I've spent this week getting high on inspiration, whic has made a nice change from the terrible months that preceeded it. I have no excuses for the delay, and I wouldnt bother to list them if I did, but I can promise the next chapter is nearly ready and will be posted in the next few weeks!

Hopefully that makes you happy, and now that you're in a good mood I'd like to once again ask for lots of thoughtful reviews!
Imagine if I got one from every single one of my readers, that would be quite a sight...
No matter when you're reading this I'll still read and appreciate a review you write, so don't worry if there are 80 chapters after this one, review this one anyway! :P

Spyro could see no way of escaping his current predicament. The dark crystal band on his neck was sapping almost all of his energy; he still had enough mana to sense the air around him, enough to give a static shock perhaps, but nothing more. He could also sense the stone of the platform beneath his paws. He had tried to use magic to shatter the stone that held his rear left leg, that stone had been weak and he could sense it, but he didn't quite have enough magic to force the weaknesses to crack.

He could, however, whistle.

Spyro had seen Imperia sing before, and she'd been capable of two, three and even four part harmonies with herself. Listening to her sing was an amazing experience.

Cynder too had been capable of singing with both her and Spyro's voice, and her singing was no less beautiful. Spyro thought himself a dreadful singer, but he was now planning to get lessons.

Unfortunately merely having wind magic didn't give him much control over the sound and pitch of his voice; he would need to practice that part of singing in the future. The good news was that he had only taken twenty minutes to learn how to speak and make it sound as if his voice was coming from different places. Even with his very limited powers he could affect the wind that much.

It was a cool trick; one that the wind dragons Spyro had met really seemed to like doing. Now he knew how to do it too. Spyro was pleased with that.

A whistle was a simple sound, and Spyro had decided to start whistling at one pitch, and then use wind to throw his voice before whistling at a different pitch. It should have let him whistle in harmony with himself, but for some reason he wasn't having much success. The whistle simply changed pitch to what he was doing with his mouth, no matter where the sound came from.

There had to be more to it than just that. Imperia or Cynder would teach him whatever he hadn't managed to figure out.

Spyro looked up at the sun, dawn had broken almost an hour ago, but there were always clouds shrouding Concurrent Skies. The sun was really only a brighter smudge in the dull cloud cover. The best way to see came from the lightning, which was remarkably frequent and came every few seconds. It was mostly cloud to cloud lightning, and it was quieter then cloud to earth lightning, but it was no less bright and it lit the area for about half a second with each flash.

He could see a few of the lower towers of the fortress from his platform, and the highest tower disappeared into the clouds above him. When he reared up on his hind legs he had a fairly good view of the whole rooftop. Spyro hadn't liked the place when he'd first come here, young and terrified, to save Ignitus. But it was beginning to grow on him now, and he wondered if Cynder would feel the same way when she arrived.

The purple dragon hoped that Malefor would show up soon, he was bored, and there was no denying that Malefor made for interesting conversation.

Spyro's wish was promptly granted. He saw a dark shape flying towards the fortress, as the shape neared he recognised that it was a dragon, and after several more seconds Malefor landed lightly on the platform.

"Good morning." Spyro spoke politely and nodded to Malefor.

Malefor nodded in return, amused by the casual greeting. He didn't really want Spyro to be fearful of him, so the younger dragon's confidence was only a good thing. All the same Malefor found that it distracted him slightly to be addressed in such a manner. Only one other dragon did that to him.

"Good morning to you too, I hope you slept well."

"Not badly, but the wind and thunder were a bit loud."

"Be glad of that. The sounds you'd hear if the storm wasn't so loud would cause you to have much greater difficulty in getting to sleep." Malefor gave Spyro an enigmatic, and slightly sinister, smile.

"What sounds?" Spyro asked.

"Let's just say that it's not silent Orcs that guard us here." Malefor sat down and relaxed. "The Dark Master did a lot of things that I regret, things I would take back if I had the chance. Yet some of the things that he did will benefit dragonkind in the future."

Spyro frowned. He took some time to just listen, and after a moment the faintest sound from down below reached his ears.

"They loath the light of day, but the clouds here offer them some shelter from the pain. When they are disturbed you can hear them shrieking and howling."

It was a chattering sound, and a shrieking. It was familiar to the younger purple dragon.

"I hear… the apes."

Malefor nodded.

"Yes, or what's left of them. It grieves me that the Dark Master chose to end their race-"

"I'm sure you manipulated him into doing so." Spyro said in a soft accusing voice. Malefor flinched, a genuine physical flinch at Spyro's words. Spyro stared at him in surprise.

"I had a chance to stop him… a chance which I did not take. But he made his choice on his own, without me. Now the apes are ended, wiped from the known world. Perhaps there are others on different worlds, but not here. There are only four greater races now."

"And you'd cut that down to one without a second thought, wouldn't you?"

Malefor looked hurt for a very brief moment, and then he controlled himself.

"I have no taste for genocide; I wouldn't destroy the moles, wolves or cheetahs. I have regretted not stopping the Dark Master from unleashing his curse on the apes; I have regretted it since the day that he did it."

Spyro realised he had actually been getting through to Malefor's genuine emotions, and he felt strangely guilty for doing so.

"I shouldn't have said that to you."

"Perhaps not... But your reaction isn't unreasonable."

Spyro nodded.

"This world has lost something valuable now that they are gone; the apes were quite remarkable in their own way." Malefor spoke softly; he was remembering his dealings with the apes in the past. "Now they are but hateful and desperate shades, clinging to what little shreds of life they have left. Their nearness to death has only increased their fear of it. Perhaps I should put them out of their misery, but I cannot bring myself to do it."

"You won't let them pass from this world while they still have use, you mean. The apes were always clever; you're using them as guards and probably as spies. That's why you won't just finish destroying them."

"I am using them as guards, yes, although they make poor spies. The apes also know many things; I feel their knowledge shouldn't die with their race." Malefor sighed. "That's the strictly logical reason I have for not exterminating what's left of the apes."

He didn't say any more. Spyro didn't need to know any more.

Cynder and Ember had spent an awkward night together, there had been no conversation, and there hadn't been very much cooperation either.

The awkwardness continued over that morning. Both of them were awake before dawn, because neither of them had wanted to be asleep when the other woke up. Naturally it was too dark to tell who really woke up first, but the awkwardness stayed.

The two of them sat in uncomfortable silence for a while, as the sun rose. Eventually Cynder spoke.

"So… What are you doing here?"

The pink and gold dragoness hesitated for a moment.

"I knew you'd go looking for Spyro, and I wanted to help."

"Everyone knew I'd go looking for Spyro. But nobody in Warfang knows where I'm going, I didn't tell anybody. So how did you end up here?"

"You told me, you told me right after you found out, when you were upset about Imperia."

"Oh…" Cynder felt a soft pain in her chest at the mention of Imperia. She retreated into silence for a few minutes. Ember gave her time.

"I'd forgotten that I told you." Cynder eventually said.

Cynder wasn't sure what to make of Ember, hopefully they weren't enemies, but they also weren't exactly friends. She had wanted help in her mission to rescue Spyro, but she had been wishing for Imperia, and Ember was pretty much the last dragon she would have chosen to help her. Ember had determination, Cynder had to admit that, but she was also not very experienced with real combat. Plus she knew that Ember still liked Spyro, and that complicated matters even more; Ember could profit from betraying Cynder.

Cynder didn't like the feeling of not knowing who she was dealing with.

Ember, on the contrary, knew exactly who she was dealing with. One of the most lethal dragons she had ever met; a hero, a fighter, a living legend. Cynder was a dragon far more powerful and skilled then Ember herself was. Ember had practically nothing she could offer the black dragoness. She didn't think she had any special knowledge, and she surely had no unique talents. Anything she could do Cynder would certainly be able to do better. She half expected Cynder would tell her off for coming and then send her straight back to Warfang. She felt childish and weak compared to the black dragoness.

Ember did sincerely want to help, but she was terrified that Cynder would laugh in her face. She knew there was no way that Cynder would want her help.

"How did you get here so fast?" Cynder asked.

Ember was caught off guard by the question, the pink dragon had been trying to work out ways that she could be sent back to Warfang by Cynder that didn't involve her being humiliated, and had been caught up in deciding if she should simply offer to go back in order to get help from the Guardians. That way she at least wouldn't be laughed at, and Cynder could also send her away without feeling guilty.

"Umm…" Ember faltered as she collected her thoughts. "Well, I left directly from Shatterhself as soon as I had recovered enough to fly. I didn't go with the others back to Warfang, I came straight here."

"Oh." Cynder said again.

Another minute passed, Ember waited for Cynder to tell her to go away.

"We had better get started. It'll take us some time to get to Concurrent Skies."

Spyro was no longer certain that he had genuinely hurt Malefor with his accusation, or if the purple dragon had simply been pretending to be hurt in order to make Spyro feel guilty. Did Malefor have emotion, or was he emotionless? Spyro had no way to be sure. His instincts told him that Malefor had been genuinely hurt, but the metaphorical jury what still out as far as his reasoning was concerned.

"So… what things do the apes know that are worth knowing?"

"Many things. Why do you ask?"

Spyro shrugged. "It's just something I'm curious about. Learning more, that is. I like to know things."

"That's a trait we share." Malefor smiled. "I'm willing to share what I know with you."

"You did offer to teach Cynder and me."

Spyro spoke casually, but he had to wonder if this was a trap. He hadn't trusted the offer when Malefor had first made it, and now he had asked Malefor for teaching, and he wasn't sure if Malefor had manipulated him into asking that.

"I sense your mistrust." Malefor smiled. "Really, I understand why you might not trust me. But we can work together."

Spyro sighed. He had been cautious enough, and had been very wary of Malefor's motives up until now. He had to wonder if perhaps he hadn't needed to be. Maybe he could trust the older purple dragon.

"Ok then… I'll accept your offer. I'd like to learn what you know. Not just about the apes, but about everything."

Malefor looked pleased. "Thank you, Spyro." He stood up. "Let's begin now."

"I've been wondering how my wind element works. I haven't had it for long, and I was trying to figure out how to speak and say different things at the same time."

Malefor nodded. "We'll start with that then."

After all, Spyro thought, it wasn't like trusting Malefor could make things any worse.

Cynder flew in the lead, her wind magic gently speeding the two dragonesses on their way. Ember was flying behind her, occasionally flapping her wings to keep herself on course. She couldn't help watching Cynder fly. The black dragon moved without effort, with no need to flap her wings, and with indescribable beauty and grace.

Ember sped up to fly beside Cynder. She felt like talking, but wasn't really sure what to talk about.

She was spared the awkwardness as Cynder grew tense and a distant storm appeared on the horizon. Ember looked to the front.

"Is that Concurrent Skies?" She asked.

Cynder glanced across at her and nodded briefly. "That's it. It's always stormy there."

The two girls got closer to the storm. Ember whistled; feeling impressed.

"It's pretty spooky."

"It gets much better, believe me."

"And by better you mean worse."

"Yep, that's exactly what I mean by better."

Cynder looked across at her and nodded, Ember nodded back hesitantly.

"Cynder?"

"Yes Ember?"

"Do we have a plan, for when we arrive? What do we do once we get to the fortress?"

"No, I don't have a plan. I figure Spyro will be imprisoned somewhere inside, so we'll need to search. Malefor is likely to be around, and it'll certainly be best if we don't run into him."

Ember flew quietly, thinking about what Cynder had said. It didn't really seem like a great plan, but she certainly didn't have anything better.

The two dragons flew over bleak rock and bright crystal. The storm above grew deeper and darker, and as they glided further into the shadows of Concurrent Skies the crystals below them grew bigger and bigger.

The wind howled in the distance, the sound was a bit unsettling, and it was growing louder and louder. The air almost seemed to crackle with energy; Cynder could smell electricity around them. The smell was ozone, and while Cynder didn't know what to call it she knew that it was associated with lightning and electric dragons. Volteer sometimes smelt faintly of it.

"This place is sort of beautiful." Ember said thoughtfully.

"Yes it is." Cynder agreed. Then she pointed ahead. "We've arrived."

The fortress towered above the fields of crystal, it was vast and intimidating. Ember stared at it in awe, trying to decide if she ought to be impressed or terrified.

Cynder too was feeling conflicting emotions, seeing this place brought back bad memories, and she did not want to go any closer. But she knew that she had to.

"It's incredible!" Ember eventually said, her sense of wonder briefly overcoming her dread.

Cynder didn't reply. Ember glanced across and saw the grim expression on the face of her partner; she grew serious.

"Spyro's in there somewhere." Ember added. "And we need to find him."

Cynder nodded silently. Then the black dragoness glanced down. She flew higher.

"Ember, come up here." Cynder said calmly. Ember did as she'd been instructed.

"What about the lightning? If we fly higher we might get hit." Such an event was improbable, and it wouldn't be lethal to a flying dragon, but it would certainly ruin their day.

"I'd rather take that risk then fly too close to that." Cynder pointed down.

Ember looked down at the forest of bright crystal and felt a chill run through her scales.

Things were moving down there. Shapes which were impossible to fully make out, smoky pale figures moved in the darkness. The howling that they had thought was the wind was coming softly from down there, and both dragonesses knew that it wasn't wind making that noise.

There was a loud shriek from somewhere below them, followed by high pitched screaming. The two girls glanced at each other and flew higher at the same time. The things were moving frantically now, chattering and howling below them. Some of them seemed to be fighting each other. The entire fortress was encircled by the moving shrouded shapes.

Cynder and Ember stopped and hovered.

"What are they?" Ember asked fearfully.

Cynder hesitated. "I think… that they're apes."

"Apes? But the apes are dead." Ember looked down nervously. "Are they… ghosts?"

"I don't know what they are, but I'm sure that they're dark magic creatures, and I don't want to go anywhere near them."

Ember nodded, thinking this was a very reasonable viewpoint.

"I agree. Do you think that they're here for Malefor?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe they want revenge, or maybe they're still serving him even now."

"They might be guarding it, but we still need to get inside the fortress. Any ideas?"

"Two. Either we fly up to the top of the fortress and look for a way inside from there, or we go to the doors and get in from the lower floors."

"Umm… which place is Spyro more likely to be?"

"Definitely on the lower floors. There are dungeons and cells down there which would be more than enough to hold him."

Cynder and Ember both paused, imagining Spyro sitting alone in a miserable barred cell.

"We had better go."

Spyro and Malefor stood opposite each other on the tower platform of the fortress. Malefor started pacing back and forth, Spyro watched him patiently.

"Have you thought more about our conversation from yesterday?" Malefor asked the younger dragon.

"A little bit." Spyro said.

"And have you come up with any theories about why there are so few dragons?"

"That's not the part I did most thinking about." Spyro said.

"Then what were you thinking about?"

"Who's the… ah… informant, who's working with you."

"You didn't say traitor." Malefor observed.

"No." Spyro shook his head. "But the way that you defended them yesterday gave me clues as to who it might be. You said "They're as much a friend to you as they are to me". It was an interesting comment." Spyro looked rather pleased with himself.

Malefor waited for him to continue.

"And they need to be someone powerful, in a position of authority. So it can't just be any random dragon or mole in the city. So I think that it's probably someone like the Guardian dragons, or one of my close friends."

"And?" Malefor asked.

"Is it Imperia?"

"The newest member of the guardians." Malefor said.

"I feel sort of bad for suspecting her." Spyro admitted. "But she's my only possibility."

"It's Imperia." Malefor confirmed.

Spyro sighed. "Does Cynder know?"

"I don't believe so. Imperia hasn't reported anything wrong."

"So you can talk to her?"

"Yes."

"Could you please give her a message, from me?"

"Certainly."

"Tell her that she should tell Cynder the truth. Obviously she shouldn't do it yet, if it will ruin her plans or anything, but she should do it soon. Tell her I know she loves Cynder, and that Cynder loves her too."

Malefor nodded thoughtfully. "It would be a bad move for me to pass on that message, but I am nevertheless going to do it." He looked at Spyro. "I hope that you're right. It would break Imperia's heart if she told Cynder the truth and was hated for it. I don't want to see either of them hurt like that."

"I don't want that either."

"I'll give her your message tonight." Malefor said. "We'll discuss it further tomorrow, and she'll undoubtedly have a reply to give you."

"Thanks." Spyro said.

"Now, we were discussing why dragons are not as numerous as we ought to be, considering our longevity. Have you thought of anything?"

"Sort of. I thought that maybe it was because the purple dragons and black dragons come along every millennium or so and decimate the dragon population a few times. That would decrease our numbers a great deal."

Malefor laughed. "You and I are just glorified natural disasters? We're nothing more than living extinction events."

Spyro shrugged, but felt slightly defensive. "It sounds bad when you put it that way, but it was one of my guesses."

"It was a good guess, and not necessarily wrong." Malefor said. "But what else did you have?"

"We've been at war constantly."

"Indeed."

"Maybe dragons just weren't meant to live forever? And it's just a mistake that we can. …and… we…" Spyro frowned, an idea started to form in the back of his mind. "We're not… we're not allowed to live forever… That's why we're being stopped?"

"And…" Malefor paused for dramatic effect, sensing that Spyro was close to reaching the same conclusion he had reached so long ago. "Who's stopping us?"

Spyro stared at him in shock for several seconds.

"Who could stop us from living forever?" He asked himself. "Someone, or something, capable of manipulating the purple and black dragons into causing destruction. Capable of starting all of these squabbles and wars to keep us in check, until another decimation can occur."

"Someone who, to use your own words from a moment ago, thinks that dragon's aren't meant to live forever?"

"You're suggesting it's the Dragon Ancestors?"

Malefor nodded. "It's the most logical conclusion I can reach."

Spyro was too confused to reply. The ramifications of the idea that the gods themselves were not only real, but were oppressing the race of dragons, were… were… Spyro didn't even know what they were.

From over the edge of the platform a skeletal creature emerged. Spyro had seen it from a distance before, but this was his first time seeing the leader of Malefor's armies up close. He stared at the thing; it glanced at him for a moment before looking at Malefor.

The creature looked even more monstrous now that Spyro could see it clearly. Its bones were made of chalky white stone and it was unnaturally thin. Its body was cracked and seemed damaged, and heat glowed dully from within its core. Its wings didn't rest naturally on its body, they looked as if they had been grafted onto its back and they dragged behind it at it moved.

It bowed to Malefor. He inclined his head to it in return.

"General."

"Malefor."

Spyro had not really expected the thing to be able to speak, and he was somewhat startled when he understood it. He watched, curious.

The General looked at him again, and then spoke briefly to Malefor.

"We have visitors. I advise you to deal with them personally."

"Have you identified them?" Malefor asked curiously.

Spyro's thoughts immediately went to Cynder. Was she the one who was here? It would make sense if she was currently fighting her way into the fortress that the General would come to Malefor and ask for help. It was unlikely that anything weaker than Malefor could hope to stop the black dragoness from getting to him.

The General nodded briefly. "We have identified them." It glanced at Spyro. Malefor caught the glance.

"Speak freely in front of Spyro. I'd like him to know who is here. I assume that they are dragons here to save him?"

"I have not speculated about their motives. The dragons are Cynder and Ember, of Warfang."

Malefor laughed. "Yes, they'll be here to save him. I'll go and meet them right away. I wonder how they found us… Frankly I hadn't expected Cynder to guess we were here so quickly, although I knew that a few Warfang dragons might decide to check all of my old homes." He looked back to Spyro. "Excuse me for a few minutes."

"You won't hurt them, will you?" Spyro asked.

"I swear that I will not hurt either of them." Malefor said. He walked to the edge of the platform.

"Malefor!" Spyro called out. "What are you planning to do, if the Ancestors are causing dragons to constantly be at war?"

"I plan to make them stop interfering. And if I have to, then I shall kill them."

"How sure are you that it really is the Ancestors doing this?"

"Not sure at all." Malefor admitted. Then he stepped off the platform and disappeared.

Spyro sat back down again, his chains clinking softly, and thought. The General stood beside him; it too seemed be thinking.

There was silence for a few moments.

"His views are extreme." The General said. Spyro jumped, he had almost forgotten the thing was there.

"Yes?" He replied cautiously.

"I think he needs to be limited. For the good of this world, and for his own good too."

Spyro stared at the pale creature as if it had just gown a second head.

"Are… are you allowed to say that?"

"Yes. I have free will. I have the ability to question him."

"Ok… then why serve him?"

"Because I believe he is trying to do the right thing."

Cynder and Ember had made their way into the fortress surprisingly easily. There had been a landing area which was positioned just above the level of the crystal forest. The two of them had touched down and hurried through the door, closing it behind them. They found themselves in a corridor of dark, polished stone.

As they began to slink down the corridor they heard something scratching at the door they had just come through. Cynder shivered; glad that they hadn't dawdled while they had been out in the open.

The two of them found a magnificent spiral staircase. The steps alternated between white and jet black marble, and a rich purple carpet covered the central portion of the stairs. The place was still and silent. Ember and Cynder glanced at each other, deciding if they should take the staircase upwards, or if they should go down.

Cynder tried to remember the layout of her fortress. It did belong to her; after all, she should still have some memory of how to get around it.

Unfortunately she didn't. Cynder had no idea where to go, so she just chose a direction at random and led Ember up the stairs.

They emerged in a high-ceilinged room which had couches in it and a nice feeling rug below their paws. The colour scheme of black, purple and white was continued in this room. It was quite tastefully decorated, which surprised Cynder somewhat.

"I don't know what I thought it would be like in here, but I hadn't expected this." Cynder said.

"It looks good in here." Ember said. "It's like a luxurious palace." The pink dragoness felt like giggling. She wasn't sure why she wanted to laugh; probably it was because she was so nervous. She bit her tongue gently to restrain herself.

The girls wandered through two more pleasant rooms before they arrived at something important. The chamber they entered was massive, and the ceiling was far, far higher than in any of the rooms before it.

In the centre of the room was a pedestal, and on the pedestal was a purple crystal, about the size of a dragon's front paw.

Cynder and Ember approached it cautiously, not sure what to expect. Cynder very slowly reached out with her paw.

"Take care with that. It's one of the most valuable objects in the entire world."

Cynder instantly whirled around, ready to attack. Malefor was standing by the exit to the room. She rapidly stepped forwards, spreading her wings to shield Ember and getting into a fighting stance.

Ember reacted much more slowly, she hadn't recognised Malefor's voice as soon as she'd heard it, so she wasn't startled instantly. By the time she'd torn her eyes away from the purple crystal Cynder had already moved to protect her.

Malefor stepped forwards, circling away from the exit in a deliberate attempt to seem less threatening. "You weren't going to break it. It's not that fragile. When the Artisans create something they create it to last."

Cynder watched him warily. "Where is Spyro?"

"He's here. I swore to him that I would not harm you, I swore that about… two minutes ago." Malefor smiled. "He's fine, and I had no intention of harming you anyway. I saved your life, Ember, and you have nothing to fear while you're here."

"What are you doing with him?" Cynder hissed.

Malefor sighed. "If I tell you then will you stop being so suspicious of me?"

Cynder didn't respond.

"An answer for an answer then… I'll tell you exactly what I've done to Spyro, if you tell me how you found us. I don't believe its pure luck that you two came here."

Cynder reluctantly nodded.

Malefor sat down. "I'm going to do to Spyro exactly what he once did for you. I'll send him to Convexity, from which he has no hope of escaping, and then I'll destroy his dark side and free him."

Ember looked confused, but she was too nervous to say anything.

"At the moment he's restrained, but not in pain or discomfort. All I've done to him so far is talk to him."

"About what?" Cynder looked mistrustful.

"About philosophy, and about magic." Malefor said. "Now, how did you find us?"

"Imperia." Cynder said.

"Imperia?" Malefor looked rather surprised. "What do you mean Imperia?"

"I mean she confessed." Cynder said, trying not to show pain in her voice. "She told us what she'd done, she told us she was serving you, and she told me where to find you."

"Did she?" Malefor mused. "I've heard nothing of this from her."

"And have you talked to her recently?" Cynder asked, she was being sarcastic, but Malefor answered the question.

"We communicate. I last 'talked' to her on the night that she returned to Warfang, after young Spark died."

"By then she was a prisoner." Cynder growled.

"She told me nothing of that."

"So she lied to you too."

Malefor nodded. "Apparently so…" He examined his claws thoughtfully for a minute, and then he looked back to Cynder and Ember.

"Unfortunately I can't have you two running around my home and causing chaos. Unstable elements such as yourselves have a tendency to ruin carefully constructed plans. Allow me to escort you to a guestroom. You won't be allowed to leave until tomorrow, tomorrow evening at the latest, but I'll ensure you have food, comfort, and anything else you require." Malefor beckoned the two of them before walking out through the door.

Cynder and Ember reluctantly followed, not seeing many other options.

Thanks for reading!

-4Dragons