. She had left her position of the Chief Light Spirit vacant...but it had been easily filled.

Ursing sighed again and put another paw to his forehead and decided to sit back down. The Light Spirit of Magic was now the Chief Light Spirit...whatever that meant for the world. Darkness was now free to roam the world, uninhibited. There was nothing he could so besides sit and wait for the end.

He looked behind his resting form and grimaced at what he saw. For some reason, the Dark Spirits had decided to place The Chronicler and Emuleta's motionless form in the same cell.

The Chronicler's chest rose up and down, they had not killed the Spirit of Balance despite his accused sympathies to Emuleta and her allies. His was supposed to be the grayest of all of the Spirits, but he was still new to his job and Ignitus still had much to learn. Ursing shook his head and shifted his focus to the other sprawled out form in the room.

Emuleta had a nasty gash in the center of her chest area, most likely a dark shot from Deismo. It had melted away part of her chest, and the scales had withered away as well. Strangely enough though, it did not appear to be as serious of a wound that it had turned out to be. Her eyes however, were a different story. They looked bloodshot and glossy as they hung open, staring at the ceiling. Her maw was wide open as well, fixed in the same way it had looked when the dark shot had hit her in the first place.

Deismo was not known for his honesty and honor.

He had, as a figure of speech, stabbed Emuleta and the Light Spirits in the back more than once. He had betrayed them to the dark temptations of Malefor's element and once again when he had shot Emuleta, his own mate, with a powerful blast of dark energy.

Ursing felt a small stream of anger rise in his mind, but he took a few deep breaths and swallowed the anger down. Every time he looked at the still, motionless form of Emuleta, however, Ursing felt a new emotion that he had never felt before...what did the mortals call it...? Sadness? A mole in the throat? He couldn't remember. Either way, the current situation called for action, but there was nothing that either of the Spirits still alive in the tiny cell could do. Ursing had tried firing light energy at the door, but Deism had erected a protective ward or barrier before he had left them there. Ursing's powers had had no effect on the door and he felt that his powers themselves had been drained.

Ursing sat back down, taking another few moments to clutch a paw to his forehead. His headache really hurt. The Magic Spirit hadn't felt pain like this in centuries, not since his days as a mortal.

He hated looking back at those days. He had been vulnerable and weak back then. However, he could still be considered mortal, even today. Each of the Dragon Spirits were worshiped and treated as Gods and Goddesses, but the truth of the matter was that they were just beings of amazing amounts of power. A Spirit hadn't been killed in nearly ten millennia...had it been that long? Perhaps longer.

Malefor had been the first in centuries, that much was certain...and by two hatchlings at that. Spyro and Cynder were not much older than seventeen and they had defeated a Dragon Spirit. Thinking back to Deismo's speech at the Citadel, he had been correct. The existence of those two dragons greatly outweighed the Scales of Balance to the Light Side of Morality. They could already been considered Gods in their own right, the entirety of a city were worshipping them, after all.

But…Malefor had been weakened by the fight and his attempts to destroy the Dragon Realms. Could he truly still be considered a Spirit, even in that drained state? Ursing didn't know, and his head still hurt too much to think about it.

All in all, the fate of Malefor was certain, all of the spirits could feel when another of their brethren passed on. There was no denying that fact. Malefor's body had been defeated by Spyro and Cynder, and his soul had been crushed by Emuleta and few of the other Light Spirits into the core of the Dragon Realms itself.

He was dead, that much was certain.

At least, Ursing could hope.

A slight ruffle and a groan made Ursing turn and face behind him, only to find that the Chronicler was finally stirring. Ursing moved to the great blue dragon's side as he awoke. Ignitus looked around the small confines and seemed to jump slightly when his eyes settled on the Chief Light Spirit.

"Ur-Ursing? Is that…is that you?"

"Yes, Chronicler." Ursing said swiftly.

Ignitus groaned again and remained on the floor, trying to regain full consciousness. After several minutes, he seemed to shake the feeling from his mind physically and looked up again at Ursing.

"Whe-Where are we?"

"I'm not sure. Perhaps the cells under the Citadel?"

"That would be why they are so poorly maintained…"

"Perhaps. Can you walk?"

"I don't…ugh…I don't think so. I need some more time to recover, I think. Do you a way out of here?"

Ursing looked around the room for a moment, contemplating the question. He turned back and shook his head before saying, "No. I woke up a short while ago, and I have found no way to break out of this cell. There's some sort of barrier on the door, and it blocked my Light shots. I suspect that Deismo put up some sort of ward before he left."

Ignitus grumbled and looked behind his sprawled out form. He gasped slightly at the sight of Emuleta and remained in shock for a few moments. He bowed his head respectfully and then turned back to face Ursing.

"She…she didn't make it, did she?"

"I'm afraid not."

"The wound doesn't look all that bad, though. Dark magic, perhaps?"

"Her barriers were down. There was nothing she could have done. Deismo called the meeting under a banner of peace, and this is how he repaid our good will."

"Lesson number one about dealing with the Dark Ones: don't ever trust their motives." Ignitus said, sighing once more.

Ursing clenched his teeth slightly as he said, "Chronicler, I have to know, was Deismo's philosophy correct? Do Spyro and Cynder really unbalance the world?"

"Ursing, I have not been in this position for long enough to know the answer to that question. The way I see it from my previous life, though, is that Balance is essential to keeping peace in the world. However, neither the Dark Spirits nor your Light Spirits want that Balance. The Light wants to make the world orderly, structured and intelligent, but too much order can lead to the rise of despotism. The Dark Spirits want to make the world chaotic and destructive, but with free will and individualistic rights. However, too much chaos and individualism can lead to anarchy, which is too destructive in the long term to Draconic society. Both factions need to find a Balance...but neither of your sides ever will."

The Chief Light Spirit sat quietly for a moment, choosing to think about the Chronicler's words. While Ignitus had served the Light during his days as a mortal, it appeared that his ultimate goal was one of Balance. It was true, both sides of the conflict believed that they were right, in their own sense. Deismo wanted to destroy the Realms because he saw them as being too orderly, while Ursing fought to maintain the world as it were, structured and cultured.

Ursing turned to him, one eyebrow raised, as he said, "You still haven't answered my question."

The great blue dragon turned to him and smiled, and said, "Yes, I have." He turned away from Ursing and proceeded to lay his head down between his forelegs and attempt to rest his own nagging headache.

"One of these days," said the Chronicler, "You will need to stop fighting this fight, or we will all suffer the price."

Flying over the plains of Avalar usually gave a dragon time to relax slightly and take in the environment below.

Today was not one of those days.

Cynder was worried about many things at once. The trip to Draxis, what the situation would be once they arrived, Terrador's presence there, amongst other things. There was one thing that she could not get off her mind, however.

Spyro.

She shook her head forcefully, trying to release the thought from her mind. She instead focused on the plains below. Spyro was flying in front of her by a few meters. He had been silent for most of the trip, being with his own thoughts.

The two dragons had left the Temple after a short…discussion with the two other Guardians, Cyril and Volteer. Volteer had been worried about the young dragon's current condition. The Ice Guardian had cared less for the safety of the two heroes, and more for the well-being of Warfang. Hunter had interjected at that point, the cheetah also being present for the meeting, and had said that he was perfectly capable of managing the city's defenses while they were away. After Spyro and Cynder had said over and over again that they were fine and perfectly able to take care of themselves, Volteer had begrudgingly agreed to let the two dragons leave under their own power. They were supposed to meet up with their old friend's, Mason's, expeditionary force that was en-route to the city.

A short while into the flight, though, and there had been no sight of the 2nd platoon.

Spyro had been keeping an eye on the ground for most of the trip, but was being awfully quiet. He was normally quite social able, which made Cynder a bit concerned. He was normally a dragon that could share his feelings about everything, and had always opened up to her in the past.

What was keeping the purple dragon so silent?

Cynder relayed the possibilities in her head, but none of them seemed to fit. Even the recent experiences in Eternal Slumber would normally have kept Spyro talking. He loved to discuss that sort of thing. Then, the thought popped into her head…

Seizing the initiative, Cynder flapped her wings a bit stronger and quickly came to the purple dragon's side. Spyro looked startled for a moment, but visibly relaxed when he noticed the black scales on Cynder's sleek figure.

"Jeez, Cynder. You startled me. What's going on? Why did you come up here so quickly…and how did you do it? I've never seen anyone move that quickly…"

Cynder gave Spyro one of her signature smirks and said, "Comes from being a Wind Dragoness."

Spyro widened his eyes a bit, surprised, as he said, "I didn't know you were a Wind Dragoness."

"I never saw any reason to tell you, but that's the reason why I'm able to fly so quickly and with a lot of strength. I'm able to push the air around me to ramp up my speed when I'm flying through the air. It also increases my agility and velocity as well."

"That would be pretty useful. Wait…is that why you always beat me when we race?"

Cynder just smiled at the purple dragon. Spyro smiled back, and silence overtook the pair once more.

Both dragons continued to fly for some time. They had left late in the day, and as the sun finally dipped below the horizon, both dragons decided to stop and camp for the night. It was dangerous flying when the sun was down, due to the danger of midair collisions and other more natural dangers.

Some hours later, Cynder sat around a medium sized bonfire that Spyro had put together himself. The orange and red flames danced off of the charring logs and provided warmth to the black dragoness on an otherwise cold and dark night. The Great Void, with its many stars and celestial bodies, shown bright overhead, with both of the Celestial Moons shining even brighter than usual.

It was the perfect night.

Cynder heard the soft crunching of grass from behind her, and she calmly turned around to observe Spyro approaching with more firewood to add to the dancing flames. He nodded at the black dragoness and then turned to throw the logs onto the fire with his tail. After observing the flames for a moment, Spyro bowed his head towards the towering flames. Cynder could observe him mouthing a few silent words to himself, likely a prayer to Poladaron, the Dragon Spirit of Fire, Metalworking and Labor. Spyro's sudden religiousness was a surprise to Cynder. He had mentioned that the Spirits had never really been a part of his life until now. He had had no knowledge of them until Ignitus had given a brief lesson on the Ancestors during his stay at the original Dragon Temple.

No doubt that coming into contact with Emuleta had been a part of that as well.

The pair hadn't received any sign from Emuleta for some time now, despite the fact that they were out of Eternal Slumber. Cynder was slightly worried about it, especially after her previous contact with the Spirit and their conversation about Emuleta's twisted mate, Deismo. Spyro had told her not to worry, Emuleta could take care of herself, but the black dragoness was certain that the purple dragon had his own doubts about that statement as well.

Spyro re-opened his eyes and lifted his head back up, and turned around to face Cynder. He smiled and said, "What do you think? Did I do a good job?"

"Well…the left side could use some work, maybe a few more logs on the far side…"

"Right…well, I think it looks fine, myself. You're not really going to make me go and find more of them, are you?"

Cynder just smiled as she said, "Maybe later. You've done enough work already."

"You could've helped…"

"I was just fine sitting here and watching you. Besides, the males always do the work, right?"

Spyro simply grumbled as he walked over to the black dragoness and sat down next to her. He reached out with his tail and wrapped it around hers in a delicate manner. Cynder accepted the motion and curled the dull side of her tail blade around Spyro's pike-like blade. The black dragoness came to rest her head on the purple dragon's shoulder, and Spyro brought her closer to his warm body. Both silently stared at the flames or the heavens for a short while, enjoying each other's company.

Cynder looked up at Spyro and broke the perpetual silence by saying, "I wish we could have more moments like these."

Spyro looked at her, smiling sadly as he replied, "I promise you, this time is only temporary. We'll be able to lead a normal life sooner or later."

Cynder sighed and shook her head as she said, "Will we really be able to do that, Spyro? The people are already calling you the 'Savior of the Realms'…"

"I know, but…let me tell you something I learned from Ignitus when we were still living in the Dragon Temple. He once told me that every sentient creature in the Realms has the ability to choose their own destiny in their lives. There was one word from the Book of the Ancestors that summarized that all up…"

"What was that, Spyro?"

"Timshel."

"What does that translate to in the modern tongue?"

"It means Thou Mayest, or You May."

"Short and simple. I like it."

Spyro smiled and snuggled his head close to the black dragoness as he said, "You've always been about getting to the point of things."

Cynder smiled under the purple dragon's gaze as the stars shone brightly overhead.

"Timshel."

A/N: Yes, I know. I haven't updated in two months. Let me give a list of the reasons why:

Marching band four days a week, and tutoring until 8:30 on two of the other days.

Junior year has been the hardest school year so far.

I have a really bad case of writer's block.

Frost the Dragoness and HKGhost (Shadow) keep distracting me. (Not really.)

In all honesty, it's been hard to keep everything on track. I'm having to balance thirty different things at once, and it has NOT been a fun process. Band ends on November 9th, so I'll hopefully be able to update more regularly after that. Cross your fingers!

For those of you that don't follow me as an author personally, I released a new story last month, titled 'Legacy Unwritten: A New Domain'. I'll be updating LU, then ES, then LU, etc. If you enjoy AU Spyro stories, make sure to check that one out!

Thanks to HKGhost for Beta reading this chapter and for his help in developing the major plot points to this chapter.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for staying with me even after all this time. Keep an eye out for a shortened Chapter 15, hopefully coming at you soon.

Dominis det vobis fortitudo. –Unit Omicron