Chapter 7

Cynder was preparing for the mission after leaving Spyro to prepare himself. Fear kept bubbling towards the surface of her chest whenever she thought of potentially seeing her former enslaver again. Sure, she told Spyro he wasn't facing him alone and she meant it. It didn't placate her feelings though.

'If he really is back… Will we really be enough?'

The dragoness shook that thought from her head. Doubting herself and Spyro will only get them killed. If they were to stand a chance they needed to be clear headed. But then again, this may not even be Malefor. It could just be an abnormally large amount of dark crystals. If that was the case this would merely be a case of breaking a bunch of crystals whilst attempting to not collapse from exhaustion. Dangerous, though compared to him it's a gentle caress.

Around twenty minutes later and Cynder was standing outside the temple awaiting her purple partner to arrive so they could set off, fully armoured. The silver helmet hid the brunt of her head and wrapped around where the back of her head and her neck joined to hold it in place. Cynder's neck had a thin yet strong piece of silver armour which adjusted to her neck positioning as she moved. The outside of her legs were coated in silver metal as was her claws. Each claw was painted with a silver plating. The dragonesses' back was also coated in a thin silver armour which slightly curved under her belly but dodged her leg joints and followed down to her tail which was in a similar piece of armour as to her neck. Her wings however were not plated so she would be able to fly.

She was currently taking deep breaths to try and calm herself, uncaring of the cold and confused stares she was receiving from the townspeople that were walking by. She stopped quickly though as Spyro came out in his armour, which -If she had any say of it- made him look quite dashing. While Cynder's armour was made for speed and manoeuvrability, Spyro's was made to tank hits easily. Thick gold armour coated the purple dragon from head to claw. The helmet covered his entire face but still revealed his mouth and eyes. His back was plated with golden metal which definitely looked like it could take a few lethal blows. Spyro's claws were coated with sharpened gold that certainly looked nasty. The purple dragon looked ready for war.

"So, how dumb do I look?"

Snapping out of light daze, she responded, "You don't look dumb. You look like you're ready for war."

Spyro's face soured. "Hopefully for the last time. Seen it too much already."

"If only"

Silence made itself welcome between the two.

After a few seconds Spyro spoke up. "Shall we go face it then?"

Cynder shuddered visibly. "Yeah, lets… go face him. Again"

Spyro nodded lightly, and took off; Cynder close behind, as they left to complete their latest mission. Although they were second guessing whether they'd return again or not.

Two Hours Later

The duo had been flying for what seemed to be centuries. The energy spike had come from a canyon that they were coming up to quite rapidly. Both dragons had been mentally preparing themselves for what could come to pass. They were almost prepared for anything to happen. Almost.

Cynder called out to Spyro, "Hey! I think we should land, maybe sneak up on him or not get blasted out of the sky."

Spyro responded by diving down to the ground at the edge of the canyon, stopping and waiting Cynder to land as well.

"Spyro… If either of us-", Cynder started, only to be interrupted by Spyro.

"Don't say that. Don't you dare even insinuate that Cynder!" Spyro said, heated. "Neither of us are dying."

Cynder shut her mouth. She couldn't find any words to say after that declaration and, even if she could, Cynder doubted Spyro would let her say it.

'Optimistic idiot', she thought.

"Cynder. There."

Cynder turned to look at where Spyro was looking. There seemed to be a strange swirl, just floating in the air in the centre of the canyon. There was also some familiar looking runes floating around at the base of the swirl.

"Spyro, aren't those the same kind of symbols that summoned those spectres down in the centre of the world?"

Spyro turned to her and nodded slowly. "This is either really good or really, REALLY bad."

Cynder turned to Spyro confused. "Why is that?"

"There are two explanations for this. A- this is a portal made by the Ancestors since the runes are the same as the ones that caught Malefor and we can expect them to have our backs again." Cynder nodded at this. It made sense and was probably the actual explanation. Then Spyro continued. "B-… This is Malefor's magic or some other version of black magic. This is bad because it means we never caught him in the first place and he's been preparing for this for a while."

As surprising as it may seem, Spyro had grown to gain an analytical and logical mindset. He was able to think through every situation and see different outcomes. This fact continually surprised-and annoyed- Cyril during his lessons on history whenever he starts preaching on his ice ancestors or draconic superiority. However Cynder's mind was focusing on something else.

The very thought of Malefor preparing for war again made shivers go down Cynder's spine. When Malefor first got out during the eternal night it only took him a few years to nearly win the war. To think there is a chance he has raised himself an army again… 'We'd never survive'

"However the second option isn't likely. The portal that opened beneath Malefor showed Convexity. There's no chance he would willingly go back there and less chance he'd be able to get out. That and Malefor would never hide, he'd have wiped us out by now."

That statement calmed Cynder down immensely. However she was still terrified of the chance of a stronger Malefor with an army at his back. Also something was itching the back of her mind yet she couldn't make out what it was. Like they were missing something very obvious but incredibly dangerous. Then she realised

'Where's Malefor?

The young dragons glided down to the canyon floor towards the strange swirl. As they got closer they could make out an image in the centre of the swirl, a bleak cave with nothing clear inside it.

"What is the point of this thing?", Cynder thought aloud. "It's not radiating any dark magic it doesn't even feel unpleasant or good. It's just pure magic."

Almost as if the universe heard her question, the swirl started to stretch out and glow brightly, causing both dragons to turn away or be blinded by the large amount of light.

After the light faded again, the duo turned to see a sight that rooted them to the spot in fear and confusion. In front of them stood a tall yet slightly thinner and not nearly as imposing Malefor. His scales had chain marks burnt into them and his claws had a burn mark reaching all the way around the joint. His neck had a similar mark winding around it as well. It was almost as if he was chained in fire until fairly recently. Malefor showered the two heroes with a smouldering glare that promised a mix of fire, brimstone and vengeance in the form of slow agonising deaths.

"Okay, Cynder can you save your questions until we have left the vicinity next time", Spyro quipped after he recovered from his shock.

Malefor then began to speak, his voice haggard yet powerful still. "I was hoping for more time before I came to slaughter you but this is a rather… Pleasant turn of events. Now I can rip. You. To. Shreds." The last words were slowly growled out by the powerful dragon before he charged the two for the rematch of the century.

A/N So, cliffie. Yeah I may not be so good at battle scenes so it could take a bit for me to write that. I've probably already started since I'm on holiday and have nothing better to do in my room. Well there is the chapter. Sorry it took so long but I really found it difficult in how I should bring Malefor back but whatevs. R+R.