Spyro: Dawn of Light

Part 2, Chapter 3

Neves didn't have time to adjust to the sudden news that his mother was pregnant; the next day a flurry of desperate messages flew in via the communicational Spirit Gems, stating that the Skavengers had become increasingly aggressive and were attacking shoreline populations. Spyro and the others were sent out by the afternoon, loaded with reserve health and energy gem packets, a gift from Ignitus to be used only when absolutely needed. Spyro, being essentially the "big gun" of the group, had Sparx with him for additional defensive measures. The little dragonfly had made its home somewhere in the temple gardens but was eager to follow Spyro on his missions. As they flew at full speed over the sea to the predicted location of the Piratian fleets, Shimmer glanced over at Spyro and noticed Sparx sitting on Spyro's left horn.

"He seems to really like you," she said, having to half-shout over the wind whipping in their faces.

"Yeah, I'm surprised he's so adamant given the danger of this run." Spyro glanced below himself to see Neves about ten feet away, staring into space. "Yo Neves, wake up!"

Neves started and fell a few feet with a yelp. "Y-yeah...I'm awake..."

Shimmer quickly folded her wings, diving and pulling out next to him. "Hey...I know it's big news but we can dwell on it later, when this is over."

Plazyma snorted. "Oh get a room already, geez..."

Neves sighed. "You're right...now's not the time for personal grievances." His face hardened and he glared ahead at the tiny dots floating in the sky...the flying pirate ships that had assaulted them three years ago. "ALRIGHT! Everyone knows the plan, correct? I will reiterate once more! We fly in using Fire-3 formation to draw their attention and fire! The control ship is most likely in the core of the swarm; skim their fire in a Water-15 maneuver and close in on the three main hulls! They know who we are after their last defeat at our paws, so be wary! It will be difficult, but do not attack unless you are forced into a self-defensive situation! Save your fury attacks as an escape strategy; if you encounter Skabb or his two annoying bosses, flee immediately to safer ground if possible, else, neutralize him but do not kill him! We must convey our message to him, directly or through their messengers! This is an offensive diplomacy!"

"That's a bit oxymoronic, but whatever," Flame muttered. Plazyma couldn't help but crack a half-smile at his utterance. "Neves, what should we do if someone gets captured?"

"Well you shouldn't have to worry," Shimmer yelled back, "your Fury attack almost brought the temple down, remember?"

"Ah yeah...so floating wood really won't be a match then. This'll be fun."

Shimmer glanced up at Neves; his face was set in that far-off stare of calculation she knew so well by now. "Actually...using Flame's explosive power as a psuedo-suicide attack would help if things get out of control. Flame, if you are captured, make sure you do it in one of the main leader ships, take out their chain of command!"

"What am I, a bomb?!"

"Well according to you with the ladies, yes!" Plazyma quipped. They laughed briefly and then set their sights on the enemy ships swiftly drawing closer. "Neves, I sense electrical energy aimed at us, they've spotted us!"

"Good! Spyro?"

"I got it, just make sure you guys don't get yourselves killed!"

Faint thunderous noises rolled towards them and holes flew open in the clouds ahead. The young dragons broke their current formation and flew outwards, huge cannonballs whooshing past them. Plazyma's flight got thrown off as her proximity to the tow of the cannonball sucked her down a few feet, prompting her to fly higher up than she had been before. "SPYRO LOOK OUT!" she yelped, feeling a strange electric field rushing straight towards him. Spyro saw something flash not even four feet in front of himself, catching a brief glimpse of the clouds ahead...distorting? In that split-second after the flash a thrill of panic rushed down his spine.

"...What the..." he asked. Right in front of him was a gigantic glass cannonball, but it was moving towards him incredibly slowly. He flapped up over it as it passed his location, glancing over at his friends. He felt like he was moving through water, but they looked like they were moving through thick gel, their movements were extremely slow. His rush faded abruptly and he yelped, the slipstream of the cannonball behind him sucking him backwards with a sharp tug.

"Spyro?!" they all shouted in shock. The purple dragon let himself fall so he was free from the slipstream and then beat his wings hard to rejoin the others. Shimmer stared at him in confusion. "What the hell was that?!"

"I have no idea!"

"A glass cannonball," Neves said, hovering in place and watching the object fly away.

"I meant what Spyro just did, smartass," Shimmer retorted teasingly, sticking her tongue at him.

Spyro looked at his paws. "It kinda...felt like everything slowed down."

"When we get back to the temple I'll explain it," Neves said, taking the lead. "Heads up!" They broke apart again, this time easily steering around the cannonballs as they blasted past. "For now, try to repeat it Spyro!" he called. "Everyone, we're close enough, get ready! Fire-3 formation!"

"We know already!" Flame shouted back. They gathered into a pyramid shape, Spyro in the lead, Neves and Caelos behind him vertically, and Flame flanked by the two girls behind them horizontally, forming a plus-shape when seen head-on. Several smaller ships drew within firing range and began launching clouds of glass cannon ammo at the incoming dragons. Spyro quickly analyzed their firing pattern and started leading his friends in a looping path, winding their way through the maze of small gunships to the bigger fleet. Figuring Skabb might not be on the biggest ship they split up in groups of two and landed on the flagship and its flanking guard vessels.

"The flagship Fellmuth..." Spyro mumbled. "This thing's freakin' huge."

"Is it true they have an arena on board?"

Spyro nodded grimly. "Be very careful here. They capture any strong fighters and take them as prisoners to fight in the arena. We're prime targets for them."

Flame's eye twitched as he focused and brought forth a letter. "So we just hand this to Skabb or whoever?"

"No. We make sure he gets it. If we hand it to someone we have to follow them and make sure they deliver it, and that Skabb reads it."

Flame looked around as they crossed the unusually barren deck. "They were shooting at us so why isn't anyone here?"

"Keep your voice down," Spyro hissed. He was looking around, using his shadow power like he had three years ago with Cynder. To Spyro, everything was black with colored outlines, almost like translucent black crystal. He could see through nearby objects, though only faintly. "There's no one nearby, they must be waiting for us deeper inside. Go hide in that barrel and don't make a sound," he said, pointing at a large wooden barrel with his wing.

"Why?"

"Just do it, you'll see why."

Flame grumbled and jumped into the barrel. "EEWW there's dead fish in here!"

Spyro had to fight his laughter back, though as he scoured the deck a few coughs escaped him. Rapid footsteps belowdecks caught his attention and he froze. A hidden trapdoor in the floorboards swung back and several Skavengers jumped up, swords in hand. Spyro hadn't really seen them before, but he wasn't surprised at seeing ugly two-legged dogs in pirate clothes scurrying around just like the apes did on the ground below. Flame was watching through a crack in the side of the barrel.

"What the...where'd he go?!" he asked in shock as Spyro seemed to melt into the air just before the enemies surfaced. From all over the deck more pirates appeared. Flame was starting to get scared. Over the din of voices and clamor a sudden shrill whistle sounded from a nearby higher deck; Flame twisted around, grimacing at the dead fish under him, and peeked through another hole in the side to see Spyro standing there. "Wait wha..."

"I have come to deliver a message to your captain!" Spyro called. "I'm not here to pick a fight! However, if you attack me, it's your own fiery loss! Call your captain here and we'll give him our message!" There was an awkward, chilly silence. "...Do you understand what I'm saying?"

All at once there was a deafening roar from the enemy horde congregated around him and they raced up at Spyro. Flame suddenly understood why Spyro had planted him here; he closed his eyes and quickly focused himself. One minute, the Skavengers were leaping at Spyro, the next they were decimated in a powerful rush of fire and heat; the survivors of the first wave yelled in brief agony as Flame suddenly exploded in a widening pillar of fire. Spyro just sat there through it with his eyes closed. Flame grunted and shook himself off. "You plan well but you're still an ass," he said.

"Is that everyone?" Spyro asked, not moving at all.

"Um..." The purple dragon heard a few scattered blasts of Flame's heat-laser breath. "Yeah, that should be everyone."

Spyro leapt down to him. "Good, let's get going, more will be coming." He paused and his nose wrinkled. "Y'know, you really should scrub yourself more often, you're starting to smell like dead fi-"

"Shut up," Flame grunted, shoving him aside and racing to an open trapdoor. Spyro laughed to himself and followed, still being cautious.

On a flanking ship Neves and Caelos were hiding at opposite ends of a storage room. Their presence had been tracked to inside the ship, but as of yet no one had located them. ~Was this really such a good idea?~ Caelos whispered "next" to Neves.

"I'm starting to question it myself, but we have no other means of conveying our message." Neves groaned, shoving his glasses up and rubbing his eyes. "Ignitus tried sending messages before but had a feeling they were either ignored or thrown away..."

~Couldn't we just tell these pirates to take us to their leaders?~

"They won't listen-" A sudden rumbling sound cut him off. "What the heck was that?"

~Not sure, might have been Flame already.~

"Well, that just proves my point then, Spyro probably tried to talk with them but they ended up having to defend themselves."

Caelos held up a paw and listened intently. ~Let's go, I don't hear anyone else approaching.~ With that the two young dragons quickly slipped out into the hallway, ducking behind barrels of cannon powder every so often. Neves glanced up at the rafters thoughtfully.

"There's a walkway up there, let's use that instead." They flew up to the walkway and quickly ran along it, pausing every time a pirate ran by below. It was rather harrowing; the planks were thin and rather poorly nailed, some even had nails sticking up at the joints. They had to stretch out their wings for balance in some spots, moving carefully to avoid tripping over their own paws. They eventually reached a small room filled with pirates and commandeers sorting through treasure rather noisily.

~We should be able to walk through here without being noticed-~ Caelos whispered, then stopped cold behind Neves. The board beneath the ice dragon's paws had creaked loudly and was groaning. ~Watch it! Rotten board-~

"ACK!" Neves yelped as the board under him snapped and smacked him in the face as he fell. He landed squarely in a large chest the pirates were filling with gold coins, the lid closing shut from the sudden impact.

Ah crap... Caelos sighed, facepalming as the pirates stopped cold in confusion. With that he leapt down, quickly kicking up a tornado of coins and gems to cover him as he tried to unlock the treasure chest. A huge hand suddenly grabbed him by the neck and yanked him back.

-

The two girls were having the worst luck; Shimmer's glittering scales had attracted attention right off the bat and within a minute they were completely surrounded, swords and pistols aimed at them. Several commandeers had fallen trying to grab Plazyma, but finally a gunshot that barely grazed her nose persuaded her to settle down. They were roughly tossed into a cage and sent to the flagship on one of the small floating boats. Shimmer sighed and leaned against the cage bars. "I guess this is a rather direct route to Skabb then."

Plazyma snorted, catching Shimmer's attention. The water dragoness eyed her with a bit of fear; Plazyma's face was contorted in a hideously savage snarl, her whole body vibrating as she tried to contain herself. Her wings and the tip of her tail were crackling with small blue arcs of electricity.

-

Spyro sighed as they stood at the doorway to the captain's quarters. "You ready for this?" he asked Flame.

"Ready for what exactly?"

"Ready to not lose your head and panic or something like you tend to do?"

"Oh...um...I guess..."

"Skabb..." Spyro muttered, staring at the giant ugly creature standing before them. "He's even worse-looking than Gnasty..."

"Is that possible?" Flame asked under his breath, a bit afraid of Skabb. This guy was huge, taller than the guardians! He also looked almost mentally challenged with his jaw agape and his tongue hanging loosely. He had a nasty scar over one eye and he looked almost like he was rebuilt, with a treasure chest on top of his hunched back, a hook-hand and a pegleg made of metal. A gigantic cutlass almost twice their size dimly reflected Flame's whole body back at him amid the rusted areas, clutched in Skabb's good hand. The huge dog-like Piratian leader just stared at them, his eyes not entirely focused, almost like he had amblyopia.

"Skabb, we've come to deliver a message from the Dragon Temple," Spyro started, then waited for a response. Skabb just stood there stupidly. "Hello? We're here to deliver a message!"

Skabb grunted a few times, looking around. Two strange-looking parrots flew into the room, one of them perching on his left shoulder and the other on the treasure chest. One of them was brown and the other purple, with scraggly rat-like tails and eyepatches on opposite eyes. Flame cocked an eyebrow curiously. "...He needs birds to translate for him?"

"That's Scratch 'n Sniff to yu fuu!" the one atop the chest snapped back.

"Quite right, we deserve more respect than mere parrots."

Flame started a bit. "They talk!"

"'Course we talk, fuu!"

"Flame, shush," Spyro hissed. He sat back and produced a letter. "We're only here to deliver this message from the Dragon Temple. A cease-and-desist request prior to necessary countermeasures." The two parrots looked at each other briefly. "Simply put, we're requesting that you stop your attacks on the villages, or we'll be forced to counterattack. That's all we're here to say."

Scratch chuckled to himself, shaking his head. "My boy, how deluded you are. We serve our empress, the Black Serpent. Her orders are absolute. I do believe this means your pathetic attempts at diplomacy are ineffectual to our command."

"Yeah, we ain't got time ta mess with you fuu's!"

Flame eyed Sniff crossly. "Watch your mouth."

"Yu better watch your mouth fuu, it's gonna be missin' some teeth!"

Spyro glared at Scratch. "You realize you've just labeled yourselves as our enemies by denying this?"

"N'yes, my boy, I'm very aware of this. Though, we will play the mercy card this once and allow you and your...cohorts...to escape."

Flame cocked his head a bit in confusion. "Huh?"

"You see, we enjoy a good chase, having you come here straight to us is no fun at all."

Flame snarled, smoke rising from his mouth. Spyro's wing flew in front of him in a stopping gesture. "Way ta use your brains, fuu! Better get outta here, or it's hurtin' time, baby!" Sniff jeered.

"Let's get outta here," Spyro said sternly to Flame. Flame growled but backed away. "Call off your pirates, we'll find the others and leave."

"That won't be necessary," Scratch said smugly, then whistled a few sharp notes.

"OW hey get off me!"

"Let her go already dammit!"

Spyro and Flame stared in surprise as several large Skavengers roughly escorted Neves, Caelos, Shimmer and Plazyma into the room. "N'yes, clever plans and a strong tactician among you, but you were careless. Now you should take your chance to get going." The four other dragons were roughly kicked forward towards Spyro and Flame. Neves jumped back up and glared viciously at the pirates, the spikes on his back extending.

"Let's get outta here," he snarled to the others, having to fight himself to not retaliate.

-

The flight home was harrowing at best; some of the more rebellious pirates had chased them rather relentlessly, and a band of Dreadwings had found them and tried to attack them as well.

"Well..." Spyro said, laying on the cool stone floor, "at least now we can rest for a bit..."

At that moment the stone door to the Visions room rolled open and Ignitus looked in. "Ah good, Spyro, could I speak with you?"

The purple dragon sighed and stood up. Shimmer and Neves saw a flash of anger pass over his face before he turned and walked to the other room, the door rolling shut behind him. Neves sighed, pushing his glasses up and rubbing his eyes. "Y'know, ever since Spyro's powers surpassed ours he doesn't ask us much anymore, it's always Spyro."

"Jealous?" Plazyma chided, laying on her back. "I'm sure not."

"I'm not either, it's a nice break compared to last year, but...Spyro doesn't even get a chance to sit back lately. Volteer said it was to keep him from brooding about Cynder, but I don't think that's the reason anymore."

Flame groaned and stretched. "I don't like doing stuff but they are asking a lot more of him than they do of us, what are we then?"

"Probably just backup reserves..." Plazyma growled.

"Sure feels that way..." Neves sighed. They didn't notice, but Nightshade was hiding in the dark shadows at the far side of the chamber, using his shadow power to blend in and become translucent. Flame thought he saw glowing red eyes in that corner but couldn't see anything directly. The shadow dragon mumbled to himself and slipped away, using the shadows to slip through the closed doors.

The remainder of the day passed slowly; Spyro was rather quiet and moody, and eventually isolated himself in the underground tunnels until Shimmer sent Plazyma to call him up for dinner. Dinner was quiet, almost unnerving. Something was up. Eventually Volteer sighed, breaking the quiet. "So the diplomacy failed."

"Mhm..." Neves grumbled through a mouthful of goose meat.

"I was afraid of such proceedings...explain what occurred on those vessels."

Shimmer sighed. "Not much to tell. We went in, had to fight our way through, some of us got captured, Spyro and Flame delivered the message and were rejected, and we were set free."

Cyril glanced up. "'Set free'? That's not like them."

Spyro nodded. "One of Skabb's parrots said it was because they desire a good chase, and that it was no fun for them that we came directly to their ship. I have a bad feeling that means they'll be hunting us as well as carrying out the 'Black Serpent's' orders."

"That leads to our next order of business then..." Ignitus said, sitting up and stretching. "There have been reports of a black creature wreaking havoc along with Gnasty Gnorc in the Outer Realms the past few days. Gnasty was banned from that area but has somehow made it back."

Spyro cleared his throat as he finished his meal. "Ignitus...I know there are more worlds in the Outer Realms...but why haven't we seen all of them?"

The old fire dragon shrugged. "There hasn't been a need. However, your question is rather coincidental. Do you know where exactly Gnasty Gnorc came from?"

Spyro thought back, the others watching him and waiting for his answer. "Why is Spyro so concerned with him?" Flame asked.

"Spyro is Gnasty's biggest target," Neves explained. "Gnasty is the one who first defeated Spyro, and ever since then Spyro has been his most persistent nemesis."

The purple dragon looked up slowly. "I see now."

"Well I don't," Plazyma stated shortly. "Care to explain?"

"The Beastmakers created Gnasty; he was essentially a failure. He ended up hating gems and reflective things because when he saw his reflection, he hated himself. The Outer Realm dragons banished him to a remote world, their junk heap, and he quickly built his own lair there, using his magic to turn gems that reflected his face into Gnorcs. Out there, it's easy enough to do if you have the magic capacity. Here though, not so simple."

"But what's this got to do with Gnasty and the Outer Realms now?" Shimmer asked.

Spyro sighed. "Gnasty is angry at you and Neves and Rivyera now too, and now that he's found a way to return to his old home, I have a bad feeling he's devised a new scheme. He's not all that bright but he is cunning in his own way. Ripto and Grendor don't know it and probably never will, but Gnasty is very crafty with magic, at least out in the Outer Realms."

"Should we have them evacuate out there then?" Flame asked. Caelos shook his head and started signing to him. "Uh...'if Gnasty is this angry, and he still has magic, evacuation won't matter'? What's that mean?"

"Our fears are realized," Rivyera muttered, rubbing her belly worriedly. "Spyro, what would he do?"

The purple dragon growled. "I dunno, why doesn't someone else figure it out? Why am I doing all the thinking and acting lately?" They all stared at him in surprise. "I'm sorry but I've had it! Who cares if I'm the strongest or the most experienced? Why am I the one everyone's going to for help and explanations? It's not fair to me or to these guys that I'm doing all the work and the thinking!"

An unsettling silence fell all around the room, until Ignitus cleared his throat. "Well...I suppose that's true...but Spyro, you must keep in mind, the stronger you become, the more you'll be needed. For many of the missions I've sent you on so far, it was easier to send you in so the others would be more readily available in case emergencies came up, as you've no doubt seen. Your variety of elements is why you're sent everywhere, you're better able to adapt to a situation, especially seeing as many of the enemies now have elemental armor."

"We can discuss this in a bit," Nightshade said, sitting up. "Right now I'm interested in what Gnasty might possibly be planning, and Spyro is the only one among us that knows so much about him. So Spyro, I know we rely on you a lot, but for this one time you're the only one who can give us insight. So, if you don't mind, I'm anxious to hear about this possible threat since my mate is now involved in it."

Spyro groaned. "Fine..." He sighed and shook his head. "All I can say for sure is that he may have some kind of spell that can target all dragons, now that he's back in his home area. And somehow, I get the feeling no one can avoid it unless they're lucky. He's been angry at me before plenty of times, but this probably tipped his balance. We need to be careful and wary, that's all I can say for sure without more information. Happy now?"

"That last bit was rather rude," Rivyera said, "but thank you Spyro. I hate to say it but if this spell can target all dragons, we may have to lay low in the underground of this island for a while to try to dodge his attack, so we can still be around to help with the aftermath. It's a cruel idea, but it's better than us going to aid against something that could eliminate or stop us before we can even do anything. In fact, we can't go to aid without knowing what it is first, and knowing Gnasty, would he let on what his plans are?"

Spyro shook his head. "For being so stupid, he's very good at keeping secrets."

"As I feared." She sighed and rubbed her belly again. "We need probable cause or reasonable doubt to act, and we probably won't know what this attack is until it hits and it's too late."

Neves cleared his throat. "Well, I'll relieve Spyro of his thinking cap now. We know that Gnasty is secretive, so we have no idea what may be coming. However, he's still in league with Ripto and Grendor, who might have some use for us that can't be fulfilled if we were eliminated. Ripto hates dragons but why would he let Gnasty of all beings be the one to do the deed? That is, if he knows about it at all. Gnasty still reports to him regardless. Knowing how cunning Ripto and Grendor and Gaul are, they might need dragons later on. So, taking these into account, I predict that Gnasty's attack will be paralyzing at worst, maybe some sort of stasis. I'm pretty sure of it, given the fact that I've seen Gnasty and Gaul in the Pool of Visions, and Gaul seems to have a sway over the gnorc no one else has...and since Gaul is now joined with Ripto, there's a high chance that Gnasty would do something in line with Ripto's plans, to prevent Gaul's ire. We must be prepared to act if my hypothesis proves true; we must be ready to find a countermeasure to Gnasty's spell, and fast. Since most dragons here are subconsciously linked to the 'ether' from Spirit Crystals, there's also a good chance Gaul will try to create some sort of 'dissonance' through this link. If that's the case it would be rather simple to restore order to that subconscious flow of 'ether' energy, probably even by simply touching them since we are even more strongly aligned with Spirit Crystals, given our higher elemental capacity. However, if Gnasty's spell is a curse like that of the Nonsleepers, this could be a nightmare waiting to happen." He paused to shift his glasses and stretch a bit. "If a curse or hex is the case, we might need to find some kind of countering artifact. We have plenty of artifacts gathered over the last three years, but none that might be effective against a wide-range gnorcish spell. At any rate, this temple sits on a nexus of Spirit Crystal energy, hence its protective powers. We should definitely sit underground while this event happens. I hate the idea as its nature is very cowardly, but it's our best shot in order to make it back out to help resolve the situation."

Ignitus grinned and nodded. "Impressive, Seven. You've analyzed it quite well and I think we're all in agreement this time on this solution?" Everyone nodded, except for Flame. "Flame? Is something wrong?"

"Couldn't we just call a bunch of others here and shelter them in the Temple underground?"

Plazyma snorted. "Think about it, dimwit. That's a lot of dragons to get in here, and not a lot of space. Plus, Ripto and Gnasty and the others would get suspicious and might even try to directly attack this temple. With Tephra and Grendor's combined powers, along with Gaul now, we'd be screwed."

"Again, accurate deduction," Ignitus said. Plazyma smirked to herself and fiddled with the scales covering her eye. "True, this temple can be used as a fallout shelter of sorts, but as Plazyma pointed out, a mass migration of dragons would alarm the public and no doubt draw the enemy's attention. They're laying very low but if we consolidated everyone here, they'd attack us and probably succeed in wiping us out. Against an unknown widespread attack of magic origin, it's sad to say but we must let everyone be hit and save ourselves so we can thus work in the aftermath to reverse the damage. Not every battle should be rushed at headlong..."

"Barbaric cretins, the lot of them," Cyril muttered angrily to himself. "Forcing us into hiding while they wreak havoc...I don't doubt they'll try to pull off another scheme, Ripto's cunning calculations will undoubtedly take into effect our very decision here. If he is privy to Gnasty's intent, that is, but even if not, he'll spot the chance and seize it."

Terrador growled. "I hate the idea of hiding as well, but it's all we can do. Elemental defense is one thing, but we have no defense against magic. Nightshade's shadow powers somewhat deflect and absorb magical attacks and effects, but not completely."

"What about...the mana sink?" Flame asked. His friends looked at him in confusion; Spyro and Neves almost glared at him. The guardians were surprised. "...What?"

"How do you know of it?"

"Ember told me once, two years ago. Said she read about it in the library while waiting for..." he glanced at Spyro and sighed, trailing off.

"It's a possibility but only those with high power can pull off a sink, and with the magnitude of power required for such a spell to affect so many..." Terrador sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry to say but such a thing is impossible, not to mention that it would draw attention."

I could probably pull it off...if I were stronger...I need to get stronger to find Cynder...and to protect everyone...gah! Why is everything linked to the very thing that corrupted Malefor?! Spyro thought to himself. After some more discussion that didn't really get anywhere, they decided to sleep in the underground rooms this time, in case Gnasty decided to enact his spell overnight. Spyro didn't let it show, but he was scared. Until now he'd been able to solve almost every problem he'd encountered, but now he was up against something he had absolutely no sway against. Oh Cynder...please be safe out there... Unable to sleep for hours he silently wandered back up to the Pool of Visions, using his newly-trained shadow powers to slip around the doorways. Gazing into the pool, he eventually saw... ...What the heck... Two black serpents?s