The ground rushed by beneath Spyro and Ember. The young dragons beat their wings hard as they raced for the base of the mountains.
"There's going to be an updraft!" Spyro called over his shoulder. "We can ride it to the top!"
"Got it!" Ember hollered back. At the base of the mountains, the wind picked up. Both dragons extended their wings as wide as they could to allow their leathery flaps to catch as much of the updraft as possible. It took a good fifteen minutes of gliding to reach the top of the first mountain. When they landed on a ledge a chill cut through them.
"It's cold here." Spyro shivered.
"Come on Spyro, stay focused." Ember coaxed him and draped a wing over his back. It was warm and he instantly felt better.
"Right. Follow me." Spyro took off, bounding over the rocks and boulders with Ember doing her best to keep up. At the top of the summit Spyro paused and looked around. After a moment he closed his eyes. "That way!" He pointed and dove off the rock and flew towards another cliff. When he landed a breeze blew by and he curled his nose at the smell. "I think this is it." He gave Ember a disgusted look.
The dragoness took a whiff and jerked away. "Ew gross! It smells like wyvern! But worse."
"Stay close." Spyro said as he began to search the area. At last the two came across the mouth of a cave. "This must be the place."
Ember opened her mouth to call out Flame's name. Spyro saw this and quickly slapped a paw over her mouth.
"We have to do this quietly. They have Cynder too. We have to find her first then we can get Flame." Ember nodded with wide eyes. Spyro released her mouth and slipped into the darkness. The two couldn't see anything at all. Spyro resorted to using his earth power to navigate their way through the tunnels.
At last the temperature increased as they came to a dimly lit chamber. Lanterns hung from the walls and ceiling, casting shadows in every direction. Spyro ad Ember hung back under their cover of darkness until Spyro spotted a good hiding spot. He motioned for Ember to follow him and bounded across the open chamber and ducked behind a small cluster of stalagmites.
"Stay here." Spyro whispered. "I'm going to find Cynder. If I'm not back in ten minutes, I want you to go on without me."
"Without you? Are you nuts?" Ember protested trying to keep her voice low.
"Ember, please!" Spyro hissed. "We don't have time for this."
The pink dragoness sighed. "Fine. But you had better hurry back."
"I'll do my best." Spyro nodded. He gave a quick glance around and slipped down one of the nearest tunnels.
Cynder let her eyes gaze into the darkness. She was still curled around herself to try and keep warm inside her prison. A pair of wyvern remained perched on some small ledges above her cell. The beasts were bored and lacking in their guard duties. One was already asleep while the other was beginning to nod off as well.
"Just a little more guys." Cynder thought to herself. Slowly, the wyrm's eyes closed. Cynder waited a few more minutes before making her move. She began to emanate with her shadow energy as she sank into the darkness. She slipped through the shadows and emerged outside her cell just bellow the snoring wyvern. As she crept up the stairwell, she heard footsteps approaching. Cynder merged into the shadows again and waited. Slowly, a dragon came down the steps towards the holding cells. When he passed under her she dropped from the shadows above and landed on him. There was a startled cry and the two tumbled back down the steps, clawing and snarling at each other.
At the bottom of the stairs Cynder managed to roll on top of the dragon and pin him hard. It was then she got a better look at him in the fire light.
"Spyro?"
"Cynder?" They stared at each other in surprise.
"I wasn't sure you were going to be able to find me!" Cynder got off of him looking a little bashful at the position they had landed in. "I thought you were Flame for a moment."
"Apparently." Spyro got up and shook himself. "But now that I've found you, we can focus on getting to him."
"Uh oh." Cynder gulped as she looked at where they were.
"What is it?"
"Move!" Cynder tackled Spyro again as the wyvern struck with their poison barbs, missing by inches. The beasts shrieked and the noise carried through the tunnels.
Ember's eyes grew wide when she heard the noise. All of a sudden the main chamber became alive with wyvern scrambling out of tunnels and crevices in the walls.
"What's going on?" Ember snuck a peek out of her hiding spot and her heart nearly stopped. Flame stood in the middle of a group of wyvern with two other creatures beside him. They looked like dragons except for their lack of wings, and their extra digits.
"It seems there's a problem in the dungeon." The larger of the unknown creatures replied in a surprisingly calm tone. "You two wait, here. I'll deal with this." The creature motioned for the wyvern to follow him and they disappeared into the darkness of the cavern.
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." The remaining creature assured Flame. It was clearly a female. Flame didn't respond. "Aw, you're tense again." She smiled lustfully letting her claws glide along his back. She leaned in and gave Flame a kiss on the cheek.
Ember felt something snap inside her. An angry growl rumbled in her throat and her talons dug into the stone floor. The noise caused both Flame and the other creature to jump.
"Who goes there?" Flame demanded taking a step in front of the female. He gasped when Ember stepped into the light. "You!"
"That's right Flame. It me!" Ember bared her teeth. Her pink eyes burned like fire.
"Who is this girl?" The female asked, sounding insulted. "Do you know her?"
Flame shut his eyes and groaned in pain. His head throbbed. "I...I...I don't know!"
"Oh I think you do know!" Ember took another step closer. "You just need to remember!" Ember thrust her chest out showing off her pendant. Flame took a frightened step back. His markings began to flash.
"Stay away from me!" He snapped.
"Never!" Ember protested.
"Stop it this instant!" The female demanded. "I will not have you push your way onto my Flame like this. You are a guest in drake territory and you will behave yourself or suffer the consequences."
Ember looked a little surprised. "I don't know who you think you are, but Flame is mine! He was my friend first! Not your little sex toy for your enjoyment!"
"Oh, you must be the girl he's told me so much about." The drake smirked and stepped in front of Flame. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but Flame has chosen me. I can give him what he really desires."
"Oh yeah? And what is that?"
"Anything he wants." She turned and planted a kiss on Flame's lips. Both dragons looked surprised but Flame began to feel the soothing sensation sweep over him again. His eyelids drooped as the spell of the kiss began to take over again. Ember's claws scraped against the floor.
"You get your paws off of him you hussy!" She lunged forward and rammed the drake, sending Flame bouncing across the floor as well.
"Oh, now you've gone and made me mad." The drake got to her feet. Her eyes blazed an icy blue. The pink dragoness hissed and spread her wings wide. The drake circled her once, staring her down, trying to find the right moment to attack, then lunged.