Winifred stomped through the hallways of the Temple, making no attempt to hide her rage. Her face was stuck snarling, and she shoved everyone out of her way. The ice dragoness wasn't normally like this, but she had nothing to release her anger on. A part of her figured that was why she grew fond of Fletcher. Despite his miscommings, he never ran off when her anger flared up like this.

Thinking back to her mate, her heart sank. Could she have done anything to prevent him from being trapped in a black crystal? Fletcher had tried burning their home down again after trying another ridiculous stunt, thinking it would please her. This time he had tried he tried breathing fire onto a log he had brought home. His plan was to scorch her name into the wood.

Naturally, it just caught fire. She was thankful that she was there, as she put it out before it could cause too much damage to their home. This left the attempt to show affection now left the fourth scorch mark on their floor.

To say she was mad at him was an understatement. In her rage she told him to get out, and go find someone to replace the wood flooring, as she had gotten tired seeing the scorch marks in their beautiful home. Winifred recalled just how sorry he looked. Despite her yelling, she knew he was not scared of her, but she figured he was terrified she would dump him. He apologised and left as fast as he could.

Her anger turned to worry as hours passed since she had heard from him. It shouldn't have taken that long to find a carpenter. To make matters worse, she had heard a lot of commotion going on outside not too long after he left. From the sounds of it, whatever was happening went close to their house, but close enough to hear people panicking. Out of fear, she stayed inside. It wasn't until the following day did she find out about what happened to her beloved Fletcher.

Her mouth hugged open, and quivered, as the rest of her body was as stiff as a board. Before her stood her mate, encased in a dark crystal. She could see the horrified look on his face. That look alone was enough for her to imagine how this played out

It was probably done quickly. Starting up from his feet, as to let Fletcher watch on as the dark crystal grew around him. He would try and fight, whatever was causing him to be trapped, but it was hopeless. As it covered more and more of his body, the more restrictive his moments would have become, till all that was left was his head. And with his final breath, he probably called out to Winifred one last time.

Her stomach churned at the scene in her head, and she puked her breakfast soon afterwards. Her head was spinning, her chest burned, while the rest of her wanted to just collapse. She almost forgot to breath, and when she did, her throat ached worse than anything she had felt before. Tears began to burn her eyes, as she leaned against her mate's motionless body.

The Guardians explained to her that Malefor went crazy and started chasing people around, turning them into these black statues. She only half listened to this, as her mind was stuck with a different thought.

It was her fault. Had she not thrown him out of their home, he never would have met such a fate. That is what Winifred told herself anyways. Her friends tried to tell her otherwise, including Mildred, but nothing they said could fix anything. She still blamed herself for being angry. Maybe she could have been a better mate. Maybe she could have learned to better control her anger. Maybe she could have gone out in his place. Maybe then she could have escaped whatever Malefor did to her beloved. In the end though, there was nothing she could have done.

Winifred had been walking around the Temple as her mind was lost in the past. She had a glazed look in her otherwise enraged features and body tone. She knew where she was going, but wasn't actually paying attention to people around her. Just as she rounded a corner, she felt someone small run into her. This pulled Winifred out of her thoughts, which left her stunned for a moment, confused by what just happened. It wasn't until she looked down at a young black dragoness in front of ner, did her rage come back tenfold.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Winifred snapped at the smaller dragoness. Before the black dragoness could say anything, Winifred shoved the young girl aside, almost trampling her in the process. The black dragoness yelped, but Winifred didn't care.

The only remnant of her mate now, were those from her memories. Regardless of how much pain, stress, and grief Fletcher caused her in the past, Winifred still held those moments with the highest regards. How dare that dragoness ruin her day dreaming!

Continuing her tantrum, Winifred stormed towards the main entrance. Just before reaching it, she heard her name being called out.

"Winifred, we need to talk."

"FOR OUR ANCESTOR'S SAKE, WHAT NOW!" She shouted back at whoever was behind her. A part of her thought for a moment that it was that black dragoness from before. Her body went still as she turned around and saw that the owner of that voice was a rather unhappy looking Terrador.

Taking a quick bow, Winifred started to stutter. "M-mast-er -Terra-a-a-dor!" All the anger she had stirring inside, leapt out of her body the moment she laid eyes on her superior.

"Winifred, I expect more respect from you of all people. I thought Cyril would have taught you better than this." It was clear to the ice dragoness, by the tone of his voice, Terrador was not pleased about being shouted at. Winifred raised her head back up, hoping to fix what she had done.

"Im sorry Master Terrador." Winifred felt ashamed of herself, letting her anger take control of her yet again. Had she learned nothing these past twenty years? "A lot has been on my mind as of late."

Terrador huffed. "I can see that, though maybe next time try and think before you act?" The ice dragoness felt small as the earth Guardian continued his lecture. "It's bad enough that you scream at innocents, but throwing a tantrum is below you. And lets not forget about you storming off in the middle of our meeting."

"I…." Winifred's voice trailed off. She wanted to defend herself, but she knew there was no excuse that would fix her problems. "You're right. I'm not acting like a Delegate, I'm acting like a hatchling."

As happy as it made Terrador to hear her say that, a part of him knew she was not going to learn her lesson in the long run. "I'm glad you understand. Just try and be better about that temper of yours in the future." Terrador had to admit the fact that he was still very disappointed in her.

Not even aware that she was lying, Winifred seemed happy to be given Terrador's forgiveness. "Thank you Master Terrador." She gave the earth Guardian another bow.

Resisting the urge to grumble at what he deemed just a facade, Terrador, got to the point of him being there. "That aside, I need you to try and calm people down within your section of the city."

Winifred was confused for a moment before she realized why citizens would be angry or panic. It would be for the same reasons she ran off in the middle of the meeting. Until they find out who was killed by the purple dragon, all people can do is hope and pray that their friends and family members are ok.

She let out a sigh. "That's going to be a lot more work." It was easy for her to envision it now, having to take time out of her normal crap to deal with more complaints. "I'll figure something out to tell them when they come to ask. I assume you want me to keep the purple dragon in custody a secret?"

Terrador's eyes narrowed. "How did you learn about that?" Winifred looked at Terrador shocked. Was he really expecting the Delegates to deal with the citizens without telling them about the purple dragon first?

"One of the guards by the Sanctum told me."

Clenching his paws, and letting his claws dig into the floor, Terrador sighed. Now he had to deal with disciplining some talkative guards now.

"Just please keep that a secret Winifred." Terrador was starting to sound tired as well, and the ice dragoness wondered for a moment just how much this purple dragon has done today.

Winifred gave Terrador a nod. "I won't tell anyone. I promise." Terrador returned her nod, accepting this promise far better than her first one.

"Alright then, that was all. We will arrange another meeting within the coming days once we figure out how to deal with him. With any luck, we will have an answer before the Origins Festival." Winifred seemed happy by this, if only to learn of her mate's fate. Assuming that the Guardians would let people into the Sanctum again after this that is.

"Thank you master Terrador. Please let us know as soon as you can" She gave him one final bow. "If there is nothing more to discuss, then I must leave. My bed has been neglected for far too long."

Smirking, Terrador snook his head. "That is all. By all means enjoy the rest of your night Winifred." After that, both adult dragons turned and walked away from one another without another word.

Finding herself all alone again, Winifred let her tired brain drift back to the past. Specifically her missing love. With Fletcher back on her mind a mixture of anger and sadness swirled inside of her, till she resumed throwing a tantrum. Soon enough Winifred found herself out of the temple. At the top of the steps leading up into the building, the ice dragoness spread her wings and did her best to stay awake as she flew back home.

Mildred let out a yawn. She wasn't normally up this late, and now she was getting tired again. However, she still pushed onwards as she continued to explore the night life of the city. She wasn't sure how long she spent wandering around, but so far she couldn't find a single clue about where Cynder might have wandered off to. She checked a few of the alleyways she suspected her daughter would train in, but all she ever found was dirt, dust, and trash.

Hoping that it would help keep her awake, Mildred tried to figure out what to do with Cynder. Not that her daughter has done anything wrong, it's just that she has been acting more rebellious as of late. Earlier that day was the first time she had been so insistent about learning more of Malefor in a long time.

"Maybe I should just tell her everything." Mildred let out a quiet mumble to herself. Cynder wasn't a little girl anymore, she was a young adult. Maybe she could handle the truth. Cynder could possibly even stop training in the middle of the night, and try to live a normal life! Or at least as normal as one could get considering who she was.

Mildred sighed, knowing that thinking this was a foolish idea. That's not who she is. If anything this would only make her want to practice more. She'd probably ask more questions, or even worse!

She could try looking for him.

Pausing in the middle of the road, the fire dragoness took a moment to really think about that last thought. It had been so long since she actually thought about it, the truth. She almost started to believe the lies that she herself had started about her mate. Things were so much easier that way. But was it the right thing to do? Of all dragons, Cynder deserves to know the truth more than anyone.

Something was going on with her daughter, something far beyond anything that her mother could protect her from. Mildred hated to admit it, but she knew that she couldn't protect Cynder forever. One day she will find out the kind of dragon her father was. She'll learn how to use her powers, and even master them. More troubling was that she will also someday learn the truth about what her father has done.

That Malefor never trapped those people in those black statues.

For just a moment, Mildreds mind thought back to that day, the day her mate supposedly went crazy. She had just told her mate that they were expecting an egg, and they went out to celebrate. They went back to where they had first gone on a date. It was in a slightly secluded spot in Warfang, near a few shops, such as a tailor, some pottery place, and if she recalled correctly, there was a carpenter there too.

Next to all of that was a small butcher shop. They had just picked out several fresh lamb, and they were both about to take their food aside to cook them themselves, when Malefor noticed something happening behind his mate.

She could never forget the face he made that day. It was the first time she ever saw him look mortified. As if he had just witnessed the most terrifying thing possible. Curious as to what had gotten her mate so terrified, she craned her head around, and looked at what her mate saw. Her jaw dropped and she let out a scream, just as Malefor had leapt past her, his scales starting to turn black for some reason. Then all she did was watch in horror as her beloved started to fight-

"Mildred? What are you doing staring into space like that in the middle of the night?"

A voice near the fire dragoness ripped her attention away from the past. Turning her head she saw her friend, Winifred, looking confused as to what Mildred was doing.

"Hmm? Oh, hello Winifred." Though she sounded tired, Mildred did her best to seem focused. "I was just trying to find my daughter. She has a habit of running off in the middle of the night to…" she stopped herself, realizing that she had almost just told the ice dragoness about her daughter having four elements.

"Umm, well I'm not sure what she does this late."

Winifred looked confused by this, and started to think about it. Mildred was worried for a moment that her friend had actually seen Cynder practicing. However, if she had, then the ice dragoness probably wouldn't be standing here asking what she was doing.

Winifred let out a tired sigh, giving up on trying to remember who the young dragon in question was. "I'm sorry, it's been a long evening. What does she look like again?"

Mildred would have been hurt by this statement, but she couldn't blame her friend for not knowing who Cynder was. Mildred had spent most of her parenting life keeping her daughter away from people after all.

"It's fine Winifred. She takes a lot from me. Besides the fewer horns, longer neck, different tail blade, and the black scales, she's a close replica of me."

The ice dragoness looked like she was trying to think of something as she stared at her friend, before finally coming up with an answer. "Oh, yeah I have seen her. I saw her I was passing by while leaving the temple." Winifred saw no reason to mention the part where she ran over Cynder, and hoped that Mildred never learns about that.

The fire dragoness looked like she was about to have a heart attack when she heard this news. The last thing she wanted right now was Cynder finding the Sanctum. Though she knew Cynder would learn the truth one day, she wanted it to be her goal to prolong this as much as possible. And to do that, she needed to hurry to the temple.

"I'm sorry Winifred, but I have to leave!" Before the ice dragoness could speak a word, Mildred spread her wings and flew away towards the temple as fast as she could. She was not going to let Cynder find out the truth.

Not yet at least.

Today has been a long day for a lot of people. When Ignitus woke up that morning he did not expect to be dealing with a possible threat to their entire city, let alone one as small and young as Spyro. Not to mention everything that was going on with that shadowy possession that controlled the purple dragon. Assuming Spyro's theory was correct, so long as he didn't sleep, or become weak minded, he would not transform. So he and the other Guardians had time to figure out a plan of action. He hoped that Volteer had some idea of what was going on, as he had none.

All that Ignitus did know was where Spyro and Greven have lived all these years. After leaving Spyro's cell he found Greven's prison and requested the locations they have traveled to, to which Greven was reluctant to give. Not that Ignitus could blame him. Going off what Greven had told him, the two have dealt with a lot of betrayal in Spyro's lifetime.

After he told Ignitus where they had lived, the fire Guardian relayed the message Spyro had given to him back to the earth dragon. Greven seemed hurt that his young friend would blame himself for all of this, and requested that a guard give a message back to Spyro.

In most cases, any of the Guardians would put a stop to this chain of messages being traveled back and forth between two prisoners, however, Ignitus gave Greven permission to send this one last message to Spyro. It was the least he could do for both dragons.

Greven thought about what to say for a moment before asking the mole to tell Spyro this:

"I could never blame you for this Spyro. I don't know what is going on with this thing controlling you, but I promise that i'll figure this out."

Maybe Ignitus was too much of a push over after all of these years, but he felt touched enough by both dragons' plights to let a guard carry out this last message. He didn't stay to see Spyro's reaction to what his friend had to say, but he wanted to assume that the purple dragon would at least smile.

Ignitus sighed at the thought. Never before did he think he would want to see someone smile as much as he did right now. It was such a strange feeling too. He hated the purple dragon for what his predecessor had done, not to mention that Spyro had shown signs of being similar to Malefor. He feared what Spyro might do if they let him loose, and yet he wanted the young dragon to feel happy again. Not to mention, Ignitus wanted to help the poor dragon.

He shook his head, trying to keep it clear. All he was doing was giving himself a headache. Right now all he could do was to gather with the other guardians and discuss what they have learned.

Walking back into their private conference room, Ignitus found both Cyril and Volteer waiting there for him and their earth friend. The fire Guardian was about to ask about the whereabouts of the last Guardian, but Volteer spoke up first.

"Terrador had to finish up with one of our Delegates. He'll join us soon, I would imagine. We can catch him up to speed whenever he gets back."

Ignitus looked at his fellow Guardians. Both looked a little tired. It was getting late, and they dealt with a lot of stress today. Thinking about it himself, Ignitus knew he was feeling the same as the others. But work still needed to be done. He hoped that after this discussion, they could all get some sleep.

"Alright, let us begin then." Taking his seat, Ignitus looked to Volteer. "Has Cyril updated you about Spyro's most recent turning?"

Volteer nodded. "He has, and while I don't know what is causing Spyro to change, but, I'm pretty sure he isn't doing this on purpose."

Cyril huffed, irritated by this suggestion. "I disagree. Though I don't think Spyro can control this thing, I believe he is playing innocent. He wants to destroy the rest of those people Malefor trapped, that much we know. We caught him and now he is doing everything he can to get out and kill the rest of those people."

Though he understood Cyril's point of view, Ignitus wasn't sure if he could agree.

"I think you make a very good point Cyril, and if anything, till we learn more about what is going on, we should not trust him. That being said, if he wanted to destroy the rest of the black statues, then why didn't he attack you or me, or the guards after changing for the second time?"

Trying to be rational, Cyril made his best guess "Maybe it is because he knew he could not win? It's possible that he isn't as strong as Malefor. Not yet at least. That would explain why he was only threatening us."

Volteer nodded, agreeing with this theory. "Even before you showed up, he didn't try to escape. So either he couldn't hurt you guys, or he wasn't trying to hurt any of you."

Ignitus tilted his head, confused as to what his yellow friend might be suggesting. Cyril was more curious than anything else. Noticing the looks he was getting Volteer did his best to explain himself.

"What I mean is that, whatever power is manipulating Spyro, it does not want to hurt us. It only wants to destroy those trapped in the black crystals as far as I can see. If Malefor is any sort of comparison, purple dragons are powerful creatures. So if someone were to control such a being, even one as young as Spyro, they could do next to anything they wanted." Volteer paused, hoping that the others would now understand what he was getting at. Based on the still confused look, he assumed he and to explain more.

"If that is the case, then why not make Spyro break out and finish the job? It is like you said Ignitus. If Spyro wanted to hurt the guards, he could have long before either of you showed up, and yet he stayed in his cell. Maybe, I am wrong about my assumptions, but I can say for sure. But, it's possible that there is more at play than we know about."

The other two Guardians were silent, each trying to figure out if there was something they missed. Despite their opinions on the purple dragon, they could not see a reason to doubt Volteer's theory. Something isn't adding up. Why would Malefor go on a rampage, and hurt people without care, only for Spyro to show restraint. It's possible that Cyril was right. Maybe Spyro thought he was too weak to put up a real fight. So far that was the only other idea they could come up with, and even then it seemed like a weak argument.

"So what now?" Cyril asked, who was just as lost as Volteer and Ignitus. "We can't keep Spyro in hiding from the public forever. They will eventually know what he did, and once they do, his head is going to roll." The yellow guardian had made a good point. Even though Cyril didn't like Spyro, he knew that there was more to this puzzle that they just can't see. Which begs the question, how do they find these pieces?

Just as they were all brainstorming, Terrador walked into the room.

"My apologies for being late." Terrador walked over to his seat, finally joining the rest of the Guardians. "Have any of you figured this out yet?"

The other Guardians shook their heads, leaving the Terrador to slump in his seat. Though he was not with them, he got the sense that they were all unsure on what to do with Spyro.

Ignitus waited a moment more before speaking up again. "For now, all we can do is try and figure out if Spyro is a threat to the general population. Greven has given me a list of cities both he and Spyro have lived in prior to coming here. We should send someone we can trust to act as an adviser, and have them question the townspeople. if the majority of the citizens from each city think Spyro is a threat, then we should treat him as such. Until then, all I can think of doing is to be cautious. If Volteer is correct, then I fear something will happen soon."

Out of all the other Guardians, Terrador seemed the most concerned. "Do you have any other ideas? There has to be something we can look into. Did Malefor leave any sort of legacy behind? A book, friends, or loved one? He was well respected before he started attacking people. There has to be someone who he spent time with."

"We know that Greven was a friend of Malefor." Cyril shifted on his padded cushion, unsure if what he was about to suggest was a good idea. "We could question him about what he knows."

Volteer jumped a little, as if he just remembered something important. "I recall talking with Malefor when he was younger. He had mentioned some strange things going on with him, but I don't remember what was said. I might have the notes somewhere written down. I can try to find what I can.

Ignitus glanced over to Terrador, hoping that the earth Guardian could also come up with another idea. Though nothing was spoken, Terrador knew what his friend wanted of him, and he shook his head. Ignitus let out a quiet sigh.

"Then me and Terrador will start finding dependable people and send them off to the listed cities. Maybe someone there will know a thing or two about Spyro."

Each of the guardians nodded in agreement. Though it wasn't much of a plan, they at least had a starting point. With any luck, they will figure out just what was happening to Spyro.

As Cynder roamed around the Temple, she couldn't stop herself from huffing, annoyed still by the dragoness who first bumped into her, and then proceeded to shout at her. This was one of the rare times where Cynder wished she wasn't trying to keep her abilities a secret. How relieving would it have been to use her fear element on the adult, or maybe even her wind element and knock her over.

She shook her head. Cynder didn't want to linger on these thoughts. If she did, she feared that one day she'll give into these tempting ideas and actually hurt someone. It was best just to forget about that ice dragoness. There was a good chance that she was never going to see her again anyways. And besides, there were far more interesting matters at hand right now.

Bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum

As though to help remind her of why she was here, the sound of the other beings heart beat rang in her head, followed by the pulling sensation. It was the only thing that helped her through the slight maze-like structure that was the Temple. Though it was less guiding her, more giving her a general direction to go. The Temple just happened to have a lot of branching hallways that connected to one another in a bizarre fashion.

She could pass one set of rooms, only to find herself looping back around after passing several other branching paths. How anyone was meant to get around without getting lost was unknown to her, but maybe that's because she wasn't there much. Maybe there was a method to this madness that she couldn't figure out.

Just like she had assumed, no one questioned why she was there. Other than that rude ice dragoness, Cynder passed a couple of guards, and other important looking people, all of whom paid her no attention. She felt rather foolish for not trying to come here sooner, though it wasn't until she felt this pulling sensation that she had a reason to be here.

Wondering around, she figured she had to be close. Or at the very least close to something important. She had passed several guards, some of which gave her a look. It wasn't anything terrible, but they looked kind of sad for some reason, while some did their best to mask their anger.

"What's going on?" Cynder couldn't help but ask that aloud to one of the passing ape guards, who stopped when he realized that the black dragoness was talking to him. "Why are there so many of you walking around? Did something happen?"

The ape opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself, before giving Cynder an apologetic look. "Sorry miss, but I can't give you the exact details…" He looked like he wanted to say more, but was stopping himself from doing so.

This left Cynder even more confused if anything. "Well none of you stopped me from making it this far, so it can't be anything dangerous… Is there any reason why I shouldn't be here?"

The ape bit his lip, and by the look on his face, Cynder assumed that the guard was trying to figure out a way to keep something a secret while also explaining what was going on. "Um… ok, I'll say this much." The ape looked around, wanting to be sure that no one else was around to get him into trouble. He leaned in close once he figured it was safe to speak.

"The Sanctum was attacked today. By who? I can't say, but we have things under control right now. The increase of guards is more for our own sake. I'm sure you understand. People aren't happy about this. Myself included. But we can't have the citizens going on a riot or anything."

Cynder was about to ask the guard what this Sanctum was, but stopped herself when she realized that this was probably a stupid question. Whatever it was, it was very important. Even more troubling though was that it was something important that her mother didn't want her to know about. So the black dragoness did her best to look angry at the news. She even huffed in the ape's face for added effect.

"I can't believe this!" She was tempted to shout, but did not want to gain any more attention than she already had. "I hope you guys understand what you are doing!" The ape reeled back, looking rather sorry for the young dragon in front of him.

"Im sorry, but there is nothing we can do. The Guardians themselves gave the order. Until they say otherwise, you cannot go into the Sanctum. Im sorry." Cynder was about to continue her verbal assault, but the guard left of his own accord, not wanting to deal with a pissed off dragon.

Cynder did feel a little bad about what she did, but she needed him to leave. It would be hard to use her shadow element if that ape was near.

From what Cynder could figure, from this point onwards, she was probably going to be stopped by the guards at some point. Not to mention if she did make it to whatever door led to this Sanctum, it was probably also guarded. Which meant the only way in was with her shadow abilities. Now she wasn't sure how stealthy this power was, but she has done some small tests with it before. So long as there is a small gap, she knew she could fit under a door.

Walking a bit further ahead, the black dragoness looked around trying not to seem suspicious. But before she could use her element, Cynder stiffened as she heard her name being called out.

"Cynder!" It was her mother.

Cynder gulped, knowing that she was in trouble. Turning around, she looked up to her mom, who looked upset.

"Hey mom, what are you doing here?" Cynder hoped that she could play this off like it was nothing.

"You know why i'm here. It's time to come home, Cynder, there is nothing here for you."

It was rare that the black dragoness got upset with her mother. After all, Cynder knew Mildred was doing a lot to keep her safe. Her mother gave up most of her own social life just to do what she could to keep Cynder away from the public eye. And while she wasn't always happy with what her mom was doing, she knew she only meant well. And yet there were times like these, where that excuse wasn't enough.

"What do you mean by that! What about the Sanctum?" Cynder was not a bitter dragon, and has dealt with the life given to her pretty well if she had to say so. But it was times like these where she just had to call her mother out for the crap she was saying. "People seem to hold it in high regards. Any reason why you haven't told me about it?"

Mildred reeled back for a moment."I… didn't see a reason for you to know."

Cynder growled. "Thats bull shit and you know it mom! What is in there that I don't know about?"

"Just trust me, Cynder, there is nothing in there that you need to-"

"Why can't I decide that? Why is it that only you get to dictate where I can and cannot go? I get that you're scared for our safety, but when do I actually get to live my own life?"

As Cynder's voice grew louder, Mildred looked behind her, scared that a guard might be near and over hear them. "Cynder, please keep it down."

"No!" Cynder was snarling at this point, and her claws scraped against the stone flooring. "You can't keep hiding things from me forever. For once just let me know what I want to know!"

Cynder watched as her mother's facial features scrunched up, and her body straightened out, as she tried to seem tall and intimidating. "No. We are going home. Right. Now!" Mildred put as much emphasis on those last few words as she could. She was not going to argue this with Cynder any longer.

Cynder growled again. It hurt her to see her mother act like this, but she wasn't going to give up. For once this was something she felt she had to learn about. "You are going to tell me what's in there or i'm… i'm…"

However, as Cynder spoke, her head started to feel dizzy. She tried to clear it by shaking her head, but it wasn't working.

Bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum

The other heartbeat started to ring in her head, until she closed her eyes for a second, unable to bear whatever was happening to her. When she opened her eyes back up, she found herself in a black void. Confused, she looked in every direction hoping to figure out where she was or where her mother went.

"Mom!" Cynder shouted. Sure she was angry at the fire dragoness a moment ago, but she didn't want to completely be rid of her. Scared and confused,Cynder started to run, but was stopped when she felt a warm embrace wrap itself around her.

She knew this feeling. It was just like when her mother hugged her earlier that day. Yet, when she looked behind her, Mildred was nowhere to be seen. Nor anyone for that matter.

Cynder wasn't sure how to feel. She was scared about where she was, and where her mother disappeared, but she also felt safe, and warm thanks to the hug. Turning her head back to face forwards, she saw a strange looking dragon in front of her. His body seemed to be made out of smoke considering how it shifted and twisted as though there were a breeze in this windless abyss. It looked like it was about to do something when Cynder felt a terrible pain in her side.

The next thing she knew, she was being woken up by beams of sunlight hitting her face. She let out a deep groan, as her flank was still aching in pain, however that wasn't the only thing she noticed. There was the smell of smoke in the air, and the ground under her was coarse. Lifting her head up, she found that she was no longer in the Temple, but instead in the middle of the woods.

"Good morning Cynder." Her mother's voice sounded dry. The black dragoness darted over to her left, only now noticing the presence of the adult dragon by her side. Looking up at the fire dragon's face, Cynder noticed that her eyes were watery and the scales under them were dulled from the constant stream of water running over them. Mildred sniffled as she tried to compose herself again now that her daughter was awake. However, Cynder just looked confused.

"What happened?"

It's been awhile since I wrote a long chapter, and I hope that this one was to your liking. I know some of you might be disappointed that Cynder and Spyro still have not met, but it might happen soon. Who knows?

Anyways, a lot has happened in this chapter, and I'm curious if any of you got any new theories from what was said. Feel free to share them with me. It's always fun to know how close to the truth you guys are, or how far off you are. Again, I won't spoil anything. This would be more for my own amusement.

Thank you all again for reading this story, I honestly wouldn't have made it this far into this book without some of the incredible people who read this book. And to you all I say thank you!