Finally the dang chapter is finished! *wipes off sweat* Sorry it took so long to upload this, it was actually supposed to be finished about a week or two ago. Anyway hope you enjoy : D

I breathed heavily as I looked at the six flamethrower machines that were around me. One by one, they each released a large stream of fire. Once more I crouched on the ground, bringing up my arms. As I did, I watched as ice began to cover them and surround my body in a dome like a shield.

It was only after the shield was completed that the flames finally reached me, but instead of it hitting me, they struck the dome-like shield instead. It didn't take long, though, before I found the shield slowly begin to melt. Seeing this, I began to pour more energy into the shield so that it would re-freeze, but as time went on it started to become harder to maintain that energy flow.

In the corner of my eye, I saw that the more time I spent trying to maintain it, the less ice I was able to create.

"58, 59, 60!" With everything I had left, I quickly got up before exploding my ice shield, while at the same time releasing more ice. I looked around to find all the flamethrower machines covered in snowy ice.

Once more, I breathed heavily. I was exhausted.

"Nice work," Scorch complimented as he walked over to me and handed me a bottle of water.

I immediately chugged the entire thing down within a minute. It looked as if I went an entire day without drinking something. Once finished, I started breathing heavily again.

"Well, I think that you've basically mastered ice," said Scorch with a proud grin.

I looked at him, smiling. "Yeah, I can thank your bloody training schedule for that," I replied, panting as I went to lean on one of the flamethrower machines.

Scorch only shrugged. "Sometimes the most effective way to learn is the most painful and exhausting way."

Turning to Scorch, I thought about what he had said before looking at the lightning station.

XXX FLASHBACK XXX

Being farther away this time, I managed to dodge the new one, but just barely.

"Ha!" I laughed triumphantly, only to turn forwards to see another bolt coming towards me. "OOOH!"

Scorched only grinned again. "By the time I'm done with you, you're going to wish that you already had faced Malefor," he said as he pressed the button once more.

XXX FLASHBACK A FEW DAYS LATER XXX

With each lightning bolt that came by, I managed to dodge them fairly easy.

"Not bad, but with every element not only do you have to learn to dodge, but you need to learn to attack, defend, and redirect!" Scorch explained as he pressed another button.

As Scorch pressed another button, I heard a lot of noise coming from the electric station. It was then that I noticed that all the rods had fired in unison a large shot of electricity at me.

My eyes went wide as time seemed to slow down. /This one is too big to dodge! Wait a second, redirect… That's it!/ I thought as I held my arm out.

As the electricity hit my arm, I began to feel it travelling within my body. Feeling my muscles tense up, my body began crouching down to the ground.

"It's not your energy, Trent, don't forget that! You still have to release it!" yelled Scorch to gain my attention.

Hearing his words, I forced my body to stand up. Looking at my left arm with the little strength I had remaining, I pointed it out towards the ground, and as I did I watched the lightning shoot out.

Falling to one knee, I breathed heavily. "Oh man."

I looked at Scorch, who nodded with a grin that implied "good job."

XXX FLASHBACK OVER XXX

"I'd say, overall, your training went very well," Scorch said honestly, taking a sip from his water bottle.

"Although I could have done without the near death experiences…" I remarked as I shifted my gaze in his direction.

"What near death experiences?"

I gave Scorch a disbelieving look. "You really don't remember?"

XXX 10 DAYS AGO XXX

"Geez, with all that thrashing about, someone would think that you never learned how to swim."

Grabbing the side of the pool, I held on for dear life. "You're giving me currents that would be from a typhoon!" I shot at Scorch as my gripped slipped, sending me into the middle of the pool.

Getting into the middle, I was immediately pulled under. From every direction I felt water rushing past me, pushing my body in different directions constantly. At this rate, I didn't even care about trying to reach the side of the pool; my only concern was going up for air.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for me to get to the surface; I had a few streams miss. Popping my head out of the water, I quickly filled my lungs with fresh air. As I did, I found the poles around the pool shoot water at me.

Feeling as though I was getting blasted by eight fire trucks, the pressure forced me down to the bottom of the pool as I once more got pushed in every direction by the currents. With every move I tried to make, I found myself unable to execute it. Between the water shooting down from above and the water currents, it felt as if I was in the ocean during a storm.

As time went on, I felt my lungs begin to burn; they were dying once more for fresh air. Slamming into the wall, I felt myself begin to tense up before once again getting pulled by the current.

Feeling myself getting separated from the wall, I furiously fought the current only to come to a sudden stop. There was something tugging at the end of my hand, something freezing cold. Ice. There was a patch of ice linking my hand to the wall of the pool, and with that I found new strength.

Concentrating, I started to put any energy I had into my hand. As I did, I felt the cold patch around my hand grow and expand down my arm and then all around me, freezing everything. After feeling nothing but ice around me, I once more concentrated.

After a bit of time, I started to get a warm feeling. As I did, I found the ice around me start to melt slowly, and within a few moments everything in the pool was evaporated, leaving it empty.

I looked down at my hands as I made ice form in them, a smile on my face. "Sweet".

XXX FLASHBACK OVER XXX

"It wasn't that bad, and besides, you found out your third element," said Scorch, disagreeing.

I looked at him, wide-eyed. "May I remind you how I discovered my poison element?" I questioned, emphasizing on the lack of fun discovering it.

Scorch only looked at me for a moment before nervously looking away. "Well…you found out that poison gas doesn't affect you," he dryly pointed out before taking another sip of water.

Hearing that, my jaw dropped for a moment. /Is this guy for real?/ I questioned in thought as I sat down. I began thinking about what would happen when I got back to Avalar.

"Have to say, I'm glad I got to use this place again."

I looked over at Scorch; there was a sad yet happy expression on his face. "Once I send you back to Avalar, this place will probably be shut down for good. This place really doesn't serve a purpose anymore."

Thinking about what Scorch said, I suddenly felt bad for him. This place really had no other purpose then to help train one's element. And because only a few people could control elements, including me, this place really did serve no purpose.

Suddenly, an old question popped into my mind. "Hey, Scorch, I've been meaning to ask you."

Scorch looked at me with curiosity. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Back when I first met you, when you asked me if your so-called loving grandfather sent me, you sounded like you almost had a grudge against him. Can I ask why?"

At first he didn't reply, but I saw on his face a look of affliction; he looked torn. "Look, it's not that I have anything against him, I just don't agree with some of his decisions."

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

He sighed. "When John accepted the guardians' request in helping take down Malefor, my grandmother and parents were moved. The original fire guardian had teleported them to earth to keep them safe."

"Well, yeah, that's a good thing, isn't it? The guardians probably knew that when John infiltrated the Dark Master's army and did terrible things to gain his trust that others would seek revenge and go after his family," I reasoned, wondering why Scorch would question something so obvious.

"I'm not disagreeing with what the guardians did; I'm just not sure if John made the right decision to permanently stay in Avalar. Sure, at the time they needed him, but what about after the time with Malefor? I'm sure his family needed him too," Scorch explained.

Standing up, I started to stretch to loosen my joints. "Though I may not have known him for very long, I can tell you right now he is still in Avalar, or in the realm of the Chronicler, for a reason. Though, what that reason is, I don't know, but I feel like he's afraid of something."

Scorch took a moment to think about that before finally deciding to stand up. He looked at his watch. "Honestly, I can't imagine anything being worse than Malefor." Realizing what he'd just said, he awkwardly looked at me. "That's not really encouraging, is it?"

I shook my head. "Yeah… Not really, not so much."

I watched as Scorch began to walk over to the front of the building. He started to flip switches, which began turning off the stations.

"Don't even worry about it," Scorch said as he flipped the last switch, making the lights go out.

Waiting for Scorch by the front entrance, I found him taking one last good look at the place before making his way over to where I was. Reaching for the door, he paused for a second. "Even if you do face the Dark Master, I doubt you will have to do it alone," he assured me as he walked out with me following not far behind.

Stepping out, I found Scorch waiting by the door so he could lock it. Once that was done, he shifted his gaze and gave me a stern look as he stared me in the eye.

Taken off guard by his action, I gave him a nervous glance. "What's the matter?"

"Before I send you back, there is something you should know," he informed.

"What?"

"You're not just limited to four elements; you control all eight," Scorch answered.

I looked at him, now wide-eyed and puzzled. "How? Since when?"

Finally taking his gaze off me, he looked at the building. "It was during your training. Every so often, I found some of the stations reacted differently than they normally do. It seemed like they hesitated when striking you." Scorch turned to me once more. "But the thing is, you don't own those extra four elements."

"What do you mean?" I questioned, not following.

Scorch sighed. "Those extra four elements, they're controlled by your counterpart, X."

Stunned as well as shocked, I found myself unable to speak.

"John told me. I know about the incident, and he's right. You can't keep running from it. Whether you like it or not, X is and always will be a part of you, and until you accept that those extra elements are worthless to you," Scorch stated honestly.

"I know he's a part of me, but I just can't forgive..."

"I'm not asking for you to forgive him!" Scorch said fiercely, cutting me off. "I'm asking that you accept what he did, whether it was right or wrong, and move on."

"You expect me to move on? During my time in Avalar, he almost killed a dragon who I was sparring with!" I shot angrily.

Scorch leaned his face in towards mine. "So let me ask you, during that time, did you ever ask him to stop what he was doing?" he asked in a low and serious tone.

With that question, I felt myself freeze, gaze dropping to the floor. Unable to speak, I found myself questioning why I actually never did ask X to stop fighting.

Scorch withdrew, knowing he'd gotten to me. "For all you know, if you asked him to stop then he would have stopped fighting."

Bringing my gaze up off the ground, I looked at him in question. "But what if I did and he just ignored me?"

A confident grin formed on Scorch's face as he put one of his hands on my shoulder. "Trust me, I think he'll listen. He's a part of you, and besides, if he's trying to help you, why wouldn't he listen to what you have to say?"

As I thought about what Scorch said, I felt him remove his arm from my shoulder. He then put his hands together in front of him before closing his eyes. At first nothing happened, but after a few moments I started to feel tremendous power emanating from him.

I watched in awe as a red aura began to form around his body, starting at the feet as it slowly made its way upwards. As it moved past his hands and reached his head, Scorch re-opened his eyes slowly. They now glowed a bright fiery red.

Turning to his left, Scorch moved his left hand in the same direction, extending his arm all the way out. I watched as the red aura began to concentrate around his arm before moving outwards in the direction it was pointed.

I stared as the aura began travelling through the air, unable to look away. Suddenly, the aura began to take shape as it formed a wide red oval. Once it was completely formed, I saw the red aura around Scorch start to fade.

"And there's your way to Avalar. I wish you luck," Scorch said as the red in his eyes began to fade.

I looked at him, shocked. "Wait, how did you do that?" I asked curiously, fascinated by the ability.

Scorch smiled. "Only those who are descendents of the Original can forge a portal."

My eyes widened as I remembered what John had said.

XXX FLASHBACK XXX

"I don't know, but I can definitely say, though, that it wasn't Malefor. Only those connected to the orig—" He cut off midsentence and looked at the ground.

XXX FLASHBACK OVER XXX

/So that's what he was saying,/ I thought. "Who's the Original?" I asked, never hearing of it before.

"That doesn't concern you right now. Your time with me is up; you need to get back to Avalar," urged Scorch, avoiding my question.

As I opened my mouth to protest, I was stopped by Scorch, who had nudged his head in the direction of the portal. "You'll have plenty of time to ask questions later. Right now, though, you have a job to do."

With a heavy sigh, I nodded in understanding before making my way over to the portal. Getting within reaching distance, I took a moment to study the physical appearance of it before looking into it directly. It was pitch black.

/I will have plenty of time to ask questions later, but who says that they are going to be answered later?/ I thought to myself as I jumped into the portal.

Jumping into the portal, I found myself floating in darkness. The only light I now had came from the portal, which now started to close. As it did, I found another red portal open up a few feet in front of where I was. As the portal drew closer, I found myself looking at an image which showed just a little bit of Avalar.

/Let's do this,/ I thought, reaching for the portal.

As the portal went past my arm, my skin began to change into dragon scales. This continued as the rest of my body got forced through, causing me to fall 3000 feet to the ground.

Freefalling, my gaze wandered to my hands, which were now out in front. My left hand started to morph until only white scales and claws remained. Looking behind, I found my backside finishing its transformation. As my wings surfaced, they shot out as if waiting to be freed after days of being tied down.

I looked back to my front. /Time to move./

Arching my back, I threw my wings forwards a few times to stop myself from falling. Once that had been accomplished, I hovered where I was so I could examine my new white-scaled body.

Instead of pitch-black scales I now had pure white scales, a golden underbelly, and golden highlights. Suddenly realizing that half my vision was gone, I brought up one of my paws to my right eye. I couldn't see anything out of it and the scar remained.

Bringing my paw down, I sighed heavily. "Really would've been nice to have full vision," I said, disappointed, as my gaze began to wander.

As my gaze wandered to the right, I began to grin at what lay in front of me. "Warfang. Krystal!" I told myself excitedly as I started to fly towards it without a second thought.

Soaring through the air, I couldn't help but recall my first time flying during flight practice. I started to laugh at how bad I had been compared to now.

/Have to admit, Scorch, I never thought you would teach me how to fly,/ I thought, feeling grateful towards his massive training.

As I neared Warfang and the dragon temple, I began to descend down to tree-level. In doing so, I found the dragon temple entrance only a short distance away. Gliding toward the temple walls, I veered towards the little forest that was just over the wall. Passing over it and into the forest, I immediately started to hug my wings against my body, allowing me to drop to the ground.

"You know I can't."

I looked in the direction of the voice. "Krystal!"

Smiling excitedly, I started running through the forest. Coming to the edge of it, I found Krystal talking to a green dragon. Not wanting to be seen by the two dragons, I hid behind a tree on my left and just peered from the side.

"So, you up for having lunch together again?" insisted the green dragon.

Krystal giggled. "I don't see why not."

/Again?/ I thought, my joy turning to sudden nervousness.

The green dragon leaped for joy. "All right!" His tone sounded triumphant.

Krystal giggled once more. "Before I go, though, I need to quickly do something. I'll meet you there."

For a brief moment, there was a look of disappointment on the green dragon's face. One could easily tell that he wanted to walk with Krystal, but even if he didn't, he was still grateful enough to have lunch with her.

Suddenly, Krystal turned in my direction. As she did, I pulled back behind the tree. I closed my eyes, hoping that she hadn't noticed me. After a moment, I slowly, ever so slowly, peered from behind the tree. The green dragon was gone, leaving Krystal, who was looking down at the ground with a sad expression. A moment later, she turned and headed into the building that was on her left.

Now flooded with emotions, I withdrew back into the little forest. Once I was out of sight, I began leaning against once of the many trees that surrounded me, my head filled with confusion and worry.

"Is it now too late to tell her?" I asked, wishing for an answer.

/I know you're in pain right now, but remember the main reason we're here. You need to stop Malefor,/ X reminded gravely.

Realizing he was right, I sighed before gazing up at the sky. "For once, I actually agree with you," I responded as I took flight from where I was, leaving the forest and flying high above the temple grounds.

Hitting the first layer of clouds, I repositioned myself so I could hover where I was. Looking down at the dragon temple, I began to wonder if anyone had actually hoped that I would come back. Realizing I was getting distracted, I shifted my gaze in the direction of Malefor's prison. "Well, here goes nothing."

XXX Mountainside XXX

Seeing the caved-in entrance to the mountain, I began to glide the rest of the way. Landing, I heard the rocks and pebbles beneath my paws clank against each other.

I started to gaze around the area as if looking for something out of place. Something didn't feel right. Cautiously, I walked over to the entrance of the mountain, which was now blocked off by rocks. Opening my mouth, I started to breath out a large beam of ice and saw as it covered the entire blockaded entrance. Building energy, once more I opened my mouth, but this time released a ball of shadow.

After the ball of shadow struck the icy wall, I heard a loud explosion. I felt a rush of air and dirt run past me and I began walking into the mountain. Sadly, though, as I began to walk inwards, I found my path blocked off again by more rocks.

I looked at the blocked passageway suspiciously. "That shadow blast should have cleared all of this away," I said, thinking that the main chamber was probably still hollow.

"Trent!"

My eyes widened as I started looking around. "John?! Is that you? Why can't I get in the chamber?"

"Yeah, it's me. Listen. You can't get inside the chamber because Malefor isn't there," John explained.

I looked at the ground, regretting what I was about to ask. "Okay… Then where is he?"

For a moment, I heard only silence. I braced myself, knowing that I wasn't going to like his next few words.

"He's on his way to the dragon temple. You need to hurry. Spyro and Cynder are going to need your help in order to stop him!" he answered.

Not even hesitating, I turned in Warfang's direction and started to fly as fast as I could.

XXX Chronicler's Lair XXX

John withdrew his arm, which he had been holding over the gigantic vision pool, and opened his left eye. Staring into the pool, he heard footsteps coming up from behind him.

"I take it that you've alerted Spyro of the Dark Master's arrival?" John asked, already knowing the answer to his question.

Walking up to John's side, Ignitus also began looking into the pool. "Even if Spyro isn't back to full strength, he deserves to know."

John smiled apologetically. "And perhaps you've remembered what I've forgotten."

Ignitus turned to his human friend. "And what would that be?"

John grinned graciously before turning and leaning against the edge of the pool. "That an injured soldier isn't a worthless soldier."

XXX Dragon Temple XXX

Watching as multiple dragons started exiting through the entrance of the dragon temple, Cynder sat where she was waiting. Then, as if by intuition, she looked up to see Spyro land next to her. Anxiously, she stood up and made her way over to him.

"Well?" Cynder asked the now jittery purple dragon.

Spyro looked around frantically. "I looked around; I believe we have everyone… Well, everyone but two," he answered, sadly dropping his gaze to the ground. It had been three weeks since they had last seen Reaper and Ghost. Ever since then, Spyro had felt guilty about not being able to bring them back.

Cynder rested a paw on the purple dragon's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll bring them back."

Hearing those words, Spyro felt hope start to rise within him.

"Spyro, have all the students been evacuated?" Terrador asked as he approached them.

Turning towards the earth guardian, Spyro nodded. "As far as I can tell, Terrador, everyone has. Flame already went on ahead with the group to try and calm everybody's nerves."

"And what of the rest of the inhabitants of Warfang? Cynder, did you manage to warn all the moles?" Terrador asked.

Just like Spyro, Cynder nodded. "Thanks to Ember's help, I was able to. All the moles are getting ready for imminent attack."

"And young Ember?"

Cynder turned to the entrance. "She went to go see if Flame joined the others and hasn't come back, so I'm guessing she's with him."

Terrador looked upwards towards the sun. "I want you two to join the others. Tell Cyril to bring them to the cheetah village and to explain what's happening. If we flew there it would be faster, but I do not want to risk having everyone get scattered on the chance of running into the Dark Master," he explained as he looked back at them.

Spyro stepped forward. "Terrador, we can help you fight!"

"No, Spyro! Right now, I need you to help the others. Believe me when I say that I have no doubt that you would be of great assistance in this fight, but we must prioritize at the moment and get the students to safety," reasoned Terrador.

Cynder, now curious, shifted her gaze to Spyro. "How long do we even have?"

Spyro shook his head in sorrow. "I'm sorry, but I don't know. All Ignitus told me was that the Dark Master was coming to seek revenge."

"It's alright, Spyro, we all wish we could have learned about Ignitus becoming Chronicler under different circumstances," Terrador responded sympathetically.

Mind still on the conversation he'd had with Ignitus, Spyro looked at the ground in thought. "Though, there was something else that he mentioned."

Cynder tilted her head, puzzled. "What did he say?"

Moving his gaze up to Cynder, Spyro hoped that she would be able to answer Ignitus's riddle.

"Ignitus said that we wouldn't be alone when fighting the Dark Master. He said an old friend is coming back to help us," he explained.

"Do you think he meant Hunter?" Cynder asked, presuming it was someone they'd met on their journey.

Spyro shrugged. "Could be. We haven't seen Hunter in a while."

Wanting to gain Spyro's attention, Terrador put a paw on the purple dragon's shoulder. "Spyro, you must hurry."

Giving a quick nod, Spyro motioned for Cynder to follow as he began heading for the temple entrance. Getting to the outside, the two dragons found that the others were stopped not too far away. In the middle of all the dragons was Cyril, who looked extremely worried.

Seeing that something was wrong, Spyro and Cynder quickly made their way over to Cyril and the others. Before they even reached him, though, Spyro felt himself freeze as he saw Cyril counting with one of his claws.

"Cyril, what's the matter?" Cynder asked.

"Archer; has anybody seen Archer?" questioned Cyril, beginning to fear he might have left the young earth dragon behind.

"Cyril!" Krystal yelled loudly.

Hearing her call, Cyril turned in her direction. Making her way to the guardian, Krystal squeezed passed multiple dragons before finally reaching him.

"Archer went out on a walk this morning, but he never came back," she explained, an expression of panic now on her face.

Hearing this, Cyril clenched his teeth. They didn't have time for this.

"Cyril, what are you still doing here?!" shouted Terrador as he made his way to the ice guardian.

Hearing Terrador's voice, Cyril shifted his gaze to the approaching earth guardian. "Archer is missing! He apparently hasn't been seen since this morning!"

Stopping dead in his tracks, Terrador's eyes went wide as they began scanning all the dragons in sight. After failing to find the earth dragon, Terrador sighed as he looked Cyril straight in the eye. "You need get to get moving."

Stunned by his words, Cyril looked at Terrador in question. "But…what about young Archer!?"

Terrador winced at Cyril's words. As much as he wanted to find Archer, he couldn't jeopardize the safety of the students. "We'll look for him later. For now, you need to get moving!"

As the two guardians debated, Cynder felt a cold shiver going down her spine.

"Cynder, are you alright?" Spyro asked, noticing her unease.

The black dragoness began looking around, unsure. "It feels like someone's watching us."

As her gaze fell upon the woods, Cynder felt herself freeze up. A black dragon started walking out from behind the trees.

Cynder merely looked at the dragon, wide-eyed, not knowing what to make of his sudden appearance. "Ghost," she announced in a low, grave tone.

Hearing the dragon's name, Spyro followed her gaze. Unlike Cynder, he knew that Ghost's appearance was not a good thing.

"HEY!" Ghost shouted, excitement in his tone.

Upon hearing his voice, the ice and earth guardians turned in Ghost's direction, along with every other dragon around them.

"Young one..." Terrador questioned, thrown off by his appearance.

As Ghost began walking up to the group of dragons, a knot began to form in Spyro's stomach. He knew what was coming.

"Where do you think you're going?" shouted Ghost, a noticeable wicked grin emerging on his face.

Cyril looked at the black dragon uneasily. "Away from the temple for a bit."

Ghost laughed. "You can't leave. Not until you've met my father!" Ghost objected, now standing in place a good twenty feet from the group.

Nudging students to move, Terrador took a step backwards. "Maybe later, young one," Terrador answered, knowing full well who Ghost's father was.

"Wrong, earth guardian! It'll be now, because he's here!" Ghost shouted.

Dark laughter filled the air, sending chills down everyone's spine.

Spyro, as well as everybody else, looked into the sky to find an adult purple dragon coming from the clouds before landing on the ground next to Ghost.

"Malefor…" said Spyro, readying himself in anticipation.

Malefor watched as the multiple dragons in front of him started to back up behind the adult dragons—all but a black and purple dragon that were in front.

"Well, isn't this a treat, meeting you two so soon," Malefor stated with a grin.

Hearing the excitement in his tone, Cynder felt a cold chill going down her spine. It unnerved her that the Dark Master was excited to see them.

Lowering his head, Spyro looked at Malefor uneasily. "Too bad I can't say the same."

Malefor stepped forwards. "Well, fortunately for you, you won't have to worry about that much longer. For even without the Destroyer, I'll be sure to cleanse the world of dragons for good!"

"Don't forget, father, I want servants," interrupted Ghost, taking a step forwards.

Malefor's grin vanished. "And since when did I care?"

Turning to face his father in response, Ghost found himself getting a face full of tail. He was sent flying backwards into a tree, hitting it with a hard thud before falling face-first onto the ground. Pain now surging through his body, he struggled to get up. Using his front paws to try and lift up half of his body, he felt his muscles give up, causing him to fall back down to the ground.

Turning in the direction of the son he'd just injured, Malefor looked at him coldly.

"What was that about?!" Ghost angrily shouted in pain.

"You forget, I don't take orders. I give them," Malefor answered.

Ghost gritted his teeth as he slowly began to stand and limp to his father. "We had a deal!"

Now turning his body around, Malefor's eyes began to glow red. "And this is what I think of your so-called deal."

Everyone watched as Ghost shut his eyes and collapsed to the ground, holding his head as he screamed in tremendous agony. Then, ever so slowly, he brought his paws back to the ground and opened his eyes, which were now severely bloodshot. Rolling onto his stomach, he summoned all that he had left and pushed off the ground, ignoring the mass pain that was travelling through his body.

Tears began to roll down his face as he began to walk forward, teetering with every step he took. "This is how you repay me?! After everything I've done for you, did you forget that I'm your son?!"

Malefor continued to look at Ghost, unfazed by his words. "Should that mean something to me?"

Hearing those words, Ghost went wide-eyed as more tears began to fall down his scales. He'd dedicated his whole life to pleasing a father who had never cared for him. Feeling betrayed, he found himself in more emotional pain that physical wounds now would be nothing.

Ghost lowered his head. "No. Not anymore!" he shouted, raising his head, a dark ball of energy forming in his mouth.

/But maybe this will!/ Ghost thought before lowering his head, firing the ball of energy.

Not even attempting to move, Malefor let the attack hit, which created a dark cloud on impact.

Ghost, who was now panting, stared at the dark cloud as he fell back on his hind legs. As the smoke began to clear, Ghost felt himself freeze. Not even scratched, the Dark Master was forming his own dark ball of energy.

"I hate pests," Malefor remarked as he fired the dark energy at the black dragon.

Having no energy or even desire to avoid the attack, Ghost sat where he was and merely closed his eyes. At this point, he could have cared less if he died.

The blast hit the ground with a loud explosion, leaving only a dust cloud behind.

"Malefor, I must say, this is a new low even for you!"

Hovering high in the sky above the dust cloud was Volteer, and held within his paws was Ghost.

"Volteer!" Spyro cried in joy.

Volteer looked at the Dark Master, disappointed. "To even consider killing your own son, are you really that heartless?"

Malefor snorted as he shifted his gaze around back to the group of dragons. "I will not have anyone get in my way. Besides, he served his purpose."

"Volteer!" shouted Terrador. "Go and get Ghost out of here! He needs medical attention!"

Doing as instructed, Volteer began flying back into Warfang so that he could tend to Ghost's injuries.

"Don't worry, earth guardian, you and the others will be joining him soon enough in the afterlife!" Malefor stated as he fired a beam of dark energy from his mouth.

Not wasting any time, Terrador reacted quickly. Slamming both of his front paws down on the ground, he watched as a gigantic earth wall surfaced from the ground a few feet from where he stood.

Seizing the opportunity to move, Spyro and Cynder quickly flew upwards as the beam made contact with the wall, causing a loud explosion to occur, destroying the wall and leaving debris behind.

Using the newly-made smoke to their advantage, Spyro and Cynder began to fly through it, utilizing it as a method of cover for a counterattack. Hindered by the inability to see, Spyro found his plan backfire as a purple claw cut through the smoke and grabbed onto his body, forcing him back in the direction that he'd come.

Letting his instincts take over, Spyro shot a stream of fire in front of him, which began dispersing the smoke surrounding him, revealing the Dark Master. Blinded by the light of the fire, the Dark Master released his grip on Spyro as he tried to regain his vision, which now started to give off multiple colors.

Catching a glimpse of the Dark Master through Spyro's attack, Cynder took full advantage of his vulnerable state and fired a barrage of poison bombs.

Malefor roared, feeling his scales slowly melt away as a result of the poison. "You insolent hatchlings!"

Turning in all directions, Malefor looked for the two dragons but instead only found elements. Out of anger, he began breathing a stream of fire around him, but found that his efforts were in vain as he was hit by another beam of ice from behind, followed by a blast of shadow from up above.

Tired of getting bested by what he considered two hatchlings, Malefor curled himself up into a ball, building energy, continuing to feel the onslaught of the elements that were being fired at him.

"Enough!" Malefor shouted.

Uncurling himself, Malefor released a dark energy which blew away all of the dust while, at the same time, sending Spyro and Cynder hurtling towards the ground. Terrador, who had been right underneath, felt as the dark energy forced him backwards, bruising his scales in the process.

Smoke now gone, everyone looked on in horror as Spyro and Cynder lay in the dirt, badly bruised and injured. Terrador started to breath heavily, feeling as if the air had just been ripped from his lungs.

Opening his eyes, Spyro looked up to see Malefor, who was now angered beyond belief. Looking over to his side, he spotted Cynder slowly getting up, refusing to lose this battle. Following her lead, the purple dragon forced himself to stand, ignoring the pain that began surging through his body.

The Dark Master looked at the two, infuriated by their stubborn will. "Why won't you die!?"

Both Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, then turned to the Dark Master.

"Because we refuse to let you win!" answered Spyro, never having been more serious in his life.

Malefor roared in anger. "When will you learn! I cannot be defeated, for I am eternal!"

"Heard that before!"

Hearing a new voice, Malefor looked up into the sky, finding a blast of shadow rip through the clouds, coming in his direction. Knowing that there wouldn't be time to avoid the blast, the Dark Master quickly threw his wings out in front as the blast hit, causing a loud explosion. Feeling the shockwave, Spyro and Cynder turned away until it was over. Facing forwards again, Spyro looked at the smoke, wondering who the shot had come from. Looking up at the sky, Spyro remembered what Ignitus had told him: that an old friend would be back.

XXX

Coming out from the clouds, I looked down below to find that my attack had made contact with the Dark Master. There was smoke everywhere. I descended, quickly dropping out of the sky and landing in front of Spyro and Cynder.

"And for the record, eternal doesn't mean invincible!" I called into the smoke before slightly turning around. Without even looking at their faces, I could tell everyone was staring at me. Not that I blamed them, though. I'd literally just showed up out of nowhere.

"Spyro, Cynder, are you still able to fight?" I asked.

"Y-yeah, but who...?"

"Who are you?" Spyro asked, finishing Cynder's question.

I smiled. Judging by their tone, I knew that they both recognized my voice; it was the scale color, though, that threw them off. Wanting to answer their question, I turned around, facing them and the rest of the dragons that were behind them. "Think of it this way. I used to have black scales instead of white and lighting blue plates."

"Haze?" Cynder asked, wanting confirmation. I nodded at her in response.

"Well now, I never thought I'd be fighting you."

Looking back to the smoke, I found Malefor begin to surface from it.

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual," I replied. Granted, I'd known I was going to face the Dark Master for a while now, but before then…not so much.

Malefor laughed. "It makes no difference, though, even with your help I will still reign supreme!" he said confidently, releasing a stream of fire from his mouth.

Without even thinking, I quickly opened my mouth in response, releasing a large breath of ice, not without realizing immediate fault, though.

/Alright, I admit, ice against fire… Not my best move, though I'll admit a part of me wanted to show it off,/ I thought as I saw the two elements clash, creating gigantic elemental walls on each side.

As time went on, I started to notice that the ice was melting faster than I could produce it. Backing up, I began to feel nervous. At least half a minute had gone by already… and I was only used to the duration of one minute. Soon my energy would give, and Malefor's fire would break through.

Feeling my energy completely drained for that element, I watched as the ice wall melted. To my immediate surprise, though, I didn't find a large amount of fire being thrown into my face. Instead, all I found was Malefor panting, he too apparently exhausting his element.

/Note to self… Thank Scorch for his life-threatening training,/ I thought, realizing that if it wasn't for his duration training…then I would have been fried right now.

Malefor laughed quietly.

I tilted my head slightly in confusion. "What's so funny?" I asked, unnerved by his laughter.

Malefor looked at me with a wicked grin. "You're the first dragon I've met that can hold his own by himself against me."

"Your point?" I asked, unsure what he was getting at.

Malefor now looked at me with a look of possession. "I can tell that you've been through some massive training. To be able to hold your own against me is something not many dragons can do. To have a servant a powerful as you would be a great start in building a new army."

Suddenly a dark cloud began to surround Malefor. "But before that, let's see how your friends feel about fighting you!" shouted the Dark Master as he threw the dark energy in my direction.

Eyes wide, I felt myself unable to move as the dark cloud approached me, and even if I could move, it would have been pointless. The dark cloud would hit me before I could even make an attempt to evade it.

Staring at the cloud, I watched as its speed suddenly became slower. As it did, everything around me started to get brighter and brighter, to the point where I had to close my eyes.

XXX

"Trent."

/That voice…/ Opening my eyes, I found myself in the same spot where I had defeated the corruption. Looking up, I found X standing a few feet away from me.

"Why am I here?" I asked sternly.

X looked at me gravely. "Let me take on the Dark Master's attack," he replied without hesitation.

Stunned by his request, I stared at him in confusion. "Wait, why would you want to do that?"

"Because, as strong-willed as you are, there is still a chance that you will be corrupted by his power," X said, honesty present in his tone.

I looked at him in disbelief. "And what, you won't? For all I know, once you take control you could be corrupted and go on a rampage!"

X stepped forwards. "Maybe, but if something does go wrong, I can take your hatred. If you get corrupted and do something bad, would you be able to live with that?"

Opening my mouth to protest, I found that no words were able to come out. I sighed, knowing he had a point. If he did take over, though, I had to know one thing first.

"If I give you control, you must swear not to fatally injure anyone," I demanded.

X nodded. "You have my word."

XXX

Spyro and Cynder watched along with everybody else as the dark cloud came in contact with Haze. As it engulfed him, they watched as Haze's body went limp in the dark matter, only to, moments later, start cringing in what looked like terrible pain.

"HAZE!" Spyro shouted, trying to move up to the engulfed dragon but collapsing after the first step.

"Haze, you need to fight it, don't give in!" Cynder pleaded as she saw the dark cloud around Haze disappear.

The white dragon dropped to the ground, falling on his side. Opening his eyes, he began to feel a surge of dark energy flowing through. Slowly getting up, he put on a smirk.

"So, I guess a human's will isn't so strong after all," Malefor said, pleased, knowing that his plan had worked. Standing up, Haze looked to the rest of the dragons behind him, who all looked at him now in fear.

Picking himself up, Spyro looked at Haze in disbelief. "Haze, please don't give in. Fight it!" he begged.

Haze looked over at Spyro and smirked before turning around and walking over to Malefor's side.

"I'm sorry to say, Spyro, but there is nothing to resist," Haze said, reaching Malefor's side before turning around, facing everyone. "I've just been given more power."

Spyro and Cynder went wide-eyed now as they looked at Haze. His pupils were now a blood-red color instead of brown.

The Dark Master laughed. "You know, this is even better! Haze, your first order is to go and kill your former friends!"

Moving forwards, Haze walked until he was directly in front of the Dark Master. "I could do that. Or..." Haze turned his gaze on Malefor. "I could do this!"

Opening his mouth, Haze let loose a blast of electricity, catching Malefor off guard and shocking him.

Malefor roared in pain, swinging his tail. Seeing the Dark Master's attempt to counter, Haze ended his attack and flew backwards before the tail could make contact.

Malefor, who was now smoking because of the electricity, gave Haze a death glare. "Haze, you will pay dearly for that!"

Haze merely laughed. "For the record, I was never influenced by your power, just strengthened by it. Also, I don't know if you've noticed but Haze has brown eyes. Mine are red."

Cynder now looked at the white dragon curiously. "X?"

Turning around, the white dragon gazed at Cynder and nodded before looking back at Malefor.

"I've done my part. I leave the rest to you, Trent," X said before closing his eyes.

XXX

Opening my eyes, I found in front of me a smoking and angry Malefor.

"Looks like he did a number on you," I remarked.

"You wretched insect…" Malefor snarled. "I will you tear you apart! I'll make sure you regret ever coming back!" the Dark Master growled, unleashing a huge breath of shadow in the process.

Going on muscle memory, I quickly countered, breathing out a huge stream of fire to blockade the Dark Master's shadow element. Watching the two elements collide, I realized that I was never going to be able to push through Malefor's attack. Any head-on attack would surely be pointless. I needed a new tactic.

/Wait a minute… Back then.../

XXX Flashback XXX

Cynder looked at Haze, scared. "Reaper, what have you done...?"

As seconds went by, the shadow around Haze grew taller and more intense. It burned like a fire towards the sky.

XXX Flashback Over XXX

/If I could recreate that…but just produce the flames on Malefor using his own shadow…/

Fire element now drained, I looked to see both elements begin to subside. The Dark Master gritted his teeth. "You have to run out of elements sooner or later, boy," he pointed out.

Lifting my paw, I covered my left eye while at the same time widening my right one. Even though I couldn't really see out of it, I managed to make out an extremely blurry figure in front. I focused all my concentration on the shadow that was underneath Malefor.

"SHADOW SIGHT!"

I watched as dark swivels started to rise in front of the blurry figure.

"Raah! What is the meaning this?!" Malefor cried out, pained by the burning shadows. Though, he wasn't the only one in pain.

The more I stared, the more pain I felt coming from my right eye; the more liquid I felt. I watched as the blurry figure started thrashing about, attempting to put out the flames to no avail. Then the figure started moving towards me very slowly, teetering with every step.

"Haze, if it's the last thing I do, I will get you for this!" the figure promised, collapsing to the ground.

Seeing him on the ground, I immediately closed my right eye, which was now in tremendous pain. Putting my paw down, I opened my other eye to see a charred Dark Master lying on the ground unconscious. Feeling liquid falling onto my right paw, I looked to find blood splattered on it. Breathing heavily, I bore a grin of relief before letting myself tip and fall on my side. I wanted to relax.

"Haze!" I heard Cynder and Spyro shout as they ran over to me.

"You okay?" Spyro asked, concerned.

Not wanting to lift my head, I gave a reply. "Yeah, fine. I really need a damn vacation."

Cynder giggled. "After what you did, you probably deserve a break."

"Haze!"

I lifted my head, finding the guardians, Flame, Ember and Krystal running towards me.

Alright I didn't have to end it here but I wanted to give a bit of an easy start to the next and final chapter of Mergence (expect a lot of bold next chapter). Also I want to mention that this is the longest chapter I've ever written, 8000+ words, and 20 pages long.

Now a few things before I go:

1 – Thank you Riverstyxx for beta(ing)!

2 – I'd like to thank Avimus for the Mergence cover (think I was supposed to say that last chapter but forgot XP)

3 – For anyone wondering when the next chapter will be out you can check my profile (updated frequently)

4 – Please Review!