Chapter 21

The Battle of Convexity

Spyro was in horror at the sight of the black dragoness. He had been looking for her for so long, and now this was what he got.

Malefor had lied to him. Cynder was not in good hands at all. As long as she was under his control, she was a danger to everyone here, as well as the Convexus Portal.

Spyro felt as if his entire world was collapsing down all around him. Malefor was still alive, and Cynder was back under the Dark Master's control. Then Spyro remembered the dream Cynder had told him about the day she had gone missing.

The dream, he realized, had come true. She had said that they had both been in Convexity. Malefor had been there, too. But Cynder had not been on Spyro's side at the time. She had been on Malefor's side, in her corrupted form.

And now this was it. This was the dream itself.

Cynder lashed at Spyro with her tail, the blade on it aiming for the part of his chest with his heart.

Spyro jumped up and glided over to Hex. He leaned over to her and whispered, "Can you stop her from doing this at all, Hex?"

"Not without terribly injuring her, Spyro," Hex admitted. "And I know that you don't want that to happen."

Spyro sighed and nodded. He and Hex had to dodge as Cynder swiped a clawed foot at them both. She snarled and let loose a blast of dark fire at Sunburn and Sonic Boom. They were terrified at the fact that one of their best friends was now trying to kill them. Cynder shot more blasts of fire at them. Whirlwind came up and shot an arced blast of rainbow energy. Cynder acted as if she hadn't felt any pain and lashed her tail at Whirlwind. Whirlwind was unable to dodge in time and was hit across the face. Blood dripped from a scar on Whirlwind's cheek. She put a paw up to it to stop the bleeding.

Camo, not wanting to seriously hurt Cynder, shot a short blast of fire at her, but she was once again way too fast for him and she slapped him across the face with one of her paws. Camo went flying. When he landed, he went sliding to the edge. His body slipped off the altar. Whirlwind flew as fast as she could and was able to catch Camo just as he slipped off.

Drobot flew at Cynder, but before he could do anything, Cynder slammed him to the ground and knocked him unconscious. Cynder let out a roar of victory.

Spyro leapt at her, but just as he was about to land on her, she hit him in the face with the regular part of her tail. Spyro was able to recover in midair. He was horrified at how far Cynder was going to go in this battle. "Cynder, stop!" he yelled.

But she was not listening to him. She turned around to face Sonic Boom. They clashed head on, Cynder battling with tooth, claw, and fire, and Sonic Boom just with her claws.

Cynder rose up and released a blazing torrent of flames. Sonic Boom dodged out of the way just in time, but then was hit by a whack from Cynder's tail. Sonic Boom was hesitant to shoot any sound waves at her friend, but she would if she had to. Sunburn used his Phoenix Dash to get in front of Cynder as she swiped her paw at Sonic Boom. The claws hit Sunburn in the wing, leaving behind a long, deep gash that was barely visible in Sunburn's red feathers. Sunburn wanted to scream out in pain, but decided not to.

Malefor stood near the Convexus Portal, his eyes closed, his mouth moving as if he was performing a ritual. Spyro could tell that Malefor was getting his energy back, the Convexus Portal being the source of all his energy. If he could destroy the Convexus Portal, then Malefor would no longer have his energy and, hopefully, his hold on Cynder would be gone and she would return to normal. Spyro moved toward Malefor and the Convexus Portal, taking glances at Cynder and the other Skylanders battling her. Even though he was injured, Sunburn could fight well still. Cynder was easily dodging all of his and Sonic Boom's attacks, though. Malefor suddenly let out his evil laugh. The laugh sent shivers down Spyro's spine.

Spyro dashed at the portal and Malefor, his claws outstretched. The monster was unsuspecting an attack by the smaller purple dragon. Spyro launched himself at Malefor, and latched onto the Dark Master's neck. Spyro raked his claws across the malignant creature's neck and back.

Malefor screamed in pain. Suddenly, Spyro was shaken off and knocked to the ground. He looked up and saw Malefor's wounds heal themselves.

Spyro got up. He then heard a cry of pain. He turned around and saw Sonic Boom on the ground, her wing crumpled near her chest, blood pooling out around her.

Sunburn looked down at her, checking to see if she was alright. Cynder stood above them, laughing.

Sadness and rage boiled in Spyro's blood. Sadness because he wished that Cynder wasn't under the control of the Dark Master, and rage because of seeing Sonic Boom on the ground, injured.

Hex held up her hand, and threw a Phantom Orb at Cynder. It hit Cynder in the thigh, drawing a large amount of blood. Cynder roared in agony.

"Why you little piece of-" she began, but was then cut off by Malefor, who was growling.

"How dare you hit Cynder, Hex!" he rasped. "THIS IS WHERE YOUR LIFE TRULY ENDS, YOU WITCH!"

He reared up to attack Hex, but before he could do anything, Hex had already blasted him with a Phantom Orb in the chest. She then threw another one at the Convexus Portal, but that one missed. Malefor dropped to his knees. A steady stream of blood flowed from underneath Malefor. The Dark Master released what sounded like a whimper as he tried to get back up.

Cynder snarled again and leapt at Spyro, ready to end the puny purple dragon's life. Spyro dodged just in time, but was caught off guard when she opened her mouth and unleashed a storm of crackling dark electricity. He shielded himself with his wing. Spyro heard a large crack and looked down. Horror struck him as he saw that the altar was beginning to break apart underneath them. Cynder seemed to pay no attention to the danger they were in now.

It seemed that nothing could snap Cynder back to her original form. Spyro had hoped he could, but he realized that he could not.

Or maybe he could...

Spyro ran over to the Convexus Portal and began hitting it with his horns and with his elements. Fire, ice, earth, electricity... all of them. Malefor screamed in pain and the cries intensified as Spyro used more and more power on the Convexus Portal.

Spyro soon had to stop to catch his breath, and that gave Cynder the chance to dash forward and grab Spyro with her claws. She threw him at the edge of the altar. Spyro felt his own pain as he struggled to get up. He felt something wet and looked down. Cynder's claws had left three bloody scratch marks on his chest, allowing blood to flow freely. With much effort, Spyro was finally able to get to his feet. Sunburn hurried over to help him, then went back to defending Sonic Boom's unconscious body. Sonic Boom stirred feebly.

Spyro looked around and saw that the only person who could confront and defeat Cynder once and for all was him.

Drobot had been knocked unconscious, both Camo and Sonic Boom were injured and unconscious, Whirlwind and Sunburn were defending the unconscious bodies of their allies, and Hex had finally succumbed to the shock of seeing Cynder under the Dark Master's corruption.

"It seems that you are the last one left to fight me," Malefor drawled. "Why don't we just end this battle once and for all, eh?" A wry smile touched Malefor's lips before he lunged at Spyro. Spyro barely got out of the way in time. Malefor slid to the edge of the altar, then let out a blast of earth. A giant green boulder rolled at Spyro, who blasted the rock to pieces with his fire breath. Cynder blasted a torrent of dark flames at Spyro and then swiped at him with her claws, and finally lashed at him with her tail. The blade missed him by inches, and her claws came very close to slashing his chest again.

Tears formed in Spyro's eyes at the thought of having lost Cynder forever. He felt as if, without her, all his body was was an empty shell. With her, it would be whole.

Although he released many other fireballs, none of them were aimed at Cynder. They were all aimed at either Malefor or the Convexus Portal.

It now seemed that every time Spyro hit the Convexus Portal, Malefor was getting weaker and weaker at the moment. The Dark Master could not move out the way in time for most of Spyro's fireballs and was hit either in the chest or the flank. This was as easy as the battle was going to get, Spyro realized.

Suddenly Cynder snapped at Spyro with her jaws, a flaming maw of dark flames flickering visibly at the edge of her mouth.

She sent attack after attack after Spyro. Though none of them hit Spyro, he was tiring from dodging every attack there was. The Covexus Portal, Spyro realized, was powering Cynder up, too. Spyro knew that he had to destroy the Convexus Portal, or Cynder and Malefor would be too powerful for him to defeat.

Spyro stumbled as he dodged another attack, and fell to the ground. Malefor advanced on him, but before the Dark Master could do anything, a purple flash of light cut through the air and hit the Dark Master in the side. Malefor screamed in agony. Blood dripped from his wound profusely. Spyro turned around and saw Hex holding her hand up, apparently having been shaken out of her shock. A Phantom Orb was in her palm.

Spyro turned back around just in time to see Cynder try to hit him with her tail, but then she stopped in midblow. She shook her head and yelled out. But the yell was not that of Cynder's evil voice; in fact, it seemed to be more of her regular voice. Spyro realized that if Malefor was hit hard enough, the his control on Cynder would be lifted. A new plan came into mind. If this plan was able to work, then he would be able to get Cynder back to him.

Another streak of purple light filled the air and hit the Convexus Portal, causing one of the metal support beams that closed in the true part of the portal to crack. Malefor appeared to weaken right in front of Spyro and Cynder shook her head again and yelled out in pain once again.

"Keep doing it, Hex! Malefor is losing his hold on Cynder!" Spyro called to her. He turned around and saw her smiling once again. She was finally getting revenge on the monster she had fought back in the Underworld. Though she had won, the Dark Master had caused her much pain by forcing her to unwillingly join the ranks of the Undead.

Cynder released her loudest scream yet, and Spyro had to cover his ears as she did so. Cynder swayed for a moment and then looked right at Spyro with her piercing red eyes. Her eyes were red instead of blue.

Spyro still felt fear as he looked into her eyes, but now he knew that he was going to get Cynder back. He closed his eyes and drew upon all his energy and elements to release one final attack. He opened his eyes, rose up, and unleashed the true dragon within him. An orb the color of all the elements he possessed formed in front of him and flew right at Cynder. It hit her in the chest, causing her to fall on her back. Her eyes widened and then a bright white light filled everyone's field of vision. Spyro shielded his eyes with his wing.

He opened his eyes again as the bright light faded and looked around him. The Convexus Portal was destroyed, meaning that Malefor no longer had all that strength left in his body. Malefor lay on the ground near where the Convexus Portal had been.

Spyro looked around at the other Skylanders. All of them had been unharmed by his energy blast. Sunburn stared in amazement at his best friend.

Spyro shared a smile to himself, then braced himself as he felt a wave of tiredness washed over him.

Then Spyro looked for Cynder. He saw the large black dragoness lying on the ground. She opened her eyes and let out a gasp. A purple aura filled the air. Spyro could only stare in amazement as Cynder returned to normal. She was back to the small, beautiful dragoness she had always been. Spyro moved over towards her.

As he approached, she watched him with sorrow. He stopped right beside her, and bent down. She let out a cry and wrapped her arms around Spyro's neck. She then looked up at his face. She frowned at the scratches there. "Did I do that to you?" she asked.

"No, Cynder," he answered. "None of this was your fault." He looked over at Malefor's unmoving body. "It was Malefor's fault." He looked back down at her. "It was him all along, wasn't it?"

She nodded. "It was," she whimpered. Tears began flowing down her cheeks and she buried her face in Spyro's chest. He hugged her close as she cried. Cynder finally stopped, raised her head, and looked around at the strange realm. Then she saw the other Skylanders. By now, they were all recovering from the battle. Sonic Boom and Camo and Drobot had already woken up. They were all staring at Cynder and Spyro. Whirlwind, Hex, and Sunburn smiled at Spyro and gave the same smile to Cynder. Suddenly they heard a groan and Spyro and Cynder whirled around and, to their horror, saw Malefor stirring. The malignant dragon opened his yellow, pupil-less eyes and saw that Cynder was now back to normal. The Dark Master's lips curled in a grimace as he got up.

He stared at Cynder for a moment, then snarled, "ARGHH! SO BE IT! YOU'VE MADE YOUR CHOICE, AND SO YOU SHALL SUFFER THE SAME FATE, CYNDER! PREPARE TO DIE!"

But before Malefor could use any of his attacks, Spyro tried to use a bit of his fire breath to protect Cynder, but it seemed that the blast he had used to return her to normal caused him to lose every power he had. Malefor laughed, but then Cynder blasted the Dark Master in the chest. The intensity of the blast caused cracks to appear in Malefor, as if he was a piece of glass.

"NO!" Malefor roared. "THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING! I AM SUPPOSED TO BE IMMORTAL!"

"It seems that you are never going to be immortal, Malefor," Spyro told his worst enemy.

"NOOOOO!" Malefor screeched. The cries intensified, but then another bright light filled the air and when it faded, Malefor was no more.

The Skylanders cheered, including Spyro. Cynder felt unexpected glee at the defeat of the evil dragon who had corrupted her as a hatchling and had corrupted her once more.

But their rejoicing was short-lived as they all felt a tremble beneath their paws. They all looked down and saw that the altar was finally beginning to split in half.

"Come on!" said Spyro. He looked at Cynder. "Can you fly?"

Cynder got to her feet and tried to jump into the air and open her wings, but one of her wings had been broken during her escape attempt, and one of her paws had been twisted, too, and as she jumped, she fell right back down to the ground. She looked up at Spyro.

"I don't think so," she admitted. "I think one of my wings are broken and so are one of my paws."

Spyro nodded and gently took her in his claws. "Let's go!" he called to the other Skylanders. Sonic Boom, with her broken wing, had to be carried in Sunburn's claws. Camo was on Whirlwind's back, his wounds the most severe out of all the Skylanders there.

Drobot was unharmed. Although he had been knocked unconscious, the parts of his body that had robotic machinery on them had protected him from being injured.

The seven of them raced to the portal that had brought them there (excluding Cynder) as the strange realm of Convexity collapsed behind them. As that end of the portal began to close, Spyro took one look back at the realm and hoped that he would never have to go there in his lifetime again.

They reached the beginning of the portal and went right out. Spyro decided to land on the island that had the destroyed castle. He let Cynder down. Cynder saw Sonic Boom and limped over to her best friend.

"How are you doing?" Sonic Boom asked, nuzzling Cynder gently.

"I'm doing okay, but I'm still shaken up over everything that just happened," Cynder answered honestly.

"I understand," Sonic Boom told her. "You just need some rest to get over all of this."

Cynder nodded and turned to Sunburn. He also gave her a gentle nuzzle. "I'm glad you're back," he told her. "We missed you a lot while you were gone."

"I can tell." Then Cynder saw Whirlwind and Camo coming towards her. Cynder felt guilt as she saw the scar on the side of Whirlwind's face. "I can see how Camo can trust me, since I saved him last year from being killed by Kaos, but I'm kind of wondering when you began trusting me, Whirlwind."

Whirlwind laughed a little. "I began to trust you after Spyro told me of your backstory," the unicorn-dragon hybrid said. She frowned at seeing Cynder's look. "You didn't want many people to know of that, did you?"

"No."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that part up, especially after what happened just today."

"It's alright. I'm going to have to get used to it, that's all." As Cynder spoke, she saw one Skylander that hadn't greeted her: Drobot.

Cynder sighed and lay down to take the pain off her twisted paw. "I'm sorry," she said. "I think one of my paws are broken, and it hurts a lot, so I'm trying to take the weight off my paw."

"It's alright," Sunburn assured her. "Trust me, I think we're all going to want to rest before we go back to the Ruins." He laughed a little, then lay down next to her. So did Sonic Boom, Whirlwind, and Camo.

Spyro smiled at seeing that everybody had forgiven her, all except for Drobot. He would deal with Drobot later, but for now, he was going to enjoy the time he had with Cynder.

As night fell, Spyro settled down next to the dragoness he loved. She nuzzled up to him and put her head on his chest. Before she put her head on her paws so she could sleep, she took off the braces on her ankles because they had spikes on them. There were four: two on each of her front ankles and two on each of her back ankles. She also took off the choker on her neck, as it also had spikes on it.

Finally, she lay down and began to rest. As she slipped off to sleep, Spyro leaned down and whispered to Cynder, "I love you."

Spyro smiled to himself, knowing that Malefor was defeated for good and that Cynder was now safe from all the harm in the world.