Chapter 25

The vanguards made camp in a small cave to protect them against the cold snow. Fang had barely said a word to anyone throughout the day and the other dragons were worried about him. Leon had also refused to say anything to anyone and, even stranger, he refused to let Zephyr heal his wounds. He stitched his wounds himself using some thread and a needle that he kept in his satchel should his armor require repairing. When Cynder asked him why he refused treatment, he simply stated, "I don't need her help." He also distanced himself from the group, preferring to sit alone. After an hour of sitting in the cave Leon rose to his feet and headed towards the mouth of the cave.

"Where are you going?" Cynder asked.

"I'm going for a walk." Leon stated without looking back. Cynder watched in bewilderment as he disappeared into the night.

"What's his problem?" Flare asked.

"Who knows?" Twitch replied.

"Maybe he's upset about Sting too." Charlotte suggested.

"Not a chance." Fang said, "He let Sting die, just to get to me."

"You don't really believe that." Charlotte said.

"Don't tell me what I do and don't believe!" Fang snapped, causing Charlotte to shirk back in fear.

"Fang, calm down." Spyro said.

"I'll kill them!" Fang yelled, "The dark master, and every orc that follows him…I'll kill them all!"

"Fang, don't talk like that!" Cynder scolded.

"And I'm going to start with the one who caused it all." Fang said before disappearing into shadow.

"Fang!" Charlotte yelled.

"Where's he going?" Twitch asked.

"I'm not sure." Cynder said.

Charlotte thought about her mate's words, "The one who caused it all…" she then gasped, "He's going after Leon!"

Leon sat on a small snow-covered log and stared up at the sky. He used his javelin as a light source since the clouds obscured the moon. "So," Sin began, appearing on the log next to him, "what now?"

"What do you mean 'what now'?" Leon asked.

"Exactly what I said…what now?"

"We go back to Warfang tell the dragon council about the city and then head to the next machine…did you think I had something else in mind?"

"Nope…but its business only from here on out, right?"

"Yes…business only."

"Good." Sin stated before disappearing. Leon sat in silence and listened to the sound of the wind.

"Hey!" a voice called. Leon turned to see a black dragon baring its teeth at him and growling, "Fight me."

"I beg your pardon." Leon said raising an eyebrow.

"You heard me…fight me…to the death."

"Um…no." Leon stated.

"Why not?" Sin asked in his mind.

"Because I still need the dragons on my side for now…and if I kill this one, then the other's will try the same thing." Leon replied silently.

"We're going to end this…right now!" Fang said before using his wind breath to blow Leon off of the log and into a small pile of snow.

"A massive thirst for revenge…he really is the dragon version of you." Sin said as Leon rose to his feet.

"Shut u-" Leon thought for a moment, "Wait…that's it."

Fang leaped at Leon who sank into shadow and popped up a few meters away, "What's it?" Sin asked.

"He is like me…but there's is one major difference between him and me." Leon replied in his mind.

Fang spat a black fireball at the human, Leon rolled to the side as the fireball hit the ground and vaporized the snow. "What are you thinking?" Sin asked.

"Just follow my lead." Leon replied. He then said aloud to Fang, "It feels good doesn't it…the feeling of your opponent finally getting what he deserves."

"Shut up!" Fang yelled before leaping at Leon again. Leon once again sank into shadow and reappeared a few meters away, "Stop running!"

"Stop walking down a path that will destroy everything that matters to you." Leon said.

"Stop talking in riddles!" Fang yelled before leaping again.

"Okay, get ready." Leon said silently to Sin.

Fang struck with his tailblade and he felt it hit flesh before a flash of white light blinded him. When he dared to open his eyes again he found a pink dragoness staring back at him. Her face had a look of shock and surprise and Fang gasped when he saw that a long gash stretched across her throat, "Charlotte!" Fang screamed as the dragoness fell to her side. He looked at his tailblade, which had red blood dripping from it. He ran to her side as the dragoness' breathing became labored and strained, "Oh…Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Tears began dripping down the black dragons face as Charlotte's blood puddled in the snow. "No…no, no, no…don't die!" The dragoness took one more deep breath before her eyes glazed over and she fell completely silent. Fang closed his eyes as tears streamed down his face. When he opened his eyes again, they widened in surprise when saw that Charlotte's body had vanished along with puddle of blood.

He looked up to see Leon glaring at him, "Unlike me…you still have people that care about you…and who you care about too…and that's why, ultimately, you would have failed."

"Fang!" The other emerged from the trees and Fang, upon seeing Charlotte unharmed, ran to her and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." He said, crying.

Charlotte hugged him back, "It's okay."

"Leon…your leg." Crystal said.

Leon looked down at the bleeding gash that the black dragon had left. He was thanking every possible religious figure that the black dragon had not gone any higher. "Here, let me-" Zephyr began.

"No." Leon cut her off abruptly.

"But…why not?"

"Because I'd rather not have you dragons touch me…ever."

"What the hell is your problem?" Flare asked.

"My problem is that I had completely forgotten my purpose on this world…and now that I remember, it's business only from now on."

"You don't mean that, father." Cynder stated.

"I'm not your father…and I meant every word of it."

"I thought we had gotten past this." Cynder said.

"Gotten past this?" Leon repeated her words with a malicious chuckle, "You thought I would've just forgotten about the destruction of my race."

"But it was the humans who started it." Flare said.

"No, it wasn't." Leon stated.

"But…"

"It wasn't them!" Leon's voice became warped and his eyes burned with convexity.

"Leon…you need to calm down." Spyro stated calmly.

"Oh please," Leon sneered as his voice returned to normal, "I'm in complete control of myself."

"Stop walking down a path that will destroy everything that matters to you." Fang reiterated Leon's words, causing the vanguards to turn to him.

"That statement only applies to those who have something that matters…and those who have someone who cares for them…that's the difference between me and you." Leon stated.

"Then we're not different at all," Fang said, "we care about you…Elektra cares about you."

"Well that statement completely backfired." Sin said in Leon's mind.

"You blame me for the death of your sibling, not to mention thousands of other dragons…what happened to that attitude?" Leon asked.

"You saved me from a fate worse than death…a monster couldn't of done that." Fang stated.

"Way to go." Sin said.

"Please, shut up." Leon replied in his mind before saying aloud, "I'm not playing your games anymore…I'll be at the cave, if you need me." He finished before sinking into shadow.

The dragons looked at the spot where he disappeared before Cynder said, "Damn it…we were so close."

"Don't worry…we still have a chance." Fang stated, "You were right all along…I'm sorry I didn't see that sooner."

"It's okay." Cynder said smiling.

"Let's get back to the cave," Flare said, "I'm freezing my tail off."

"Yeah, let's go." Spyro said. The vanguards turned back and began walking through the snowy forest. They had to squint through the darkness till they found Sparx waiting outside the cave.

"What kept ya?" Sparx asked.

"Nothing," Spyro replied, "is Leon in there?"

"Yeah 'Mr. Happy' showed up about five minutes ago…I asked him where you were and he said, 'I don't know, and I don't care.'" Sparx took the initiative to mimic Leon's voice, "Just because he's evil, doesn't give him the right to be such a jerk."

"He's not evil." Cynder said.

"Looks pretty evil to me."

"You thought the same thing about me."

Sparx looked up for a moment, "Yeah…I guess you're right."

The vanguards retreated back inside the cave; Leon was already sitting against the wall, fast asleep. The dragons lay by their respective mates and started to dose off one by one, but Cynder kept her eyes on Leon and sighed sadly. "You okay?" Spyro asked.

"No…I don't know what to do anymore." She said, shaking her head, "We gained Fang's help, only to lose the person we're trying to help."

"We'll figure something out…we always have." Spyro stated.

"Yeah…I know." Cynder stated.

Spyro could see that his mate was frustrated with the situation, "I will do anything I can to get through to him." Spyro said.

"I know you will." Cynder said smiling gently at him, "I love you."

"I love you, too." Spyro replied before the two fell asleep.

The next day, the vanguards once again landed in the courtyard of near the temple in Warfang. They pushed open the doors to find the council members, along with Elektra and the other parents of the vanguards, waiting for them, "Ah, good, you have returned." Boltor stated.

The vanguards bowed before they all looked worriedly at Fang, "Mom…Dad…I need to talk with you outside." The black dragon said without looking at them.

Anima and Apathy looked at each other before rising up and exiting with their son. Before the doors shut completely, the vanguards heard Anima ask, "Where is your brother?"

The council gave the vanguards questioning looks, "Sting…was killed in battle." Spyro stated sadly. Just then, a cry emanated from behind them as Apathy wailed in despair, and the vanguards knew that Fang had told them of their son's demise.

The rest of the council stood stunned by what they had just heard, "I…I don't know what to say." Gaia stated.

"What of the city?" Vulcan asked.

"It's been completely destroyed…along with every dragon in it." Flare said, sadly.

The council's morbid expression deepened at this news, "Tis a dark day indeed." Boltor stated.

"If you wish to put off your mission…the council would understand." Terrador said.

Spyro looked back at the vanguards, who all shook their heads. Spyro then looked back at the council, "The sooner we finish this, the better…but if Fang wanted to stay behind, we would fully understand."

"Well, we'll leave the decision up to him," Cyril stated, "and we will have a proper funeral for-"

The ice dragon was cut off as the doors burst open, "You bastard!" Anima yelled glaring daggers at Leon, "This is all your fault!"

"Your son saw his death beforehand and he accepted it." Leon stated.

"I'm going to rip the flesh off of your bones!"

"That's fantastic, but can it wait until after we kill Malefore…because trust me…I'd enjoy fighting you."

"Leon!" Elektra scolded.

"We'll see how smug you are when your head is rolling across the ground!" Anima made a move to leap at Leon, but his path was blocked by his life-mate.

"Stop this!" She said crying, "Killing him won't bring Sting back…and I don't want to risk losing you too."

"If I don't kill him now…what's to keep him from killing Fang too?"

"He didn't kill Sting, dad," Fang said, "and he's not going to kill me."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I trust Cynder."

Anima glanced at the black dragoness, "But she's delusional…she believes that this…demon is her father."

"She's not delusional…and Leon is her father."

"No, I am not." Leon stated.

"Unbelievable…even he's more sane than her." Anima mumbled, "If the council doesn't mind…I need some time alone with my family."

"Of course, Anima…Take all the time that you need." Gaia stated.

Anima nodded before turning to Fang, "Come." He said before turning and walking out of the meeting hall with his life-mate, still crying next to him. Fang glanced back at the vanguards before trotting after his parents.

"We'll spend the night here…and head back out tomorrow." Spyro stated.

"As you wish." Cyril stated, "I'm sure you all could use the rest."