Residual Darkness

by Riverstyxx

Even in times of peace, darkness still resides. An ancient tribe has returned for revenge on the cheetahs of Avalar, and Warfang is in their way. But, far from saving the world, Spyro may be forced to face his most dangerous enemy yet: himself.

20. Chapter 20

A/N: 20 chapters. 400 reviews. Insanity. I love you guys. And I think we're finally halfway through this story! *celebrates* Enjoy~!

20.

The concept of day and night did not exist at the White Isle, which was why, when the dragons finally awoke, they found the sky as dark as it had been when they had first landed. But, despite the lack of sun, there was no lack of light. The water lapping at the base of the cliffs was a striking, electric blue in colour, like that of spirit gems, and it glowed with an ethereal sheen. Ribbons of light still weaved overhead, undulating in the dark sky.

The dragons took several long minutes to admire their eerie surroundings, curiously noting the temple-like structures that rose from the waves around the island. They too seemed to hold an ethereal glow, despite looking as though they had been built over a thousand years previously. Spindly, leafless trees grew around the lip of the cliff, threatening to crumble and fall down the sheer rock face to the sea below at any moment.

"This place doesn't feel real," Ember murmured in a hushed voice. Her scales prickled with a strange electric feeling and she wondered if the others felt it too.

"How long have we been asleep?" Kazan wondered allowed, pacing around the rim of the cliff and craning his head to the sky, "It's still dark…but it was dark when we got here."

"It's always dark here," Spyro replied quietly, his voice hushed with respect as though the island itself was listening to him. Everyone else eyed him uneasily. Silently, he turned away and strode towards the large cave behind them, beckoning for them to follow. They did so uneasily, heads bowed and eyes darting to and fro, unnerved by the odd sensation of something watching them.

The cave into which they stepped did not appear to be made of natural rock. Old stone fragments and architecture littered the floor and roof of the cavern. Blue light pulsed from an equally-blue gem embedded in the wall ahead of them, surrounded by meticulously carved stonework. It was as though they were walking through the ruins of an old temple.

Saffron shivered as icy prickles crept over her scales, like the blue light that spread from the gem was made of icy air. She edged closer to her brother, stopping briefly to observe an old stone pillar that lay broken on the cavern floor. A gritty, sand-like substance crunched beneath her paws.

"Follow me," Spyro's voice echoed alarmingly in the cavern, "I know the way."

No one questioned him. In silence they followed him up through a hole high in the cavern wall, and found themselves in another cavern. This one was larger than the first, and the air was very different. On one side, a yellow gem pulsed with vibrant light and Saffron found herself feeling oddly at home. On the other, a green gem spread gentle emerald light across the old stone architecture. Roku lingered here longer than the others.

But they moved on quickly, through another hole and into a third and final cavern. Harsh red light engulfed this cave like a fiery inferno, and to the dragons it seemed as though the walls were made of molten rock. Spyro quickly led them towards the mouth of the cavern, but Flame, Kazan and Ember lingered behind for a moment longer, for a reason they couldn't explain.

They stepped out into a wide clearing, surrounded by high walls and caves on one side, and a steep drop to the ocean below on the other. A ring of floating platforms in the centre of the clearing surrounded a ring of old statues, frozen in battle postures forevermore. Spyro eyed them uneasily.

"Be wary of those statues," he said quietly to his friends, "Last time I was here, they had a tendency to suddenly wake up and attack. But the Chronicler was testing me last time, and since I already passed his test…"

He left the sentence hanging and strode warily towards the ring of statues, muscles tensed just in case. Exchanging nervous glances, the others followed. As they edged towards the centre of the clearing, most of them noticed that the ground appeared to be made of a cold, crystal-like substance. Cynder's keen eyes picked out the warriors floating frozen in the crystal floor beneath her paws, tinged an eerie blue.

"That's creepy," Saffron muttered in her ear when the black dragoness pointed them out. She couldn't help but wonder if those warriors, who looked awfully like the statues Spyro warned them about, had ever been alive. A part of her hoped that wasn't the case.

"Hey, there's a big cave up there," Kazan called out suddenly, striding away from the others and staring up at the wide mouth of a cave in the rock face, "Who wants to bet that's the way we go?"

"No duh, genius," Flame snorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes and passing the crimson dragon on his way to the cave, "What else you got?"

"Wait up, guys!" Ember called, hurrying after them and almost tripping over her own paws in the process. The crystal-like surface was rather slippery.

The others lingered behind Spyro as he inspected the statues, half expecting them to come alive at any moment. But they remained in their frozen positions, stone weapons raised to the sky, and eventually Spyro shrugged and turned away. But no sooner had he done so did a horrible cracking sound echo throughout the clearing. The purple dragon yelled as he was thrown hard to the crystallised ground, sliding on the smooth surface. Saffron yelled in shock, and Zannak barrelled into her, knocking them both out of the way as one of the suddenly-mobile statues brought his sword down upon them. It missed them by a scale's breadth, striking crystal with a nasty crunching sound.

"The hell!" Flame roared when he saw his friends' predicament, just as a well-timed earth shot from Roku shattered one of the statues in mid charge. The three fire dragons whirled around and raced back to the centre of the clearing, determined to help, fire blazing from their jaws.

"Get off him!" Cynder roared upon seeing two of the statues standing over Spyro with their swords raised. She charged at them with eyes blazing, and a deadly whirlwind shot from her jaws, catching the stone creatures in a swirling vortex of death. They crashed to the ground in pieces, armour skittering across the smooth crystal floor.

Ember skirted around the battlefield, spitting blazing fireballs that exploded upon contact with the living statues. Flame's red-hot fire scorched any that tried to come near him, but Kazan charged in recklessly with paws ablaze and fire in his eyes. He crushed one between his blazing paws, and rammed another in the chest as his horns and crest caught fire too. One of the statues tried to creep up behind the crimson dragon, but he swung in a tight arc and sliced it clean through with his flaming tail. By now, at least half of his body was ablaze, and he was practically walking on fire.

"Woohoo, show those statues who's boss!" Zannak cried out excitedly, Kazan's fire reflected in his turquoise eyes. Saffron shouldered her brother aside and charged in with electricity arcing from her jaws.

All too soon it was over, and the dragons stood awkwardly in the centre of the clearing, surrounded by broken pieces of statue and scorch marks on the previously unmarred surface of the crystallised ground. Kazan's paws were still on fire, and he only noticed when Saffron pointed it out. Flustered, he stamped his paws until the flames were extinguished.

"Well, that was fun," Flame said unconcernedly, flexing ash-stained talons. Ember shot him a look that said quite clearly 'maybe for you.'

"You ok, Spyro?" Cynder asked gently.

"I'm fine," Spyro grunted, pushing himself back to his feet without meeting her eyes. Though he had been caught off guard at the beginning of the battle, not much more than his pride had been wounded. He felt both ashamed and ridiculous at having been caught by surprise so easily.

"I don't understand," he said to Cynder, attempting to cover up his wounded pride, "Why would they attack us? The Chronicler tested me last time…but he knows me now! Why would he be trying to stop me from reaching him?"

"Maybe it's not you he's testing," Cynder replied soothingly, though there was a grim tone to her voice. Her eyes flicked towards the others and then met Spyro's again, pointedly. It took the purple dragon a moment to figure out what she was alluding to.

"Right," he said at length, shaking his head, "That would make sense."

But he couldn't shake the feeling of unease as they left the clearing and continued on.

The dragons soon discovered that the air on the White Isle was different than what they were used to. It felt heavier, thicker somehow, like flying through water rather than air, and every wing beat was a struggle. As a result, the group spent most of their time on the ground, flying only when it was necessary, and utilising the odd floating platforms dotted throughout the caves. It wasn't long before they ran into more of the living statues.

"Damn things!" Flame yelled after shattering his twentieth stone warrior, "Stop attacking us and start acting like proper statues – that don't move!"

"How many of these things are there?" Cynder panted, exasperated.

They stood upon a cliff far above the clearing they had been in moments ago. From here, they could see across the vibrant blue ocean into the dark horizon beyond. Luminous-winged butterflies flitted around them, appearing to be made from nothing more than light. For a moment, with the moving statues dealt with for now, the White Isle seemed eerily peaceful.

"Where to from here?" Saffron asked, for they appeared to have hit a dead end.

"There," Spyro replied without missing a beat, pointing across empty space towards an adjacent cliff. It looked too far away to glide, and Cynder thought she could see more of the stone warriors milling about at the edge.

"Great," the black dragoness mumbled, flexing her wings, "Glad at least one of us knows the way."

The flight to the other cliff was tricky. The heavy air weighed down on their wings, threatening to drag them out of the sky and down to the rocky ground far below. But eventually, after much straining and muttered swears, they made it to the lip of the cliff and hauled themselves up. Immediately they were beset by a horde of angry, living statues.

"Go away!" Kazan yelled in annoyance, slamming a blazing paw straight through the chest of the closest statue.

There was an ominous rumbling sound, and several sharp stalagmites shot from the earth beneath the stone warriors, impaling them. They shattered and crumbled to pieces, and Roku walked calmly through the carnage without batting an eyelid. Scowling at the earth dragon's display of power, Kazan plodded after him, the others on his tail.

"You didn't have to do that," the crimson dragon muttered, "I could have handled them."

"The sooner we move on, the better," Roku replied calmly with a sideways glance at him, "We don't want to waste too much time in unfamiliar territory. Something doesn't feel right about this place."

"I know what you mean," Saffron piped up suddenly, catching up to the boys, "It feels like something is watching us. And not just those statue things…"

Feeling edgy, the three of them said nothing more until they found themselves in another, smaller clearing. It was surrounded on all side by high cliffs, except for an ornate white door set in the rock at the far side of the clearing. Statues were dotted around the edge of the clearing – carved dragon heads rather than stone warriors. Their eyes appeared to glow orange in the dim light.

"Didn't we see statues like this in the Dragon Temple?" Saffron mused, approaching one of the stone dragon heads and inspecting it closely. Its orange eyes seemed to stare challengingly back at her.

"Yeah…weird," Kazan agreed, raising an eyebrow.

The electric dragoness peered around the statue and her eyes fell on a flat platform set into the ground. It looked just the right size for the stone dragon head to fit on. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together.

"Anyone else think we need to put them on those platforms?"

"Why?" Kazan asked sceptically. But at that moment Spyro and the others joined them. Without stopping to say anything, the purple dragon moved forward to do exactly what Saffron had suggested. The statues shimmered oddly when they slid into place. Roku shifted the other with considerably more ease than Spyro had, and the white door opened soundlessly.

"See, told you," Saffron remarked to a bemused Kazan, "Come on."

Another dark winding tunnel, lit here and there with what appeared to be blue spirit gems, led them to a massive stone archway and a huge courtyard beyond. Spyro stepped through without hesitation, but the others hesitated before they followed. Across the other side of the courtyard were a great stone wall and a huge, marble doorway. It looked to the dragons like the front of a giant temple, and Cynder quickly released where they were.

"This must be the entrance to the Chronicler's Temple," she murmured to the others, "He must be just beyond here."

"Great," Zannak said brightly, "This place was starting to creep me out!"

"It still is creeping me out…" Saffron grumbled, glancing side to side suspiciously. She spotted two large pools of suspiciously bubbling, bright blue-green water on either side of the clearing. The giant skeleton of some behemoth lay half in one of the pools, its eye sockets filled with flickering orbs of fire.

"Suppose the Chronicler gets angry that we followed Spyro here?" Kazan piped up nervously, as though the thought had just struck him. Even Flame looked a little unnerved by that thought.

"Don't worry," Ember told the others, with more confidence than she felt, "I'm sure Spyro knows what he's doing."

They'd only taken a few more steps across the courtyard, when a disembodied voice filled their ears and made them all jump. Flame spun around to try to find the owner of the voice, but the courtyard was void of all other life. The voice itself was soft and haunting, and quite obviously female.

Hallowed darkness, sacred light

Gaining power, losing sight

Control the wind and pay the price

Earth, electricity, fire and ice

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Flame exclaimed angrily, glaring at the dark sky as though the voice had come from there.

"Dunno, but if we're all hearing voices, I think we might be losing our minds," Zannak piped up, sounding strangely unconcerned by the prospect.

"What's Spyro doing?" Saffron cut in suddenly, and everyone stopped looking around for the owner of the disembodied voice to look at the purple dragon.

He stood on the far side of the clearing, in front of the temple entrance, and seemed to be looking for something. The way he kept jerkily changing direction made Saffron think he was waiting for something but wasn't sure where it would appear. Curious, the other dragons approached him.

"Spyro?" Cynder asked as they approached, and he glanced briefly at her.

"She didn't say that last time," he said cryptically, and went back to glancing suspiciously at the surrounding walls.

"What?"

"The voice," he replied, waving a paw, "she said something different last time. At least, I think so. But they should be here any second now…"

"Oh…" Cynder replied blankly, bemused, "…Who should be here?"

"There are runes here," Roku interrupted before Spyro had a chance to reply. The others glanced sharply at him to see he was standing in front of a tall slab of silvery rock imbedded in the ground like a tombstone. Sure enough, a series of spiky runes had been carved down the length of the stone. Saffron wondered if she was imagining the green sheen the runes seemed to shine with.

"What do they say?" she asked curiously, moving to the black dragon's side.

"Earth," he replied bluntly, frowning, "Just earth."

"There are others…" Ember added in a hushed, curious tone, "Look."

She waved a paw and they saw that there were indeed four other standing stones, all marked with different runes, arranged in a straight line outside the temple entrance. For the first time, Saffron noticed the tiny pedestals at the foot of each stone, their centres scooped out like stone bowls as though something had been intended to be placed there.

"What do you think they're for?" she murmured to Ember, but the pink dragoness could only shake her head.

Roku, meanwhile, was pacing along the line of stones, stopping to read the runes marked on each. Each stone bore the name of one of the elements, and seemed to shimmer with the corresponding colour. But what the stone bowls were for, he could not say. He didn't have very long to wonder, however.

"They're here," Spyro said suddenly, in a grim tone that put everyone on edge. But when they turned around to observe the courtyard, expecting to find otherworldly monsters of some unknown species, they saw nothing.

"What is?" Cynder hissed, feeling very on edge.

"Listen."

They listened. At first there was only silence, broken by the soft bubbling of the weird pools on either side of the clearing. Then their sensitive hearing began to pick up the sound of faint whirring – like fast spinning blades.

"What is that?" Saffron whispered nervously. No one answered her.

Slowly it became louder and louder, until it was almost piercingly painful. Then, with an odd metallic clicking sound, several things leapt over the high walls and landed nimbly at the edges of the courtyard. They scuttled about on the ground for a few moments, as though unaware of the curiously watching dragons. But, moments later, the things began to stalk slowly closer, like predators closing in on unwary prey.

With a thrill of horror, Saffron realised what they were. Her limbs locked in place and her eyes widened considerably as cold fear rippled through her veins. With strange, otherworldly cries that sounded more artificial than animal, the creatures rose from the ground and began to spin – faster and faster, their blade-like legs slicing the air.

"Move!" Zannak yelled, throwing his sister aside as the creatures flung themselves at the dragons. The others scattered, but Saffron would have been cut down had her brother not shoved her aside. Startled and shaking, her eyes almost popping out of her skull, she scrambled desperately away from the whirring creatures.

"Attack them!" Spyro roared to the rest, dancing out of the way of one of their assailants, "Try to get the orbs!"

'Orbs?' Cynder wondered bemusedly, before she took a better look at the attacking creatures and realised what he meant. They were strange things and most definitely were not formed from flesh and blood. A large, clear crystal-like orb sat upon a set of copper – or was it bronze – legs, which looked more like sword blades than real limbs. They were strangely spider-like in appearance, though only sporting four legs, and moved just as similarly.

"So it's the orbs we want, is it?" Cynder said to herself with a confident smirk, lowering her body into a battle stance.

One of the spider-like creatures stood uncertainly in front of her, scuttling from side to side as though unsure of how to attack. Cynder didn't wait for it to make its move. In one graceful, fluid movement, she had leapt forward and slammed her tail into the creature. Orb and legs parted contact with hardly a sound, and the former rolled unsteadily away. Leaving the bodiless legs to stagger drunkenly, the black dragoness scampered after the orb.

But the instant she reached it and stretched out a paw to grab it, the thing flashed red and exploded in her face. With a shriek of shock more than pain, Cynder reeled backwards, pawing at her stinging face. She heard Spyro shout her time and, blinking spots of light from her eyes, glared at him.

"Why didn't you tell me they explode?" she yelled accusingly at him.

"You need to put them in the pedestals!" Spyro yelled back, gesturing with a paw at the bowl-like pedestals beside the rune-marked gravestones. "They'll explode if you don't do it fast enough!"

"You could have told me that sooner!" Cynder growled, and turned to try her luck with another of the orb spiders.

Zannak wasn't having any more like. He was beset on all sides by three of the spiders, and Saffron was being no help at all. She just sat there, eyes wide and limbs frozen, a look of utmost terror on her face. With a growl, Zannak spat electricity at the nearest spider and it was thrown backwards by the powerful jolt. Then the gold-scaled dragon whirled on his sister.

"Snap out of it, Saffron!" he yelled, slapping her across the face with the flat of his black tailblade, "They're crystal balls on legs! Get a hold of yourself!"

But the yellow dragoness just uttered a noise like a strangled squeak, and huddled trembling against the wall beside the temple door. Growling in frustrated, Zannak planted himself firmly in front of her and let loose a storm of voltage at the three advancing spiders. Their metallic shrieks made him wince, but he watched in amazement as their crystal-orb bodies parted ways with their staggering bronze legs.

Suddenly Kazan shot by, grabbed one of the orbs, and slammed it into one of the bowl-shaped pedestals. It settled into the scooped-out groove with a low grating sound, and the crimson dragon let out a sigh of relief.

"What was that about?" Zannak asked blankly. Kazan glanced at him.

"You have to get them in the pedestals," he replied, "or they…"

The orb at Zannak's feet flashed red suddenly and exploded in a cloud of dust, causing the gold dragon to yelp and jump back, coughing.

"…explode."

Zannak pawed ash from his muzzle, "No kidding."

"What's with her?" Kazan asked, peering around Zannak at the trembling Saffron. He didn't like seeing her so terrified; it made him feel oddly uncomfortable. But she didn't even look at him. There was a haunted, hollow look in her wide, violet eyes.

"She's uh…" Zannak couldn't suppress a grin, "Got a bit of a phobia of bugs. Big bugs. Guess these things are just a bit too…spider-y for her."

Kazan, however, didn't seem to find it funny. If anything, he looked almost sympathetic.

"Is she ok?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant but not entirely succeeding.

"She'll be right after a bit," Zannak replied offhandedly, "Hey, watch her for me, would you? I'll go see if the others need any help."

He scampered off without waiting for an answer, leaving Kazan to glare after him. The others appeared to be dealing fine with the rest of the orb spiders, and already four of the five pedestals had been filled. A nervous cough behind him alerted the crimson dragon and he turned.

With the spider threat dealt with for the moment, Saffron seemed to have come back to her senses. Kazan offered her an uncertain smile.

"You ok?"

She averted her gaze, clearly embarrassed and mumbled a reluctant, "Fine."

Kazan watched as the yellow dragoness pawed half-heartedly at the ground, quite obviously avoiding meeting his eyes. He could tell just from her stance that she was embarrassed and ashamed of her actions, but the fire dragon didn't think she had anything to be ashamed of. Looking around nervously to make sure no one else was watching or listening, he stepped a little closer.

"Everyone's afraid of something, you know," he said awkwardly, watching her face for a reaction. She continued to paw at the ground, digging a shallow groove in the slaty dirt.

"…I wasn't afraid…" she mumbled, shoulders stiff, still not making eye contact. Kazan sighed.

"It doesn't matter, ok? You don't have to deny it."

Saffron snorted softly and didn't look up from her paws. Kazan scowled at her reaction, or lack thereof, and turned away.

"Whatever," he muttered, sitting down with his back to her, "Forget about it."

Quietly seething with annoyance – he'd only tried to cheer her up. What did he do to deserve the silent treatment? – he didn't hear the sound of her stand up. But he did notice when she sat down quietly beside him. She didn't say a word, but the gesture was enough. Kazan glanced briefly at her, met her eyes, and looked away again. A faint smile touched his face.

Spyro slammed the final orb into the pedestal just as it flashed red. Everyone winced, expecting an explosion, but the orb settled calmly into the pedestal and was still. The purple dragon let out the breath he had unknowingly been holding. He looked approvingly up the line of pedestals and rune-marked stones.

"That's the last of them," he announced, to everyone's relief.

"What about the other spiders?" Flame asked, glancing behind him at the three spiders that were still scuttling about.

"Leave them," Spyro replied confidently, "They should stop bothering us once we get this door open."

"How?" Flame drawled, tapping his claws impatiently on the ground.

"Watch."

With everyone watching him closely, Spyro strode purposefully over to the pedestal second from the far right. He stopped in front of it, opened his jaws, and set the orb alight with a blast of fire. Everyone jumped in surprise. By the time the flames had dissipated, the orb was glowing with a deep red sheen. The dragons stared.

"So…what? We just breathe fire on all of them?" Flame asked, raising an eyebrow, "Easy."

"No," Spyro interrupted, before Flame could approach the nearest pedestal, "We need the other elements."

"…Now you've lost me," the red dragon groaned, "Why can't things ever be simple with you?"

"Remember the voice," Roku interrupted calmly, "It spoke of the five elements. Each of these stones bears the name of one of the elements. I believe each orb may only be powered by the correct element. Is that right, Spyro?"

The purple dragon nodded.

"Fair enough," Cynder shrugged, "But how do we tell which is which?"

"By colour," said Spyro, gesturing at the glowing runes on each stone, "or…well, Roku can read them."

It took them only seconds to power the orbs. Zannak, Cynder and Roku dealt with the electric, wind, and earth orbs respectively, leaving Spyro to power the final orb – ice. When all five were shimmering with different colours – blue, red, yellow, green, and silvery-white – the giant marble doors slowly creaked open. Behind them, the remaining orb spiders scuttled silently away.

"Cooool!" Zannak crowed as the massive doors groaned open to reveal a hallway that quickly curved out of sight. Just inside the doors was something very strange. It was not what it was that was so strange, but rather what it was doing. It was a book – a huge, blue, leather-bound book – and it was floating. Or rather, flapping, as though its back and front covers were wings; the pages between rustling softly with each movement.

"This place is getting weirder and weirder," Flame grunted disapprovingly.

"Come on," Spyro said, stepping towards the book as it began to float down the hallway ahead of them.

"So, what, now we have to follow a floating book?" asked Kazan, who, along with Saffron, had just joined them.

"Seems like it," the electric dragoness muttered, and followed the others through the marble doorway and into the hallway. The crimson dragon trailed after her.

"Could things get any weirder?" he wondered aloud.

Despite Flame and Kazan's misgivings, the book led them through the short winding hallway and into a large, circular room. There were five doors leading out from this room, but only four were open. There was a shallow, circular depression in the centre of the room, surrounded by a ring of candles, a small, flat pad in the centre. Only Spyro knew what it was, but he did not say.

The instant Kazan, who was the last, stepped into the room, the door slammed shut behind him. Everyone whirled around in alarm to find themselves staring at a tightly shut door. It didn't seem like they'd be going back the way they'd come.

"That's…disconcerting," Cynder said uneasily.

"Wait!" Ember exclaimed, startling everyone, "Look at the door!"

They looked and, sure enough, something odd was happening to it. Silvery markings were spreading slowly across the wood, arranging themselves into odd intricate patterns. Roku was the only one who recognised it for what it was – the draconic symbol for air. Then, with a creaking sound, it opened. But they found themselves staring not down the hallway they had come from moments before, but into a swirling vortex of silvery wind.

"It didn't do that last time…" Spyro mumbled.

"That's comforting," Flame muttered, heavy sarcasm colouring his voice.

They were now surrounded on all sides by six doors – five of which led into strange, swirling vortexes, and the final of which was shut tight. Ignoring the others, Spyro hurried across the room, skirting around the depression in the middle of the floor, and approached the closed door. He examined it for a moment, before ramming it hard with his horns. It didn't budge.

"Now what?" Saffron exclaimed, sounding undeniably worried.

Spyro stared at the closed door, a confused, worried look on his face, "I-I'm not sure… We'll have to go through the trials. But I don't understand! I completed them last time! Why would he be trying to stop me from getting to him? He said there was something important he had to tell me!"

"Calm down, Spyro," Cynder interrupted, as soothingly as she could as she slipped to his side, "You can ask him that once we get to him. But right now we need to figure out how to. What do you mean by trials?"

Spyro took a deep breath to calm himself and turned around, "Each of these doors leads to an elemental trial. I had to go through them all last time I was here. But…"

He hesitated, looking over his friends, "Being a purple dragon, I control all the elements. But you only have one element each. Does that mean you can only complete one trial?"

The group exchanged glances. Eventually Kazan shrugged and muttered an uncertain, "I…guess?"

It was obvious which trial was which, without Roku having to read the runes carved above each door. Each opened out onto a strange vortex of power, as though a dragon's fury had been captured and entrapped within the doors. The door to the electricity trail opened onto a vortex of crackling voltage, and one could just feel the heat from the vortex of fire next to it.

"But the wind trial wasn't here last time," Spyro added thoughtfully, staring across the room at the door that had previously led out into a simple hallway. He could not explain why it had suddenly appeared, and that worried him more than he cared to admit.

"These are tests, right?" Cynder cut in, and Spyro nodded, "So the Chronicler's just trying to test us…make sure we're worthy. He's not trying to keep us out; just making sure we're good enough to get in."

"What are you getting at?" Spyro asked curiously.

"Spyro, listen, the wind trial wasn't here last time because you didn't have the element of wind at that time," Cynder explained, frowning as though the thought had only just occurred to her, "The Chronicler couldn't test you on something you never learned, so you didn't have to take that trial. But now that you do know that element – or maybe because I'm here – the trial has appeared."

"This is all too weird for me," Kazan groaned, rubbing his face with a paw, "Why don't we just complete these damn trials and get it over with?"

And, before anyone could stop him, he strode over to the nearest trial – which just so happened to be electricity. But the second he tried to place a paw into the vortex beyond the door, a jolt of voltage shot from the vortex and struck him hard in the chest. He was thrown backwards with a yelp and landed sprawled on the ground, wincing.

"Kazan!" Spyro exclaimed, shocked, 'Are you alright?"

"Nngh…Fine," Kazan groaned, rolling over onto his belly. Behind him, Saffron started to giggle. Mortified, the crimson dragon jumped to his feet and tried to look like nothing had happened. Flame rolled his eyes.

"Looks like we're only able to take our own trials," he muttered, stepping over to the fire trial. When he placed a paw in the vortex, the flames seemed to shimmer welcomingly. He grinned roguishly at the others.

"What do you say we split up?" he suggested, "You, little hatchling, can stay here while I deal with this one."

The last remark was directed at Kazan. The crimson dragon growled angrily and stalked over to Flame, gold eyes blazing a challenge.

"Hell no," he growled, "If anyone's going to do that trial, it's me."

Flame scoffed and tapped him sharply in the chest with a claw, "You think I'm gonna let you go in there and screw everything up? You couldn't complete it in a million years."

"Don't get me mixed up with the likes of you. I could do this thing with my eyes closed."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Why don't you tag along and watch me, then?"

"You'll be the one doing the watching, moron!"

"Come on, guys," Ember pleaded, "We'll all do it together. How's that?"

They whirled on her at the same time with identical shouts of, "You stay here!"

Ember's eyes flashed angrily, "Oh no, I don't think so. Someone has to keep you two boneheads out of trouble and it looks like it's gonna be me! So no arguing!"

"But…!"

"No. Arguing." Ember snarled in Flame's face and he backed down with a scowl. Cynder smiled approvingly.

"Keep an eye on them, Ember," she called to the pink dragoness, "You know how they are."

"Oh, I know. I can handle it."

With Kazan and Flame still snarling at each other, the three fire dragons stepped forward and disappeared into the vortex of flame. They were gone in an instant, leaving only crackling flames in their wake.

"They've got the right idea," Spyro sighed, "We'll have to split up. Saffron, Zannak, think you can handle it?"

"We'll be fine," Saffron said confidently with a glance at her goofily grinning brother, "Well…I'll make sure we stay out of trouble."

"Leave the earth trial to me," Roku murmured, "I will meet you all back here."

"Right…" Spyro mumbled, and the three dragons left through their corresponding doors. He looked up to see it was just he and Cynder left. The black dragoness smiled reassuringly at him.

"I'll take the wind trial," she said gently, "Guess that leaves you with ice. Good luck, Spyro. I'll see you soon."

"Yeah…" Spyro swallowed hard and watched as Cynder turned towards the door to the wind trial. Just before she disappeared into the vortex, he called out to her.

"Be careful!"

But she just smiled and was gone.

Suddenly feeling very alone, Spyro glanced once more at the closed door that he knew led to the Chronicler. Sighing, he turned away and stepped into the vortex of ice. The cold air welcomed him almost mockingly as it engulfed him.

Terrador had once said that Concurrent Skies was a place where all hope goes to die. But for Skelos, it was in this place that he hoped his plans would come to fruition. He took with him fifty warriors; a small enough number that they would not appear a threat to the Dreadwings, yet enough that they stood a chance of fighting their way out should things take a turn for the worse. Despite his outward confidence, the panther was not sure what to expect.

Like many others, the tales of the Terror of the Skies and her dark fortress had reached the Badlands years ago. But all the tales of Concurrent Skies could not prepare the panthers for the sight they were about to witness and the unforgiving land they were about to step into. A harsh, three-day trek over the Badlands and through rocky mountain ranges led them to a part of the world that most beasts who valued their lives would fiercely avoid.

They knew they were approaching long before they caught sight of the fortress – the way the skies began to darken, as though a fierce storm was on the way, made sure of that. And then the dark fortress rose from the land ahead of them, a beacon not of light but of shadow against a stormy, lightning-scarred sky. Together they stood upon an outcropping of rock, at the threshold to this land of storms and nightmares.

Lightning slashed across the sky, accompanied by an ominous tremor of thunder, illuminating the crystallised land below. Pale crystals, too cold to be spirit gems, rose like reaching fingers from the earth, crackling with what could only be electricity. The crystallised land stretched as far as the eye could see on all sides and, in the very centre, a dark castle loomed over all, casting the world into shadow.

"This is it," Skelos breathed, lightning reflecting in his dark, ocean-blue eyes. Another flash of lightning seemed to make his black fur stand on end, as though it too was charged with voltage. He gripped his spear tightly.

"I don't like the feel of this place," Silt said darkly beside him, his alarmingly orange eyes sweeping over the unwelcoming landscape. There was not a panther among them that could not feel the tension in the air, and it had nothing to do with electricity.

"We have no choice," Skelos replied calmly, "If this place is where the Dreadwings have made their home, then this is where we must go. We have already come this far; we are not backing out now."

"I knew you would say that, Master Skelos."

Skelos smirked wryly, "You know me too well, Silt."

In stiff silence, the panthers descended down the slanting rock face and stepped onto cold, crystallised ground. A maze of crystal outcrops and high dark cliffs awaited them, standing between them and the towering fortress that loomed over their heads. Orpheus craned his head upward to take in the foreboding building of slim turrets and high, arched windows of purple glass. He thought he could see dark shadows circling the highest towers, almost invisible against the deep grey sky.

"Be vigilant," Skelos told his warriors grimly, "We never know what could be hiding in this place, waiting to ambush us. Do not give them any chances. Follow me."

Their pawsteps sounded strangely magnified in the silence, though they were soft against the hard, crystal-like ground. It was cold against the pads of their paws, and they found little traction on the slick surface; each step was slow and deliberate for this reason. It was so unlike the shifting sands they were used to.

It was eerily quiet as they made their way through the crystal maze. Using his sword-staff like a walking stick, Orpheus kept pace beside Skelos for much of the slow trek. The crystals around them seemed to crackle with voltage every few minutes, and Orpheus jumped every time they did. This land felt dead and abandoned, but he could not shake the unnerving sensation of watching eyes on his back. At one point they passed an old turret that looked as though it could have once been a search tower, though it looked as though it had been disused long ago.

They soon discovered that the place was dotted with broken and disused search towers and other pieces of foreign technology. They passed the remains of old shattered gates and war machines, and diodes that had once, unknown to them, generated electrified force fields. It was this sort of bizarre ape technology that was unknown to the panthers. But they recognized a former warzone when they saw one.

"I wonder what happened here," Orpheus said quietly as his foot nudged a piece of metal that had once been part of an electrified canon.

"This is ape machinery," Skelos replied solemnly, "There must have been a battle here, years ago."

Orpheus gazed down at a scorch mark between his feet that had never fully faded from the crystallised earth, "Dragons?"

"Perhaps."

Stepping over the shattered remains of a broken canon, Skelos led his warriors on through the deserted battlefield – unaware that a young purple dragon had fought his way through this place years ago, leaving devastation in his wake. The memories of that day still remained, in the broken shards of machinery and the battle scars that littered the worn, crystallised earth. But the panthers were not to know that.

Perhaps the restless spirits of the apes that had died long ago still lingered amongst their broken machines, and were the reason for the uneasy feeling that had settled on the shoulders of the panthers now. They could almost feel the ghostly, desolate eyes on their backs, and most turned more than once to check if they were being followed. But they saw nothing, for life in this place was all but nonexistent.

For Orpheus, the atmosphere of this land had a strange affect of him. A heavy sadness seemed to linger in the air, but none noticed it more than him. He felt it dampening his fur, even though the electrified air caused it to shiver and stand on end. The silence that had before seemed so eerie, now only seemed sad and lonely, despite the distant rumbling of thunder.

What would it have been like, he wondered, to have been there in those battle days? Orpheus could not imagine the carnage that had swept through this place, the fear the apes must have felt as they were cut down by their scaly enemies. He was not to know that a single dragon had been the cause of all this. He was not to know that the deaths of the many apes that had once fought here rested on the shoulders of a young purple dragon – a dragon he himself had faced in battle not so long ago.

But he could still feel the sadness in the air, and it felt like it was eating at his very heart.

It took them approximately half an hour to reach the foot of the towering fortress; far too long for Orpheus's liking. It was not the heavy atmosphere that worried him, though it did dampen his spirits, but rather the dark shapes circling the fortress that he had spotted earlier. He was almost certain he wasn't imagining them now, and knew that, whatever they were, they were big. He just hoped they hadn't spotted them.

"Where now?" Skelos mused to himself when they had all halted outside the giant doors to the fortress, "I supposed we go in…"

"Master Skelos…" Orpheus said warily, chancing another glance up at the dark sky and the circling shadows.

"Let's see if this door isn't locked…" Skelos murmured, only half aware of the younger panther trying to get his attention. He stepped forward carefully and reached out a paw to the slick black doors.

"Master Skelos!'

"What, Orpheus?" he growled without turning around, preparing to push the doors inward. Beside him, Silt glanced to the sky and saw what had Orpheus so worried.

"Sir!" he yelled to Skelos, "The sky!"

Skelos spun around just as five heavy thuds rippled through the earth and almost threw him off balance. The panthers backed up together in shock, suddenly surrounded on all sides by five, giant bat-like creatures that had just dropped from the sky. They had long, flat faces, with snouts like that of wild boars, and two sharp canines that protruded from their lower jaws.

Dreadwings.

They stood at least as tall as a full grown panther and twice as wide – not considering their wingspan, as their wings were currently folded tight against their furred bodies. Five pairs of beady, yellowed eyes glared into the tightly packed group of panthers from all sides. Skelos tightened his grip on his javelin warily.

"What now?" Silt hissed in his ear, "They've got us surrounded. And they're bigger than I expected."

"That makes two of us," Skelos grunted, having never seen a Dreadwing up close before; he decided he hadn't missed much.

For the moment, the Dreadwings just appeared to be inspecting them, their beady eyes alight with curiosity. Skelos hoped it stayed that way, because he wasn't keen for a battle with five creatures over twice his size. They might have outnumbered the bat-like beasts, but in a situation like this he wasn't confident that they outmatched them too.

"Stay still," he murmured softly, but in the silence everyone heard it, "Don't make any sudden movements. We don't want them to think we're hostile."

"What are we going to do?" Orpheus asked in a loud, frightened whisper, "Negotiate with them?"

"I don't think they can speak," Skelos growled, suddenly wishing he'd thought through his plan a little bit more. He hadn't expected the Dreadwings to be so big, appear so suddenly, or work so well together. They had them surrounded and taken them by surprise, and Skelos didn't like it one bit.

One of the Dreadwings opened its mouth and uttered a high-pitched shriek, so suddenly that many of the panthers flinched and slapped their paws over their ears. Skelos gritted his teeth at the painful sound. It died away quickly, however, and the wincing panthers uncovered their ears. Two of the Dreadwings looked at each other, and Skelos's sensitive hearing picked up a series of odd clicking sounds. At first he was confused, before he realised with a jolt that they were talking to each other.

That was when he realised – these weren't the mindless savage creatures he had been expecting; they were sentient beings. Squaring his shoulders, Skelos pushed his way through the crowd of his panthers and faced the bat-like beasts. Their beady eyes glared curiously at him.

"I do not know if you can understand me," Skelos said, to the surprise of the panthers behind him, "But if you can, I want you to know that we mean you no harm."

The Dreadwing in front of him screeched softly, and followed it up with a series of low clicking noises. Skelos frowned, wondering if it was trying to speak to him like he was to it.

"I have come with a proposition," he said slowly to the beast, "Do you have a leader we may talk to?"

For several long moments the Dreadwing just stared at him, and he wondered whether it had understood him at all. He was just hoping they wouldn't have to fight their way out, when the Dreadwing turned and started 'talking' to its partner once more. Skelos waited edgily, fist clenched nervously around his javelin. The other Dreadwings just seemed to be watching.

Suddenly the Dreadwing turned back to him and uttered another shriek that seemed to go straight through Skelos's sensitive ears. He winced and almost raised his javelin to protect himself, before he realised the creature was not attacking. If anything it had backed away.

There was a low creaking noise behind them and Skelos spun around to see one of the Dreadwings had opened the door to the fortress. It lumbered inside and turned to look back at the panthers. Frowning, Skelos glanced back at the other Dreadwings. They nodded their flat faces towards the open door, and one gestured loosely with a wing.

"I think they want us to go in," Orpheus whispered, looking unnerved by the idea.

Skelos nodded slowly, "I think…they want to take us somewhere. Perhaps to their leader."

"Master, are you sure this is a good idea?" Silt asked warily in a low voice, still well aware that they were surrounded by the winged beasts. The entrance to the fortress looked dark and foreboding ahead of them.

But Skelos didn't answer; he just stepped confidently through the doors and into the darkness beyond. Exchanging worried glances, Orpheus and Silt hurried after him. The other panthers followed warily, shooting nervous glances at the Dreadwings at their backs. There didn't seem to be much hope for escape as they were herded through the doors into the dark foyer of the fortress.

Light filtered through arched purple windows, bathing the group of cats in deep indigo. The floor beneath their paws was smooth and cold, and the air inside the fortress tasted almost stale. Though the light was low, their sharp eyes quickly adjusted to see through the violet gloom. A narrow hallway lay opposite the entrance, and it was through here that the Dreadwings led their guests.

The panthers stayed close together, paws on weapons, prepared for anything. But they needn't have worried. The hallway opened out into a large, circular room that looked, upon first glance, to be completely empty. Skelos frowned as he looked around, and saw with some awe that the ceiling was simply not there – it just stretched up, up into darkness.

The Dreadwings herded the panthers into the centre of the room, where rings of violet light led to a small circle of indigo glass in the very centre of the floor. Quit suddenly, to the overwhelming shock of the panthers, the floor jerked upwards. Some crouched in alarm, but Skelos kept his footing as they began to rise smoothly up into the darkness.

"What's going on?" Orpheus yelped, steadying himself with his sword-staff, as the floor rose up the middle of the tower, taking the panthers and the Dreadwings with it.

"Don't worry," Skelos replied calmly, watching the walls drift past as they rose, "It's just more ape technology."

It was a wild guess on Skelos' part, but he was correct. This was one of many elevators throughout the fortress, powered by spirit gems. The panthers had never seen nor heard of an elevator before, and it both unnerved and impressed them as the floor rose seemingly of its own accord.

The elevator groaned to a halt several floors up, and the panthers staggered off feeling disorientated. Unfazed, the Dreadwings led them on through winding hallways filled with indigo light drifting in through the slim, arched windows. The fortress was huge, Skelos thought, trying to see down every corridor they passed by.

At one point, Orpheus grabbed his arm, pointed down a corridor, and hissed something in his ear.

"I know," Skelos murmured back as quietly as he could, "I saw it too."

Another elevator ride later, and the panthers found themselves on, though they weren't aware of it, the topmost floor of the fortress. Skelos spotted another elevator that, unknown to him, would take them up to the very summit and out into the open air on the roof of the fortress. But the Dreadwings led them away from the elevator and down a side corridor to a pair of impressive double doors.

A slim dragonhead had been carved into the centre of the doors, and its yellow eyes glared challengingly at the panthers as they approached. Skelos's paw tightened around his spear again; he had a feeling he knew what lay beyond that door.

A Dreadwing stepped forward and pushed one of the doors open, splitting the dragonhead down the middle, and slipped silently into the room beyond. Skelos strained to get a look, but could see little through the gap in the doors. Nevertheless, his sensitive ears quickly picked up the sound of Dreadwings talking.

At first there were just low clicking noises, like the ones the Dreadwings had made earlier, but then Skelos heard a voice that chilled him to the very core; a voice so full of menace it almost dripped acid; a voice that he could understand.

"Invite our guests in, Drehgarr. They must be weary from their long trek."

Skelos held his breath as the doors creaked inwards and he caught a glimpse of what had once been Cynder's stateroom. The walls were lined with high, arched windows of purple glass, and a long, thin, tattered red carpet led to a great stone throne on the far wall. But it was not the throne that was impressive; rather, it was the beast that sat upon it.

Upon the throne that the Terror of the Skies had once sat upon, lay the biggest Dreadwing Skelos had ever seen. It was at least twice the size of the ones that had greeted them outside the fortress, and it's great, furred body was larger even than a full-grown dragon. Its wings were folded tight against its body, and Skelos had a feeling that their full span would not fit into this room.

The Dreadwing's fur was pure white, and the skin of its face and arms was bluish-black. Great red wings stood out like blood against the white fur, but Skelos's eyes were drawn to the fierce, long face of the beast. Its eyes, a sickly shade of yellow, glinted with intelligence as their gazes met. A cold smile cracked its flat, ugly face.

"Welcome, guests," said the Dreadwing in a voice as cold and sharp as shards of ice, "I am Orroch, king of the Dreadwings. To what do we owe this honour?"

Even Skelos felt obliged to bow, and he sank to one knee in front of the mighty Dreadwing without hesitation. Looking up, his deep blue eyes met the yellow orbs of the king once more.

"It is an honour, king Orroch of the Dreadwings."

Cynder breezed through the trial of wind with ease. Wind was her only natural element, after all, and as such its control came easily to her. The first courtyard she came to was full of creatures that looked more like animated clumps of crystal than living beings. They moved slowly, shambling across the earth and dragging clubs of clear crystal behind them. She could feel their footsteps echoing through the earth with unnerving clarity.

Warily, the blank dragoness jumped lightly from the ledge she was standing on into the courtyard. There was cold dirt beneath her paws and it clung resolutely to her talons with every step she took. Unsure if the crystal beasts were hostile, Cynder kept a wary eye on them as she approached the barrier across the other side of the courtyard.

Two standing stones, marked with the rune for wind, stood guard on either side of the clear, shimmering barrier. The barrier itself did not appear natural, and it looked to Cynder as though it was formed of captured tongues of silvery wind – if such a thing were possible. She was just wondering how to get passed it, when she heard the rush of something heavy behind her and leapt to the side just in time. The crystal club slammed into the dirt where she had been standing seconds before.

Whirling around, Cynder snarled at the crystal beast that had dared to sneak up behind her. It retracted its club slowly, leaving a deep crease in the earth. Cynder had a feeling it was watching her, despite its obvious lack of a face or eyes. Opening her maw, she prepared to give it a taste of poison. But nothing happened, and she found herself having to dodge to the side again as the beast struck out once more.

For a split second she was confused, before she reminded herself that this was the trial of wind. It seemed her other powers wouldn't work in this place, but she was hardly bothered by that thought. With a grim smile, Cynder cut the beast down with a sharp blade of wind that sliced right through its crystallised body.

By now, the others had noticed the intruder and were shambling over to apprehend her. But they moved far too slowly, and the black dragoness brought them all down with ease, a mini cyclone whirring around her body. As the last fell and shattered into shards of – to Cynder's amazement – spirit gems, she heard something crack behind her.

Spinning around in alarm, Cynder's shoulders relaxed when she realised it had been the standing stones that had broken. They lay in pieces now, the shattered runes no longer glowing, and the barrier had dissipated. Feeling confident, Cynder let the shards of spirit gem absorb into her scales and strode through the opening where the barrier had once been.

Another courtyard and four more crystal beasts later, the black dragoness found herself standing at the edge of a chasm that stretched far down into darkness. Craning her head upwards, she saw high cliff walls rising seemingly forever into a white expanse. The way between the walls was narrow and winded out of sight before too long. To Cynder, it seemed as though she was standing at the very edge of the world.

"Where now?" she mused to herself, staring down into darkness. Shards of stone broke off under her talons and tumbling soundlessly into the endless chasm.

Frowning, the black dragoness looked ahead again and spotted something she had not seen the first time. A ring of white light hung in the air between the canyon walls, shimmery with a silvery sheen. Cynder stared at it for a long time, wondering why it seemed so inviting to her, until at last it dawned on her.

"This must be another challenge," she murmured, hunching her shoulders and spreading her wings, "Let's see what you've got, Chronicler."

Cynder sprang off the edge with a rush of wind, leaping out over endless blackness. The wind caught her wings and she propelled herself towards the suspended ring of light. It flashed almost welcomingly as she soared through it, and then dissipated without a trace. Cynder faltered briefly, until she realised another ring had flared to life just ahead of her.

Grinning with confidence, the black dragoness shot towards the ring and it too dissipated as she passed through. Another appeared, higher up this time, and she winged upwards to meet it. It wasn't until, several rings later when they were starting to spawn further apart, that Cynder noticed something odd about them. The longer she took to reach a ring, the smaller it seemed to become, until at last she was sure she wasn't imagining it.

She had a feeling that, if she didn't reach it in time, the ring would shrink and disappear all together. And Cynder had a feeling that wouldn't be a good thing, though she wasn't sure why. Still, she was always up for a challenge.

The black dragoness sped through the dark canyon without halt, ducking and weaving through the rings as they appeared. Soon they were getting further apart and, to her horror, shrinking ever faster. At one point, she almost didn't reach one before it disappeared completely, and was forced to give herself a boost of wind. She had a feeling that no dragon without the element of wind could complete this challenge – they'd never be able to fly fast enough, or with such control.

As Cynder passed through the nearest ring, another spawned almost directly below her. She dived frantically, snapping her wings sharply against her body, and pulled up tightly at the last second with a little help from her element. The ring flashed and dissipated as she soared through. Smirking, she sped on.

It continued for several minutes, until Cynder's wings were aching from the strain. After a series of sharp zigzags that had forced her to bounce from wall to wall to reach the swiftly spawning rings, at last the end was in sight. Relieved, Cynder soared down through the final ring and landed gratefully on solid ground. Ahead of her, two rune-marked standing stones shattered, and the door between them opened invitingly. Cynder didn't look back at the chasm as she stepped through.

On the other side of the door, a small circular platform awaited her in a dark, cramped cavern. The surface of the raised platform was glowing with white light, and the black dragoness couldn't help feeling strangely drawn to it. Positive this was what she was meant to do, she stepped lightly onto the glowing platform. The glow enveloped her entirely, engulfing every scale, every shred of essence, until all she would see was white – and all she could hear was the comforting howl of wind.

The void around her faded back into existence all too soon, and Cynder was faced with what seemed to be an arena of sorts. She stood upon a huge, circular platform, surrounded on all sides by high, plain walls. The arena was dark, and she couldn't place where the little light was coming from. Under her feet, she realised the rune for wind had been carved into the stone. Curious, she stepped off it and looked around the edge of the arena, noting the runes for the other elements had been carved too.

As she stared, one of the runes suddenly lit up with a flash of green light. The Earth rune. Cynder frowned at it, both curious and bemused. But she didn't have long to ponder the mystery, because suddenly she was no longer alone.

A rumble shook the flat stone beneath her paws, and a giant figure appeared in the centre of the arena. Under Cynder's startled gaze, the armoured giant rose to his feet and held out his massive arms. A shield, upon which the wind rune was engraved, flashed into existence on his left arm, and a giant sword in his right hand. Slowly, his helmeted face turned towards the frozen black dragoness.

The giant's unearthly howl was what broke Cynder from her frozen shock. With a growl, she charged at the armoured giant and let loose a burst of concentrated air, diving to the side a millisecond later. The giant's sword swing missed its mark, but Cynder's attack struck its shield hard, tearing the heavy object from its grip. It uttered a sound not unlike that of a wounded animal, but so otherworldly that it almost made Cynder's scales stand on end.

It staggered and turned towards her again, raising its colossal blade. Despite his size, the giant's swing was fast, and Cynder barely had time to dodge before the sword slammed into the ground where she had been standing but a second before. It cut a deep groove in the stone and became lodged, much to the armoured giant's irritation. Furiously, he tugged and pulled at the blade, but it was held fast.

Cynder took that chance to skirt around behind it, and attack it in a flurry of wind. Crescent blades formed of wind sliced through the armour like a knife through butter, and the giant howled and staggered forward, dropping his lodged sword. It stayed stuck in the groove it had created for just an instant, until it fell with much scraping of metal and disappeared in a flash of light.

Unarmed, the wounded giant turned to glower at the black dragoness, half his armour hanging off to reveal fleshless bone on his leg and arm. Cynder grimaced and backed away, pawing the floor nervously and waiting for her opponent to make his next move. The giant took several shambling steps in her direction, the thud of his heavy footfalls causing the whole arena to shake. He raised his hand slowly and, to Cynder's great shock, a new blade materialised in his grip.

"That's hardly fair," the black dragoness snarled, ducking under the blade as the giant tried and failed to sever her head from her shoulders.

Steeling her nerves, she dashed towards his unarmoured, skeletal leg, and cut straight through it with another crescent blade of wind. With an eerie howl of despair, the giant fell backwards and struck the ground with an almighty crashing of armour. His sword dropped from his hand for a second time, and Cynder only just managed to avoid it when it fell to the ground and dissipated once more.

Panting, the black dragoness circled nervously around the fallen giant, watching its feeble attempts to get back to its feet. But one of its legs was gone, and all of its attempts were fruitless. With a moan, it reached an armoured hand out to Cynder, skeletal fingers just inches from her snout. Then, to her amazement, the giant's body dissolved right before her eyes and floated away as tiny orbs of light on a gentle breeze.

Cynder let out a sigh of relief and sat back on her haunches. Glancing behind her, she saw the carved rune of wind light up with a silvery white glow. Then, from above, a small platform floated out of the darkness to land in the centre of the arena. Without much hesitation, the black dragoness leapt up onto it. She felt soft tendrils of white caress her scales as the platform rose again, taking her with it, up into darkness.

When Cynder opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in front of the door that had taken her to the trial of wind. The door snapped shut on the silvery vortex, and the standing stones of either side of it shattered like glass. The black dragoness turned around to see she was back in the room in which they'd all split up. Roku was sitting outside the now closed door to the earth trial.

"You're back," he said by way of greeting, angling his head politely towards her.

"Where are the others?" Cynder asked, padding over to him once she had determined that he was the only other dragon in the room.

"They have yet to return," Roku replied, shaking his head. A frown settled on his face, and he met Cynder's gaze again. "The final challenge of your trial…what was it?"

Slightly surprised by the question, Cynder hesitated before she replied, "There was a giant…in armour. I had to fight it. Why?"

Roku's eyes glinted in the light from the candles around the room, "You too… I thought so. I believe the giant you fought was the spirit of wind, and I am sure the one I fought was the spirit of earth. I assume the others will likely face a similar battle with the guardian spirits."

Cynder frowned, "So…we were forced to fight the spirits of our elements? Guess that's one way of testing us. He seemed a little too…substantial to be a spirit."

Roku replied with a wry smile, "I think we've established that things are not always as they seem in this place. The Chronicler knows what he is doing, I am sure of that."

"Well, I just hope the others are able to handle themselves."

As though on cue, a sudden iciness filled the room and a dragon materialised outside the door to the ice trial. The door snapped shut sharply, the standing stones shattered, and Spyro turned around to face the two black dragons. Cynder jumped up to greet him, ignoring the frostiness of his scales as she rubbed her cheek against his.

"Looks like we beat you back, Spyro," she teased with a sultry glance at the purple dragon.

A look of relief crossed his face to see Cynder safe and sound, "You must have been fast. But…where are the others?"

Spyro looked around the room, seeing only Roku beside the shattered stones that had once held the runes for earth. The doors to the fire and electricity trials were still open, and the dragons that had entered them were nowhere to be seen.

"I guess they're still inside," Cynder murmured, and added upon seeing Spyro's anxious expression, "I'm sure they're fine, Spyro."

The purple dragon sat down beside Roku with a sigh, "I sure hope so."

While Spyro worried, inside the electricity trial Saffron and Zannak were arguing. Or, at least, Saffron was arguing and Zannak was being his usual contrary self.

"Why won't this door open?" the yellow dragoness snarled, throwing herself at the wooden door for the fifth time. But it refused to budge, and she collapsed panting beside it.

"Probably because we're not meant to go that way, sis," Zannak pointed out with a teasing grin. Saffron raised her head to glare at him.

"Of course we're meant to go this way, you buffoon!" she snapped, "Where else can we go besides back the way we came?"

She gestured violently down the tunnel from whence they'd come. They'd fought through several courtyards of strange animated crystal monsters, navigated over a series of floating platforms they'd had to power with their electric breath, and at last seemed to have reached the end of the trial. But there was nothing in this cavern but a wooden door that refused to open and a small platform in the centre that had done nothing when Zannak had stepped on it.

"Maybe we took a wrong turn. Your sense of direction is pretty bad, you know."

"Argh!" Saffron slammed her forehead into the sandy ground in frustration, "We can't have taken a wrong turn! The trials led us straight here!"

"You couldn't follow a straight line if your life depended on it, sis," Zannak grinned, dancing around her and marvelling at how the sand preserved his pawprints, "You've got us lost, I tell you!"

"Oh, shut up, would you?" she growled, and muttered to herself, "Could we have missed something on the way? There's got to be something to do with that platform…"

She had already tried spitting electricity at it, but it had done nothing. And she was beginning to think that this door was not a door at all, but just a piece of wood trying to trick her. Zannak was still prancing around her, far too amused by the trails of pawprints he left in the sand than was healthy – at least Saffron thought so. She turned to glare at him, opening her mouth to tell him to stop moving about, when she caught sight of something that sent chills down her spine.

"Zannak, would you st– oh my Ancestors, whatthehellisthat?"

She was on her feet in an instant, and Zannak spun around expecting to see giant, hellish monsters of some sort. But at first it seemed as though the cavern was empty but for them, until he spotted a small something scurrying about near his feet. It was about twice as big as one of his paws, and looked to his amazement like a little stone button on legs – four, very spidery legs.

Saffron fled to the other side of the cavern, far away from what she was sure was one of the biggest spiders she'd ever seen – not counting those horrible orb spiders from earlier. She was beginning to think this place had a thing for spiders, and that didn't sit well with her.

"Kill it, Zannak!" she shrieked, watching it scuttle about around her brother, "Squash it!"

But Zannak laughed and skipped out of the way when the spider-like thing almost scuttled over his paw. "It's not a spider, Saff! It's a little…thing. Looks like a button or something. Hey, maybe we got catch it!"

And, ignoring his sister's horrified expression, he pounced on the spidery creature. But it shot out from under him seconds before he slammed his paws down into the sand and missed it by inches. Blinking in surprised, Zannak stared at his empty paws and wondered how the thing could have moved so fast. Then, grinning widely, he jumped up and charged after it as it scuttled quickly away.

"Help me catch it, sis!" Zannak called excitedly, pouncing and missing again when it ran between his legs. Saffron looked horrified by the very thought.

"I'm not going anywhere near that thing!" she screeched, and then screamed when she saw it scurrying towards her, "Get it away from me!"

She leapt away from the spidery thing and hurried over to hide behind her brother. He was laughing by now, teal eyes twinkling with merriment.

"I told you it's not a spider! It's a little…button thing. Come on, it's not going to hurt you. Look."

The gold dragon crept up on the spider-button and, when he was close enough, pounced. Again, his paws missed it by inches and it scurried over to hide in the shadows of the cavern walls. Zannak pushed himself up, grinning as though it was all a game – which, to him, it was.

"See? It's scared of us," he pointed out, "And I bet we have to catch it. Maybe it's a switch to get that platform to do something."

Saffron grimaced, "Well, catch it then."

"But it's too fast! I need your help, sis, come on."

"I told you, I'm not going near it! It's freaky!"

"It's not going to hurt you! It doesn't even have a face! It's just a button on tiny little legs. Come on!"

Saffron glared, but she had to admit he was right. Unlike a spider, the little creature didn't have any sort of pincers or fangs. In fact, as far as she could see, all it had was four tiny little legs. The yellow dragoness uttered a long-suffering sigh.

"Fine," she grumbled, shuddering, "I'll help you catch the stupid thing."

"Sweet," said Zannak, who had been sneaking up on it again, "Because it's coming right for you!"

Saffron shrieked and jumped to the side, but the little creature ran straight between her legs without stop. Growling, the yellow dragoness spun around and pounced on it. It shot out from between her paws, skirted around her, and ran back towards Zannak. He swiped at it, but hit only sand as it scuttled nimbly away. Saffron closed in, growling defensively, and the thing ran at her again, aiming for the gap between her legs.

She struck it with her tail as it shot through her hind legs, and it skidded off course, giving Zannak time to finally pounce on it. His paws struck the little button-spider heavily, and it seemed to shrink into the ground until its legs were all but invisible. It didn't get up again when he gingerly parted his paws to make sure he'd actually caught it.

"Well, we got it," Zannak muttered, staring at the button between his paws.

"Look!" Saffron exclaimed suddenly, and her brother spun around.

The platform in the middle of the room was now glowing with a brilliant yellow light, throwing strange shadows on the walls of the cavern. Saffron eyed it warily.

"It sure wasn't doing that before," she remarked.

"Come on," Zannak grinned, "Let's see what this thing does."

Rolling her eyes, Saffron followed him, and the two siblings stepped together onto the platform. The yellow light engulfed them, electricity crackled over their scales, and suddenly they found themselves in a place they had not been before – a dark arena of sorts. There were three spots of light around the edge of the arena, carved runes that glowed with white, green, and blue light. The rune they were standing upon was not glowing.

"What do you think they mean?" Zannak wondered allowed.

Saffron glanced down at the rune under her paws, recognising it as the one of electricity. She stared at the glowing runes across the room again, an idea forming in her head.

"I bet they light up when the trial is complete," she mused, "Green, blue and white… That's got to be earth, ice and wind."

"Spyro must have done the ice trial," Zannak murmured, and Saffron glanced uneasily at him. There was a wistful look in his eyes, and she had no doubt who was on his mind.

"Zannak…"

But before either of them had another chance to speak, the whole arena shook violently and a colossal armoured being appeared in the centre. The two siblings exchanged glances as the giant rose to his feet, a shield in one hand and an oversized sword in the other. The dragons grinned at each other.

"Let's do this."

At the same time, three fire dragons had just found themselves in a similar arena after much arguing and violent disagreements. The trial had taken much longer than it should have, thanks to Flame and Kazan's constant arguments, no matter how Ember tried to play mediator. The pink dragoness herself was feeling mighty irritated by their antics, and her patience was reaching the end of its tether by the time they reached the end of the trial.

"Great," Kazan groaned, looking around the dark arena, "Guess we're not done yet, huh? What is it this time?"

"Whatever it is, it's probably nothing I can't handle," Flame boasted, and added with a snarl, "As long as you don't get in my way again!"

Kazan returned the snarl, "You were the one getting in my way! I'll deal with this one!"

"Like hell you will! You don't even know what it is!"

"Oh, and you do? Enlighten me, oh mighty king of idiots!"

"We're in an arena, moron! We're obviously supposed to fight something!"

"Like what, our own shadows? Or maybe I've gotta fight you. That, I could appreciate."

"If it's a fight you want, I'll gladly give you one! But don't expect me to go easy on you!"

"Bring it on!"

"Ooooh, shut up!" Ember screeched suddenly, planting herself firmly between the arguing red dragons and flaring her wings angrily. Startled, they jumped backwards and shut their mouths. The pink dragoness glared at them both. "If I have to listen to one more stupid argument, I'm going to clobber the both of you, you great buffoons! I am this close to bashing your heads together, so shut up and stop arguing – or else!"

She leered at them both with narrowed azure eyes, "Am I clear?"

Kazan and Flame averted their eyes, looking suitably abashed. Ember scowled at their silence and repeated herself in a dangerous, icy tone.

"I said, am – I – clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," the red dragons mumbled reluctantly, still averting their eyes. That seemed to satisfy the pink dragoness.

"Good, now let's find a way out of…" she turned around and froze when the arena trembled under her paws, and she saw the armoured giant materialise before her eyes. He rose to his feet with an unearthly howl, raising his colossal sword to the sky.

Ember gulped, "…here."

A wild grin crossed Flame's face, "Oh yeah, now this is a battle."

"Bring it on, you ugly brute," Kazan added with a growl, flaring his wings and crouching into a battle stance. Without waiting for Flame to make a move, the crimson dragon charged across the arena and Comet Dashed straight into the giant's massive stone shield.

"Oi!" Flame yelled, charging after him as the giant's shield went flying and so did Kazan.

The crimson dragon landed awkwardly on his side, and rolled onto his belly just as the giant loomed over him with sword at the ready. Kazan winced and shielded his face with his wings, preparing for the blow. But then he heard the sound of armour shattering, and the giant uttered an eerie howl of pain. Uncovering his face, Kazan saw him staggering backwards with a smoking hole in his chest plate. Flame stood in front of him, smoke gushing from between his fangs.

"I'm your opponent," he growled at the giant, pawing the earth challengingly, "Not this idiot."

"Watch who you're calling idiot," Kazan growled, and pushed himself back to his feet, "I can take this guy down."

Flame scoffed, "Sure, that's why he almost lopped off your head."

"I was distracted!"

"And if I wasn't here to save your hide, you'd be headless!"

Kazan's retort was cut off when the giant slammed his armoured foot into the floor, shaking the entire arena and knocking the both of them off balance. He raised his sword again, but then howled and dropped to his knees when a flurry of fireballs exploded on his back, shattering his armour.

"Stop arguing and fight!" Ember yelled at the boys, spitting another fireball that struck the giant's helmet with a hollow clanging sound.

"Yeah, Kazan!" Flame added, before firing his own fireballs at the giant.

"She was talking to you!" Kazan growled, his paws igniting with bright flames that began to creep up his legs towards his chest. Recklessly, he charged at the kneeling giant.

"I was talking to both of you!" Ember screeched, but Kazan didn't hear her over the roar of the fire in his ears.

The crimson dragon, the entire front half of his body on fire, took a flying leap that carried him into the chest of his opponent. He struck the smoking hole in the chest plate that Flame had blasted earlier, tearing straight through the cracked armour and shooting out the other side like a flaming arrow. The giant howled and fell backwards, crashing to the floor almost on top of Ember, who dodged out of the way just in time.

Kazan skidded to a halt on his stomach across the other side of the arena, leaving a scorched skid mark in his wake. Scales smoking, he rolled onto his side to relieve the burning sensation on his belly scales. Ember approached the fallen giant wearily, hoping it was dead but not entirely convinced it was. Her worries were proved right when the giant rolled onto his side and made to push himself back upright, using his sword as a crutch. The pink dragoness leapt backwards with a yelp.

"Oh, no you don't!" Flame yelled, charging forward and blasting the sword right out of its hand with a concentrated burst of flame.

The blade skittered away and disappeared in a flash of light, and the giant crashed back down onto its stomach. With a groaned, it raised its head and reached out towards Flame and Ember. But, before its skeletal fingers could reach them, it dissolved right before their eyes into shining embers that floated up and away into darkness.

Panting, the two dragons looked at each other and smiled, their hearts still hammering madly. A groan interrupted them, and Ember spun around in alarm to see Kazan still lying on his side across the arena.

"Kazan!" she called, hurrying over to him, "Are you alright?"

"…'m fine," he grunted, picking himself up from the scorched ground and wincing as his raw belly scales twinged painfully. His crimson scales were still smoking. "Did we kill it?"

"Yeah, it's dead," Flame grunted, snorting smoke from his nostrils.

"Look," Ember said suddenly, pointing. Across the arena, the rune for fire had lit up with a fierce red glow. For the first time, the three fire dragons noticed that all the runes around the arena were shining.

"Guess that means everyone has completed the trials," said Flame thoughtfully, frowning, "Now we just need to find a way to get out of here."

"I think that's already been taken care of," Kazan pointed out, his head raised to the sky. From the darkness, a platform was slowly descending towards the centre of the arena, ready to take the three dragons back.

"Guess that Chronicler guy thinks of everything," Flame remarked grudgingly as the three of them jumped up onto the platform. Tongues of fire flickered around them, warming their scales welcomingly as the platform carried them up into darkness.

"You're back!" Spyro cried out when the three fire dragons materialised in the room seconds later. Behind them, the door to the fire trial snapped shut and the standing stones shattered into several pieces.

"Don't tell me we're the last ones back," Kazan groaned, noticing that everyone else was already in the room, waiting. Saffron smirked smugly at him.

"That's what you get for arguing so much," Ember sniffed, tossing her head. Flame rolled his eyes.

"Now what?" he asked Spyro, "We've completed the trials…so?"

The purple dragon hesitated and glanced warily at the platform in the centre of the room. The candles surrounding it had flickered to life, tiny flames dancing eerily to a silent song. Spyro took a deep breath and approached the platform.

"There's one more thing left to do…" he murmured, garnering the curious stares of everyone else.

"Haven't we done enough?" Zannak groaned. Saffron nudged him and shook her head. She could tell Spyro was uneasy about something, and it worried her.

The dragons were all so on edge that, when the disembodied voice filled the room, they all jumped.

Ghosts that linger in your heart

Manifestations of the dark

Surrender, let them reappear

And face alone your greatest fear.

"I don't like the sound of that…" Flame growled, pawing the floor nervously.

"I think we all need to do this," Spyro sighed, sitting down beside the now glowing platform, "Everyone, come here."

Despite their misgivings, the dragons all followed Spyro into the centre of the room until they were sitting in a tight circle around the glowing platform. Cynder looked quizzically at the purple dragon, waiting for instruction. He seemed hesitant for reasons she wasn't sure of.

"On…on the count of three," Spyro said, taking a deep breath, "Put your paw on the platform. Ready?"

They exchanged uneasy glances, but no one argued. Spyro took another deep breath to calm his twinging nerves and counted slowly.

"One…"

Ember huddled closer to Flame, and he extended a wing around her shoulders.

"Two…"

Saffron met Kazan's eyes, and they glinted reassuringly in response.

"Three."

As one, the eight dragons lifted their paws and placed them on the ice cold surface of the glowing platform. Spyro's eyes met Cynder's for one brief second before white light engulfed them all. When it faded, the dragons were gone, and the empty room left no trace that they had ever been there at all.

A/N: The Celestial Caves is my favourite level in TLOS, so I had to write a nice long chapter about it. :P Anyone else got a favourite level? You might notice the weird poems are different from how they were in the game...well, I wanted to write my own. So I did. Also, yay Dreadwings!

There's every chance that Spyro and co. won't be in next chapter, but that's still up in the air at the moment. There's a few things I need to catch up on with the other characters, so we'll see... Also, I'm going away for a week come Feb 4th, so you're gonna have to wait a bit longer for the next chap, I'm afraid. Until then, thanks everyone for the amazing 400 reviews! You have no idea how much it means to me. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. :)