Welcome one and all to September! Spyro is back with a new chapter. Yay!
Now before we begin I have a couple of announcements. First, I am working on a new project that I am super excited for, and I am five chapters in already. I hope that next month I can post the first chapter of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Dreamstone. If you are a fan, I hope next month to post a chapter of that instead of this. I will try and alternate stories to not only give me more time between chapters, but to also give everyone more content.
Anyways, lets chapter. Hobey-ho lets go!
Later that evening Spyro and Cynder went down to the library together. The way that Cynder put it, "If this is the last night in the city, we should do all of the research we can while we have access to such a great library." Spyro wasn't so thrilled about hitting the books, but he wanted to spend time with Cynder, so he went anyway.
Sparx thankfully left without prompting, claiming that he had a job to get to. Spyro didn't buy it, but he was leaving so he didn't argue. Despite his apology both dragons were still extremely wary of the dragonfly. He was still supposedly part of the secret plan after all.
As Spyro had suspected Cynder already knew her way around the temple. It took just a few moments for Cynder to lead Spyro directly to the library. The purple dragon was a bit jealous of her sense of direction, although he knew he only had himself to blame. Sparx had always had an almost magical sense of direction, and so Spyro just let him lead him wherever. Now, Spyro thought, at least I have Cynder to show me where to go.
Melody was still working when they arrived at the library. She was again pouring over a thick book with her silver spectacles perched on the end of her nose. Cynder swiftly reached over the desk and grabbed two of the orange gems. Melody barely looked up, and when she saw it was Cynder she just waved her hand and went back to her book. Spyro was certain that she hadn't even seen him.
Cynder quickly explained how the orange crystals worked, and warned him that it was always a good idea to hold onto a book even if he wasn't going to read it. "Trust me the buzzing will make you crazy if you don't have a book," Cynder said.
There wasn't much that Cynder wanted to research. She wanted to know about the shadow element, draconian genetics, and a bit about psychology and sociology. Spyro saw the first heavy tome that Cynder had summoned and immediately moved away to find his own book.
He only really had one thing that he wanted to know, and he wasn't sure that even is this truly colossal library he could find it in a book. He felt extremely silly, but Spyro closed his eyes and called for the book he wanted. All I want is a book with information about my family, about Ignitus and Amperia.
Spyro waited for a moment, but he didn't hear the rush of a book or feel one bat him in the head after being summoned. He sighed in resignation before a book on the shelf next to him finally managed to pull itself from between the two big volumes it was wedged between and smacked him in the side of the head.
Spyro rubbed the side of his head as he snatched the book out of the air. He had to resist the temptation to tear through it as quickly as possible. Instead he carefully skimmed every page. The first half was terribly boring, and Spyro didn't really care what it said, but his interest increased when he came across a page that simply read "The Guardian's Genealogy". Spyro's hand shook as he turned the pages quickly. Each page was covered in a separate, beautifully illustrated family tree. At the top was a guardian long past, and the book traced their families up until the current generation. Spyro was fascinated, but he didn't want to waste any more time. He flipped quickly to the back of the book.
Volteer was the last tree in the book, which made sense as he was the most recent guardian. Next was Cyril, and then Terrador. Spyro hesitated on Terrador's page before finally finding Ignitus' page. There he was, at the very top of the page. The artist had captured the old Fire drake perfectly, and Spyro smiled at seeing his old mentor and father in his book. He didn't dwell on the image of Ignitus however, as the book had much more important information that he wanted.
Ignitus' name was connected with two lines of gold to Amperia. Spyro felt a tug in his gut as he saw his mother for the first time in his life. She was obviously an electric dragon. She had vivid yellow scales coating her entire body. The spikes along her spine were bright electric blue, and she had stunning blue eyes. The painting showed her laughing, and Spyro felt a longing in his chest to find her and meet her. He wanted to know his mom.
Another golden line dropped down from Ignitus and Amperia that split into three. The first fork led to a perfect portrait of Spyro. He was shocked to see himself, and although he hadn't doubted Ignitus, it was nice to see proof that Ignitus was his father. Spyro smiled at the portrait of himself. He hadn't seen his reflection recently, and so he felt that the picture made him look older and more regal than he actually was.
Spyro followed the other two golden lines. The first ended with a red egg that was covered in gold swirls, while the other showed a yellow and blue egg. The red egg was extremely vivid, and Spyro assumed that that was the egg that Ignitus had dropped in the forest. The yellow egg had faded, and now only looked like a watermark on the page. Spyro shivered as he realized that he had once had siblings, dragon siblings.
Spyro looked up from the book to clear his mind. The first thing he saw was Cynder lying on the ground curled up with a book leaning against her tail. She squinted as she read the tiny print, and she unconsciously mouthed the words as she read. Spyro turned to the Terrador page and set the book on the ground.
"Cynder," he said softly, they were in a library after all, "come and check this out."
Cynder looked up from her book blearily. She didn't like getting interrupted, especially when she was reading, but Spyro did sound really excited. "What is it?" She asked.
"Just look," Spyro said excitedly pushing the book to her. Cynder reluctantly put down her own book and pulled Spyro's book over to her. Spyro lay down next to her so that he could look too.
Cynder didn't know what Spyro had found, but when she saw the painted Terrador on the page she forced herself to take a quick breath. Spyro smiled as Cynder realized what this book could show her.
Cynder moved her claw across the page, tracing the thick golden lines that connected Terrador with his mate. She read the name, Gaea. Cynder's heart pounded as she anticipated the first time she would see her mother. Cynder looked up at her picture and gasped aloud. Spyro peered over her shoulder at the page and instantly understood her surprise. Gaea looked exactly like Cynder's cursed form. The crown-like horns, the long, curving neck... it was all the same except that Gaea's scales were a beautiful emerald color.
It took Cynder a while to tear her eyes away from the beautiful portrait of her mother. Eventually she followed a golden line down to where it split... ten ways. Cynder's stomach fell out. It hadn't ever occurred to her that she might have had siblings. Now she knew that at one point she had had nine brothers and sisters. Terrador had told her that one had survived, but it still hurt.
Two of the golden lines were thicker and bolder than the others. Cynder traced the first with a claw until her talon rested on a perfect portrait of her face. Terrador had been telling the truth, and Cynder felt a burst of pride for being his daughter. Spyro regarded the image and decided that it made Cynder look older than she was, but it seemed to suit her.
Cynder quickly left behind her picture and carefully traced the second line to where she knew she would find her sister. She didn't. Oh sure, "Summer" was written in a flowing golden script, but there was no painting of Cynder's sister.
"What?" Cynder snapped angrily. "Where is her picture? What does my sister look like? Is she dead? Why is her name here without a picture?" Cynder voice rose higher and higher as her anger and anxiety grew. Spyro moved to calm her down, but before he could thick grey sheets of wind exploded from Cynder's form knocking him over and flinging him into a bookshelf. Books were torn from shelves and the unlucky ones were torn in half. The Genealogy book was hurled through the air. It landed directly on the front desk starting Melody from her book.
Spyro stood up from where he had been blown by Cynder. He shook himself off and then ran to the black dragoness. "Cynder, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Cynder just stood there panting. She stared straight ahead, but she didn't really see anything. All of her attention was focused inward where dark thoughts were racing through her head.
She didn't get much time to think though, because a few moments later, Melody found them. "I want you out! Out of my library!" The little mole was standing up as tall as she could. She still only came up to Cynder's chest, but both dragons couldn't help but feel intimidated.
"Sorry ma'am," Spyro intervened trying to diffuse the situation, "we just lost control for a moment. We are so sorry." But the librarian was having none of it.
"Get out!" She shouted admittedly making more noise than Cynder had. "Get out, and believe me I will be talking to the guardians about what happened here!"
Spyro didn't need to be told twice. He quickly lifted the crystal amulet over his head and bolted for the door. Cynder, however, was harder to scare.
"Melody I'm sorry. I lost control of my emotions for a moment. But perhaps you can help me." Melody opened her mouth to tell Cynder to leave, but then she closed it again. It was her job to help people in the library.
Melody sighed as she let her morality and curiosity get the better of her. "What do you want?"
Cynder retrieved the book, and turned to her family tree. She pointed to Summer's name. "Why isn't my sister's picture in this book? Is she..?"
The librarian looked at the book, and then at Cynder. Then she burst out laughing. "Oh, Cynder, were you actually worried? Is this what caused this mess? I helped update this book you know, seventeen years ago. Summer isn't in the book, because nobody around here has ever seen her. We've briefly seen you and Spyro, at least long enough to paint your portraits, but as for Summer... well all we have to go on is that Terrador claims to have a daughter named Summer. I'm sure she's fine. She's probably with Gaea somewhere."
Cynder visibly relaxed as Melody explained. "Thank you," she said happily, "I've lost too many people who are important to me. Now I thought I'd lost someone who I'd never even met."
The mole smiled. "I'm glad I could help sweetie, but please... get out of my library."
Cynder handed Melody her amulet and then ran to find Spyro. It was nearly time for dinner, and then after that (gulp) time for bed. Cynder wanted to believe that she had just overreacted when she had heard the two moles planning, but something told her to brace herself for what was coming.
•••
After a late dinner the two dragons returned to their room for the night. Night had fully set in, and Cynder wanted nothing more than to sit on the balcony and count the billions of stars that she could see on this cloudless night. Her eyes immediately drifted to the new dragon constellation
Both Spyro and Cynder had been taught how to navigate by the stars, but during their second night after saving the world they had both been extremely curious when the stars to the north didn't quite match up to what they remembered. Spyro was the first to recognize what the stars now depicted, which sparked the debate as to who it was supposed to be. Frankly they didn't want to know who it was.
Cynder was snapped from her thoughts as Spyro threw open the window. "Are you ready?" Spyro asked.
"Of course. This is just a precaution after all." Cynder prepared to leap out the window, but then she stopped. "I guess you will have to lead. Where is the room you chose?"
"On the other side of the temple. Just follow me." And with that he leapt from the window, unfurling his great orange wings as he went. Cynder followed a moment later, but not before she closed the window behind her with a flick of her tail. Hopefully this way whoever was after them would have no idea where they had gone.
It was a short flight to their hiding place, and Cynder was grateful for that. Warfang existed in a very mild climate, and for most of the year it stayed relatively warm, but summer was almost over and at night temperatures became a little too cold to be comfortable.
Spyro quietly shut the window as soon as Cynder flew through it. Anticipation boiled in his stomach. Now it was just a waiting game. Something was going to happen, or they were going to feel embarrassed the next morning.
Given the circumstances it was hard for either dragon to fall asleep that night. They were definitely comfortable, but their minds were just too busy to let them fall asleep. It had been a long day, and given everything that had happened and everything that they had learned it was no wonder that they were still awake at midnight.
Cynder gave up on falling asleep. She rolled over underneath Spyro's wing so that she was facing him. Their snouts were inches away from each other, and they gazed into each other's eyes.
"Well hi there," Spyro whispered which set Cynder to laughing, however she made sure to keep her voice down.
"Hi to you too." She whispered back, and then she kissed the tip of his nose. Spyro smiled, and kissed her back, but on the lips. Cynder purred quietly and snuggled closer to Spyro, wrapping all four of her legs around him. He pulled his wings tighter around her as he kissed her again, but unlike before he didn't pull away. They continued to kiss, each of them sinking deeper and deeper into it as they pulled themselves closer together.
Cynder eventually pulled away for air. "This is much better than trying to sleep," she commented. She would have said more, but Spyro began massaging her neck and shoulders. All she managed to get out was a deep purr and half a moan before Spyro recaptured the kiss.
Her purrs and moans became more frequent as he massaged down her back to where her wings met her shoulders. Every once in awhile her wings would jerk open involuntarily as he rubbed an especially sensitive spot. What he wasn't expecting was for her to return the favor.
Spyro jumped in surprise as Cynder back legs sprang into action rubbing and scratching at his lower back. He couldn't help but let out a strangled groan. "Shhh," Cynder admonished playfully as she pressed harder into his back.
They were both in heaven. The rest of the world could have shattered again for all they cared. Their entire world was just the two of them and the connection they felt. They probably could have fallen asleep like that but just as they lay back down with their foreheads pressed together they heard a loud bang echo down the corridor.
Both dragons froze as they listened carefully. They heard soft footsteps and hushed voices. "Clear," a voice called quietly but Spyro and Cynder heard perfectly.
The adolescent dragons rose from the bed, and quietly made their way to the window. All they had to do was leave the room and come back once whoever it was went away. Spyro was just about to open the window when they both heard another sound. One from outside. Crash. It was the sound of breaking glass.
"What do we do?" Cynder hissed as quietly as she could. They thought that whoever was after them might search the rooms, but they hadn't expected them to come in from outside either.
"I don't... wait how did you do that invisibility thing earlier?" Cynder couldn't quite see Spyro's expression in the slight amount of light that came in through the window, but she sensed that he had a plan.
"I don't know. I started off using my shadows to hide, but when I was about to be discovered I felt this warm feeling and suddenly I was invisible." Crash! Bang! Whoever was coming had moved a room closer. "I think I used my light powers, but I don't know how to control them yet."
"What were you thinking when you were about to be discovered? Perhaps you found the emotional trigger for light without realizing it." Cynder realized with a jolt that Spyro had never actually used his light powers before.
"Umm, well I was afraid, and of course I made myself feel isolated so that shadow would work." Crash! Bang! Cynder was feeling desperate now. It truly was now or never. "I thought of you. Just before I was discovered I thought of you, and then I felt that warm feeling."
Spyro kissed Cynder happily, "Okay so apparently thoughts of me are the trigger. How do you turn yourself invisible?"
"Simple. Just channel the element to your scales and coat them with it." Both dragons relaxed. This was the easy part.
Crash! Bang! The noise was extremely loud. Whoever it was, they were in the next room.
Cynder closed her eyes and pictured Spyro's face. She pictured everything that they had been through, everything they had shared. She thought about how much he meant to her. In no time at all she felt warmth blossom in her chest. Frantically she drew the power outward until it poured from her skin. It felt like hot water was pouring into her head and drizzling across her scales.
She opened her eyes and found... nothing. She didn't see Spyro anywhere. Before she could say anything, before she could check that she was invisible, the door crashed open and the window shattered.
Torches still burned in the corridor outside of the room, so the mole that had broken down the door was only visible as a silhouette, but something wasn't right about him. Cynder's eyes slowly adjusted to the torchlight as the mole rushed into the room and checked all around the bed, desk, and bookshelf. It took her a minute to realize it, but Cynder realized what the problem was. She still couldn't see him. He was standing within the glow of the torchlight, but she couldn't see him. And it only took her a moment to realize why. Clinging to him like a second skin was a layer of oily, smoky, shadows.
While Cynder had been focused on the mole, Spyro had been studying what came through the window. He reached the same conclusion as Cynder that this must be a shadow creature, but what was it? It was too dark for him to actually see how big it was or what shape it was, although since it did come through the window Spyro reasoned that this creature must have wings.
"This room is clear too." the shadow mole growled. "Where are those two? If we don't find them they could cause problems."
The creature that had come in through the window finally moved forward into the light. Spyro couldn't stop himself from letting out an audible gasp. The window smasher was a dragonfly. The window smasher was a corrupted Sparx.
Thankfully Sparx started talking at that exact moment. "Arrgh," he groaned, "where are you Spyro? You wouldn't just leave I know that!" The dragonfly realized that the mole was just watching him, an amused smile plastered onto his face. "What are you looking at? To the next room you idiot!"
Sparx flew out the window, and the mole, after letting out a few curses under his breath, returned to the hallway. It was a good thing they left. Cynder had tried to remain calm, but she had seen Spyro's form flickering since Sparx had revealed himself. As soon as the creatures had left the room, Spyro's tenuous control of his light element faded completely and he appeared.
Cynder relaxed her control, and a moment later she reappeared as well. Spyro didn't seem to notice. He just sat there looking defeated. "Spyro?" Cynder asked moving around to face him.
Spyro looked up at her, a haunted look in his eyes. His breathing was strangely heavy, and he looked as though he had just been kicked in the gut. "How could Sparx do this?" Cynder flinched. He wasn't shouting, but he definitely wasn't whispering either. "How could Sparx do this?"
Cynder didn't know what to do. Spyro had the exact same defeated demeanor he had when the Dark Master had reasserted his control over her.
She didn't remember everything that had happened, but she did faintly remember, as if through a haze, herself striking him. "Fight back! Why won't you fight back?!" She had said just before she had gone in for the final blow.
"Because you've left me nothing to fight for." The defeated dragon at her feet had said. He had said it so casually, without fear or anger that it had given her dark self pause. Rational thought burst through the dark fog in her mind. Do I really mean that much to him?
This realization managed to do what Cynder had once thought impossible. It broke the lunged, and Spyro tried to dodge, but Cynder got there first. She wrapped him in her wings as they turned from slimy and black to warm and red. "There is always something to fight for," she said as she hugged him. Together they stood up and looked into each other's eyes. They shared a grin, just as they attacked Malefor together.
"Spyro this isn't like last time." Cynder said to the broken dragon. "This time you have something to fight for. Like I said there is always something to fight for." The purple dragon looked up at her, his eyes hardening.
"I'm with you Cynder. But I do wonder... Sparx seemed completely normal this afternoon. I just want to know. How much of it was an act? Did he really apologize, or was it a move he made to gain our trust?" Spyro shook his head.
"I'm sorry, I don't know." Cynder refused to meet Spyro's gaze. "We don't have time right now. We need to move before they come back." She moved to the window, stepping gingerly over the broken glass, and carefully peered outside just in time to see Sparx crash through the neighboring window. "Okay now is our chance. Where should we go?"
Spyro was still standing by the bed. "I'm not leaving. Sparx was right about that much." The door was still yawning open and Spyro unconsciously felt himself moving towards it. "Cynder there are hundreds of innocent apes, cheetahs, and moles in the temple. There are thousands in the city. If we leave then these dark creatures will turn on them. Not only will innocent people suffer, but the dark creatures gain the opportunity to make an army of shadows that will chase us anywhere we go. We have to at least warn them."
"Really," Cynder whined, "I'm glad you are a hero, really. It's one of the things I love about you, but seriously did Ignitus ever teach you about self preservation? Malefor tortured me, and used me to casually destroy civilizations, and even he taught me that much. Look I understand what will happen if we don't save these people, but we can deal with that. Spyro what happens if you try to save these people and are captured? What if you turn into one of these shadow creatures? If the world ends up with another evil purple dragon than it might as well quit turning right now and explode. Spyro I will hate myself if we don't save these people, but I've hated myself before. But I couldn't live with myself if I... if you were corrupted and... I lost you."
This gave the purple dragon pause. He hadn't really considered the stakes. "Cynder I can't just leave these people to..."
Cynder looked extremely distressed. Spyro knew that at any moment she might just bolt out the window. Then it dawned on him. "You are afraid of getting captured too."
It was too much. She had to look away from him. He was so noble, and here she was just thinking about herself. "I've been corrupted by darkness and used to kill countless others. I will do anything to prevent that from happening again."
Bang! Crash! The dark creatures burst into another room as both dragons became lost in thought. Spyro felt as though someone had grabbed the needle of his moral compass and forcibly spun it around. He had a choice between saving hundreds, but at a personal cost, or he could save someone who he owed his life to a thousand times over. He just didn't know what to do.
Cynder could feel Spyro's indecision, and she did feel bad, but she would rather betray her morals and her reputation if it meant that she wouldn't go back into slavery. "How about this?" Cynder said trying to find a compromise. "We go down to the kitchens, and warn any mole that we meet. They can warn everyone else, and then we can beat a hasty retreat through the skylight in the guardians chambers."
Spyro's heart leapt in his chest. "That's perfect. Let's do this Cynder!"
"Whoa, slow down a minute there. If we are doing this, we are doing this invisibly." Cynder looked Spyro up and down. "We aren't leaving this room until I am one hundred percent sure that you can go invisible without any of that flickering I saw before."
"Gee thanks mom," Spyro protested playfully, "I'm sorry about that. I lost control of myself when I saw Sparx. It won't happen again." As if to prove his point, Spyro closed his eyes and slowly vanished.
Cynder rolled her eyes and moved over to where he had disappeared. She felt around until she had found his front leg. She placed it on her shoulder before she turned invisible. "Squeeze my shoulder if you feel yourself running out of manna, or if you lose control of your power."
Spyro was glad that he was invisible and that Cynder couldn't read his expression. She must have been scared of being controlled by the darkness. Spyro had never heard her this serious.
Thankfully the mole had left the door open because surely someone would have noticed a thick wooden door opening of its own accord. As it was, the two dragons barely managed to avoid detection anyway as a dark mole was barreling down the hallway the moment they decided to flee the room.
Cynder shoved Spyro into the wall and then pressed herself next to him, hoping that the mole wouldn't run into them. He passed maybe an inch away from Cynder's nose, but he didn't notice. Both dragons watched silently as the running mole met up with the other mole that had broken down their door.
"Stop that at once," Runner said earning him a scowl from Door.
"Why should I?" Door retaliated angrily and, Cynder noted, nervously. "Right now finding Spyro and Cynder should be priority number one!"
The runner shook his head. "Not anymore, and besides it's not like they are going anywhere. Spyro wouldn't leave this building for any reason while we are holding hostages. And Cynder won't leave without him. Did your little friend tell you about what they were doing last night."
Cynder cursed Sparx under her breath as a slight, yet invisible, blush crept into her cheeks. Even under the influence of darkness he was still a terrible gossip and he continued to stretch the truth about her.
"Fine," the door breaker conceded. "What are we supposed to do instead?"
"You should go to the library and help out. Apparently fifty unconverted moles have barricaded themselves in the stacks. From what I've heard they have put up quite a defense."
The door smasher nodded. Both moles jumped in fright as a new voice chimed in. "And what am I supposed to do?" Even Cynder jumped as Sparx began speaking. She hadn't anticipated the little pest being there. It unnerved her how stealthy he could be under the influence of darkness.
"You've fallen behind by two rooms," Sparx scolded the door smasher, "good thing they weren't in either of the ones I checked. Hustle up or we are never going to catch them."
"Change of plans," the runner corrected, "there is no need to find Spyro and Cynder. They won't leave the building, and it's not like they can attack us."
"No thank you. I think I'll keep looking for them. Are you coming?" Sparx glared at the door smasher. The runner however interrupted before Door could answer.
"I'm sorry Sparx, but the Master doesn't believe that it is worth it to continue looking for Spyro and Cynder."
Even though they couldn't communicate, Spyro and Cynder were thinking the exact same thing, and it filled their hearts with fear. Master? Oh no.
Sparx turned on the running mole. He flew closer and closer to the mole's face until he was sitting on the mole's nose. The runner went slightly cross-eyed as he tried to retain eye contact with Sparx. "The Master is foolish to abandon the search. He doesn't know those two like I do. Underestimating them and allowing them to roam free makes them dangerous. We can't give them even a tiny chance to undo Master's plans. If we keep them hiding by continuing the search-"
The runner shook his head flinging Sparx off of his nose. "I'm sorry Sparx, but the Master commands that we stop the search. In fact he asked that you come to him. If you know as much about those two as you claim, he wants to know more about them."
Sparx crossed his arms stubbornly before shaking his head. "Fine, but I am going to inform the Master that he is making a mistake." Sparx flew down the hall towards where Spyro and Cynder were hiding. The pressed themselves up against the wall again and waited for him to pass. "I bet it wouldn't be so bad if I looked into a couple of rooms on my way there," they heard him grumble as he flew past.
"Dragonflies," the runner said to door smasher, "they are definitely more trouble than they're worth!" And with that the two moles turned and started down the hallway.
The two hidden dragons sat there for a moment holding their breath just to be sure that they were alone. Then they both let out a sigh of relief. Spyro hesitated for a moment and then he squeezed Cynder's shoulder. She quickly led him back into their room where they both stopped their invisibility.
"Sorry I lost focus there for a minute. I caught myself, but then it was really hard to keep the power stable. I was about a minute away from turning into a ball of light."
Cynder nodded dismissively. She wasn't going to admit it, but she had almost let her power go as well. In fact she was fairly certain that she had blipped into the visible spectrum for an instant when she had heard…
"The Master." Cynder finally said nervously. "You don't think that it's...?"
"No," Spyro said quickly (perhaps too quickly), "he has to be dead. We saw him die. There is no way he could have survived that."
"I guess so. But then who do you think is...?"
"I don't know. Perhaps one of the guardians got corrupted accidentally and the other dark creatures are following him simply because he is powerful and a dragon. That would explain a lot." Spyro was obviously trying to reassure himself, but Cynder didn't bring it up. She wanted Spyro to be right too.
"To the kitchens then? Are you ready to go invisible again?"
Spyro nodded solemnly knowing that he was not only losing the safety net of this hiding place, but also his last chance to escape. He moved forward and put his paw on Cynder's shoulder. They simultaneously vanished leaving the room for good.
Thankfully there didn't seem to be many dark creatures roaming the halls, probably because the Master whoever that was had ended the search. Despite this both dragons stayed super focused on maintaining their invisibility and keeping their senses open just in case.
One drawback to being invisible, they discovered, was that they couldn't quite see where any of their body parts were. They often sent loose stones skittering across the floor due to a careless footfall. Spyro accidentally hit an open door with his tail as they walked causing it to slam loudly. They froze there for what felt like an eternity, but quickly moved on when they didn't hear any footsteps.
Eventually they reached the bowels of the temple. The stone passageways that the moles were so comfortable in criss-crossed through the bedrock that the entire city was built on. Cynder hesitated once they had made it here. She really hadn't been paying attention when Mortimer had dragged her through here and he had brought her from another direction. Cynder wasn't certain that she could navigate through here.
The kitchen was underground in the exact center of the temple, so Cynder turned toward where she knew the center was. Then she remembered that the door to the kitchen was disguised.
Spyro's claws dug into Cynder's shoulder as he gave it a firm squeeze. Cynder moved into a discreet corner of the room before becoming visible again. Spyro followed suit an instant later.
"I'm sorry, one second," he whispered shaking his head. "I've gotta say Cynder I have no idea how you do this for as long as you do."
Cynder shrugged off his praise. "It's extremely similar to using my shadow power, and you know how long I can hold that. I'm used to it and I've practiced it a lot. Listen I may have a problem. I don't know how to get to the kitchen from here, and the doors are hidden."
"Well if that's all there is, I can help. The walls are stone. Earth. I can use my power to..." he paused as he tried to find the right words, "I guess the best way to describe it is sense, but it's really more of an echolocation." Cynder raised an eyebrow at him, and he tried to explain. "Terrador taught me how to do it. I just send pulses of my earth magic into the ground. Wherever there is stone it should be able to travel. The kitchen however is a huge empty space. Hopefully if we get close enough I should be able to see my magic deflect around it."
"But what about the door? I'm not sure if it is possible to open it from the outside."
"I can use my Earth magic to open it." Spyro paused biting his lip. "I'm not sure though if I can look for the room and be invisible. The sensing thing will take a lot of concentration." Spyro blinked suddenly as a thought struck him. "Wait you are Terrador's daughter. You should be able to do this too."
Cynder shook her head. "No I can't. Malefor corrupted me. I don't have Earth power, just the unnatural powers that Malefor gave me."
"What about Wind?" Spyro asked cocking his head.
"You just said it yourself. Wind, not Earth." Cynder was really starting to get upset.
Spyro looked around carefully making sure that there was nobody nearby before he spat a glowing ball of green energy into the middle of the room. Cynder stared mystified as a huge tornado rose up from where the ball had landed. The cyclone only lasted for a minute before the winds dissipated, but it left Cynder breathless.
"That is one of the first things Terrador taught me. Wind is just an extension of Earth. Cynder there is Earth power deep inside of you somewhere. You just have to find it."
Cynder didn't know what to say. This had never occurred to her. She didn't think that she could deal with it right now, so she moved on. "If we want to get to the kitchen sometime tonight we should move. Let's go!"
If Spyro was affected by the sudden change in subject, he didn't show it. Instead he closed his eyes and began searching using his magic. Cynder knew it was almost certainly just her imagination, but she could have sworn that she could feel the pulses of magic that Spyro was pouring into the stone floor.
Slowly, much like a bloodhound picking up a scent, Spyro paced around the room. He paused occasionally, pouring more Earth magic into the stone to get an even better look at whatever he was focused on. He circled the room until he was facing the passage that ran north. Without pausing in the slightest he started off down the hallway leaving Cynder to awkwardly scramble after him.
Cynder knew that it was her job to keep watch and protect Spyro, but she couldn't help but watch him closely as he wandered through the hallways searching with his magic. It had never occurred to her, even when Terrador had claimed her as his daughter that she might have power over Earth. It excited her now to know that there was an aspect of her power that she hadn't explored yet.
Nothing bothered them as they made their way through the labyrinth of tunnels underneath the Dragon Temple. Everything was silent, but Cynder didn't let her guard down for a moment.
Eventually Spyro stopped, directly facing a featureless stone wall... exactly like literally every other wall in the tunnels. "Here," he said proudly, "the kitchen should be just through here." Spyro closed his eyes again, but this time he raised his front end off of the ground. He sat back on his haunches, using his tail to keep himself stable. He wobbled uncertainly for a moment, but quickly focused.
He raised both paws up so that he looked like he was leaning against an invisible wall. Cynder knew for certain this time that she felt the blast of magic as Spyro began to tense his muscles and "pushed" against the air. It actually looked like a struggle, and Cynder grew understandably concerned for a moment, but then the stone wall began to move.
It seemed to crack at first, but then it began to bulge. The stone door slowly screeched open as Spyro continued to push. Cynder instinctively covered her ears. How could she have forgotten? Amid all of the noise that the bustling kitchen produced she hadn't noticed how much noise the door had made. Oops.
As the door finally swung open it was obvious how Spyro had opened the door. Fingers of rock projected out of the floor and the space behind the hinges, and they were still steadily growing as Spyro pushed. Dark green light swirled around the bases of the rock spires, and they groaned as they grew.
"You could have warned me that the door was going to make that much noise," Spyro said as he relaxed, settling back down onto all four paws. With an audible snap, the spires of rock shot back into the stone around was left to show that they were even there except for a few small scars in the walls and floor.
As the door opened Cynder was glad to see that the kitchen was bustling along like nothing was wrong. At first she was suspicious, but then she realized that to these moles, nothing was wrong. She didn't know exactly what time it was, but her internal clock told her that it was sometime between three and four in the morning. Since they had been in what was essentially a sealed room this early they had missed everything that had happened overnight. A small part of Cynder hated that they were about to destroy their ignorance.
Several cooks shot the two dragons dirty looks as they rushed through the door. Cynder figured that it was probably because of how they had opened the door rather than their presence. Cynder hopped impatiently from foot to foot as she waited for the giant stone door to close. Thankfully this door didn't have a wooden mole door built into the base. If anyone had heard it open and had come to investigate they would have had to find their way around to another entrance.
"What are you guys doing here this early?" A voice asked. Apparently Cynder was still a bit tense, because she leapt about a foot in the air. That was nothing compared to Spyro. The purple dragon was so high-strung that at the sound of the voice he whirled around and spat a ball of fire from his mouth.
Mortimer's eyes went wide as the burning projectile flew towards him. He barely managed to dodge out of the way of the fireball. It flew past him, missing him by inches and searing all of the fur on the left side of his body, and smashed into the spit of meat that was roasting over the central fire pit. The fire immediately flared up, incinerating the meat and destroying the spit that it rested on.
"What was that for?!" Mortimer shouted at Spyro. Spyro at least had the decency to look embarrassed before he realized that there was no time for embarrassment.
"Sorry," Spyro said quickly, "listen Mortimer, we have a bit of a situation." Before the purple dragon could say anything else, a knocking came from the Earth door, the same door Spyro and Cynder had come through.
"Hold that thought Spyro," Mortimer said moving to open the door. He found his path blocked however by one vicious dragoness. "Whoa Cynder, what's going on?"
"You can't open that door!" Spyro shouted.
"Why not?" Mortimer asked.
"It's really hard to explain, but do you know about that dark crystal over by the city gates?"
"Yeah. The guardians put up defenses to protect us."
Spyro nodded. "I don't know what happened, but somehow the defenses failed and the creatures that were corrupted by the crystal are loose in the Temple. They want to capture the rest of you and corrupt you as well!"
Mortimer looked skeptical. "Okay. Shouldn't we go tell the guardians?"
"We can't," Cynder said, "we heard some of those creatures talking, and we think that one of the guardians is helping them."
Mortimer looked less sure now. He scrunched his eyebrows worriedly. "How do you two know about this?"
"Because they came after us first. They knew that we were their biggest threats, so they came after us. Cynder and I were able to hide, and we heard them talking. They left, but we had to try and warn somebody!"
"Okay, message received! What are you still doing here?" Mortimer was now officially worried. He had come to the same conclusion that Cynder had. If these dark creatures managed to capture and corrupt Spyro or Cynder (or ancestors forbid, both) then they would be unstoppable. Mortimer felt a tingle in his stomach as he realized what He knew what he had to do to protect the city. Priority number one was to get Spyro and Cynder out of the city.
"We need to get you two out. What was your plan? How were you going to get out?" The mole looked back and forth between the two dragons.
"Umm," Spyro said, "we were planning on escaping through the skylight in the guardians' audience chamber."
Mortimer nodded. Both dragons watched as the young mole called out to several of the cooks, including Agatha, and began explaining the situation to them. Within moments, the entire kitchen was buzzing like an overturned beehive. Barricades were placed against the Electricity and Ice doors leaving only the Fire and Earth doors as viable entrances and, as Spyro nervously pointed out, escape routes.
"You did hear us when we said that we came to warn you so that you could get the word out about these dark creatures, right?" Spyro looked around the kitchen looking for an answer as the moles bustled about preparing for war. Nobody answered him. Nobody really seemed to hear him.
Spyro looked over at Cynder who shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows. This was out of their hands now. They were at the mercy of whatever plan the moles concocted.
The dragons moved out of the way into a secluded corner by the central fire pit as they watched the moles scurry around. It was rather impressive. They didn't know what Mortimer had told his fellow kitchen staff, but whatever it was they were committed. They watched as one chef pulled out a drawer of knives and began sharpening each one, even the butter knives, to a lethal point. Pot lids became shields, while the pots themselves were filled with all sorts of boiling concoctions to be poured on unfortunate enemies. Cynder even saw one mole break the leg off of the burning boar and swing it around like a club.
The warmth from the fire began to seep into Spyro and Cynder, and they realized that they could relax in this room. They were laying together amidst a storm of angry moles, and yet the only thing that either could think of was sleep. There were no angry shadow monsters, nor were there any other hazards as far as they could tell. Before either was aware of it, they had both fallen asleep.
•••
"Wake up you two! We are ready!" Cynder blinked as she woke up and found her nose inches away from a pair of golden, reflective, spectacles. Her mind was foggy from sleep, but she recognized Agatha as she slowly stood up.
Spyro was already awake, although he still looked half asleep. His head drooped, and occasionally he yawned widely showing off his back teeth. "Eat up you two," Agatha said pushing plates heaping with food towards the dragons. Cynder bent down to take a bite, but stopped when she finally got a good look at Agatha.
"Umm, what the heck are you wearing?" Agatha had a pot on her head, the handle sticking out to the side. Over her stained apron she had a set of metal pot lids tied together like a breastplate. In one hand she carried a rather large bread knife, and in the other she held a meat tenderizer. Even the rational part of Cynder's mind was intimidated, and Agatha only came up to Cynder's shoulder.
"Oh, this," Agatha looked down, as if she was only just realizing what she was wearing, "well if we have to fight our way out of this room, we might as well have some protection."
"Wait, what is the plan?" Spyro looked like Agatha had just asked him a complicated math question.
"I will tell you when you eat. We are waiting on you ya' know." Spyro looked like he wanted to argue, but he must have realized that it would be an argument he wouldn't win. Obediently Spyro began to eat. "As I was saying," Agatha said once Spyro had taken a few bites, "Mortimer came up with a good plan, we all agreed on it. When all of this blows over I really need to write a letter to the captain of the guard. I-"
"-The plan?" Cynder chimed in trying to keep Agatha on track.
"Oh, of course. Once you are ready, all of us will leave. You two will go out through the Fire door and try to escape. The rest of us will go out the other three doors and try to fight our way through the shadow creatures that have gathered there. We hope that in all of the confusion they won't know where you went."
Spyro shot a glance at Cynder. She knew what he was about to say, but she also knew that he wouldn't listen to her. "Agatha, we're sorry, but we can't ask all of you to risk your lives for us. At least let us fight-"
"-No! No! No! It isn't safe for you here! You need to leave the city."
"But we could-" Spyro tried, but Agatha interrupted him again.
"I'm not arguing this, Spyro!" Agatha almost shouted. "You are going to leave. It is safer for us, and it is safer for you."
Spyro was shocked into silence. He truly didn't know what to say. Agatha turned to leave, but before she could she turned back to look at Spyro. "You two have lived for seventeen years fighting a war you have had no part fighting in. Neither of you have ever had a real parent watching over you to keep you safe. Let me be that parent for tonight. You two need to save yourselves, you need to get out of the city."
Cynder couldn't help but think of her parent. Her father. She was about to flee the city, and she was relying on a bunch of moles to find him and tell him to flee. Hadn't she struggled to forgive him for abandoning her earlier that day?
Spyro turned to Cynder as Agatha left. "Can you believe what she said? Unbelievable! We can help we can-"
And for the third time that morning Spyro was interrupted. "Spyro she wasn't wrong. I know I asked you earlier about self-preservation. I know it is hard, and selfish, but sometimes you have to think about yourself. You are right we can help these people, but it is a fight we will not win. The shadow creatures will capture us and kill us. Wouldn't you rather live to have a chance to save everyone from these creatures?"
Spyro opened his mouth to argue, but he closed it. He turned back to his breakfast and ate it without a word. Cynder ate her breakfast as well. She let him stew. She knew that he knew that she was right, but he didn't want to admit it.
The room grew quiet as Spyro and Cynder finished eating. Everyone held their makeshift weapons at the ready. There was a nervous tension in the air. This was it.
From the middle of the group that was gathered by the Ice doors, a single iron pot waded through its brethren. After a moment the crowd parted, letting Mortimer walk to the middle of the room where Spyro and Cynder were sitting and observing. The little mole climbed up onto a table and motioned for Spyro to step up next to him.
Cynder shrank back. Nobody would look to her as inspiration, especially when they were facing dark creatures. She was half surprised that nobody had called for her to be thrown out into the corridor to join "her kind". She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice when Spyro called out to her.
"Cynder. Get up here. Come on." Spyro was looking over his shoulder at her. He motioned her up with his tail.
She shook her head. "No Spyro. I'd rather not." She backed away.
Spyro got off of the table. "Remember what I said about making people see you as a hero? This time I'm right!" He grabbed Cynder's paw and began dragging her toward the table. He pulled her up onto the table, and then promptly let go. She wanted to snap at him, she was not okay with anybody grabbing her, but she knew that wouldn't go over well.
She gazed nervously out at the crowd as Mortimer began to speak. "Warfang was meant to be a gift. A gift to the greatest of dragons. They did so much for us; they defended us, they taught us, and they used their great elemental power to influence nature to help us. It was a great gift, to the greatest of friends. Then our home, our great gift, was attacked. It was threatened by a great evil that hoped to undo everything good that had worked for. And what did we do? With the help of these two dragons we were able to turn back this evil. Now, when we are facing an even greater evil, a plague of darkness that corrupts everything it touches, these dragons have once again come to rescue us. The darkness came after them first. They could have run, they could have left our city and never looked back, but they came here to warn us. They gave us a chance to escape and fight another day. Somehow I know that day will soon come. A day when we will have the chance to take back our city and defeat this evil once and for all."
Mortimer thrust his knife into the air and cried out, "For Spyro and Cynder!"
"For Spyro and Cynder," the room cheered. The gathered chefs and cooks, people who had no combat experience, who were dressed in armor made of kitchenware, who were brandishing makeshift weapons, began to applaud the two dragons before them as they readied for war. Cynder had briefly wondered what had kept the moles so cheery during the siege of Warfang, and now she had her answer. These people were so brave and now she knew that as long as they had hope and something to fight for, these moles would gives their lives to see it through.
"Alright everyone into position," Mortimer called over the applause, "on my signal we go!"
It took Cynder a moment to recognize that it was time for her to get to the Fire door. There was a flurry of noise and movement as everyone rushed to their place. A few last minute hugs were shared. Family called to one another, potentially for the last time.
"Now!" The three groups of fighters surged forward pushing the great doors open. And then all hell broke loose.
The dark creatures were ready.
As soon as the Earth door cracked open, a darkened ape charged through the door leading with his shoulder. Moles were flung aside as he pushed through them. The Electricity door was suddenly pulled open from the outside. Half of the group of defenders charged through it before they realized their mistake. Before they could turn back the doors slammed shut again.
At the Ice door a ton of corrupted moles, sporting real weapons and armor, poured through into the kitchen. Armor screeched as weapons scraped against it, and on both sides moles began to fall.
Spyro and Cynder stood frozen as they watched the battle unfold. They had opened their door when Mortimer had given the signal, but they never went through it. They were captivated by the battle. Cynder felt Spyro tense next to her. She knew what he was about to do next. She shot her tail out in front of him, blocking his way. "Spyro you can't help! We need to go." She herded him back through the door, but a sudden cry made her turn back to the fight.
Agatha had been pinned into a corner by a much larger mole. He stood about a head taller than her, his axe raised above his head. Agatha dove between his legs, rolling to her feet. She stabbed at his back, but he turned at the last minute sending her knife skittering across his armor.
The dark mole roared in frustration. He swung his giant axe, but Agatha dodged back. The mole tried to stop his swing, but the momentum of the swing sank the head of the axe almost a foot into the stone wall. Cynder's heart pounded. If he could do that to stone, what would he do to Agatha?
Agatha took the opportunity. She dropped her knife and gripped her meat tenderizer with both hands. She swung with everything she had, and smashed the hammer into the mole's snout. Even with the noise of the battle Cynder could hear the sickening snap of the mole's jaw and nose.
The dark mole roared in pain. He ripped his axe from the wall and slammed it into Agatha. She flew back crashing into a table, her pot helmet spinning off into the fire pit. The shadow creature stood over her, raising its axe again in order to deliver the final blow. Agatha just lay there paralyzed by fear and stunned with pain.
"No," Cynder cried as the axe began to fall. Agatha couldn't die! She felt a tug in her stomach as she felt the need to protect Agatha.
Suddenly the mole was thrown aside as a fist of stone shot from the floor. It struck him just under his chin, lifting him clear up off of the floor. He crashed to the floor unconscious.
Cynder stood there shocked for a moment before she felt herself being dragged through the door. She met eyes with Agatha just before the door slammed shut.
"Come on Cynder," Spyro said, although Cynder could tell that he wanted to go back and fight.
"What about Agatha," Cynder shouted struggling against Spyro, "you saved her with that rock, and then you just left her?!"
Spyro stopped trying to drag Cynder away from the kitchen. He raised an eyebrow at her. "I never used my power in there. What rock?" Cynder explained what she had seen, and despite everything Spyro couldn't help but smile. "I didn't do it Cynder, you did. Looks like you do have Earth power. Now come on. Who knows how long it will take for the shadow creatures to reach the audience chamber."
The two dragons started up the steep staircase that would take them to the guardian's chambers and potentially their way out. It was entirely possible that they wouldn't encounter anyone, but they both knew that even with the best of luck they weren't going to be able to leave without a fight.
The great door hung open, but just slightly, like someone had wanted it closed but were afraid of getting locked in. Spyro felt anticipation and fear boiling in his stomach as he stood just outside the door.
He peered through the crack, but the room beyond was pitch-black. Spyro took a deep breath to calm himself before pressing his shoulder into the door and heaving it open. There was something unnatural about the darkness in the room. There were several torches in the hallway, all shedding light into this room, but at the threshold the light seemed to stop. The room refused to illuminate.
Cautiously Spyro stepped into the room with Cynder right behind him. Of course he second they made it two steps into the room the door slammed shut behind them, leaving them in total darkness. Spyro tried to fight down his panic, but it was hard. He could have sworn that he heard... things shifting in the darkness. As he relaxed, he conjured some Fire within himself and channeled it to his scales. Immediately he grew warm, even hot, to the touch and he let off a subtle glow.
Cynder moved a little closer to Spyro. Warmth and light was much better than the cold, dark room that they were in. "We should go," she whispered. She didn't know why she was whispering. It just felt right.
"We will, but I can't find the skylight, and I'd rather not determine this with trial and error. I will only slam my head into the ceiling once." Cynder looked up at the ceiling and realized that she couldn't even see the stars. What was going on?
Then suddenly there was light. The torches nearest to the doors flared to life. The ones next to them sparked a moment later, and the next a moment after that. Torches burst into flame right after another in a huge chain reaction until the final torch exploded to life. Spyro blinked in the sudden light, but his instincts kicked in, and he was in a defensive position back-to-back with Cynder before he knew it.
The first thing either of them saw was the dark creatures. They lined the walls creating a ring around the two young dragons. There were representatives of every species: ape, cheetah, wolf, and so many moles. Cynder recognized her friends, goatee and blue-eyes, while Spyro focused instantly on Sparx. But naturally their attention eventually fixed on the other dragon.
"I thought that you'd never arrive," Terrador said with a pleasant smile.
It was like someone had cut the bottom of Spyro's stomach out. If the dark creatures had turned Terrador, then nobody was safe. But it was definitely worse than that. Much worse. Terrador didn't have a layer of smoky, oily, shadows clinging to his scales. Was it possible that Terrador wasn't corrupted and yet was still doing this?
"I hate you!" Cynder screamed at the larger dragon. Tears blurred her vision and burned her throat, but she wasn't done. "I can't believe I was actually proud to be your daughter earlier! And you dared to ask for my forgiveness! Was that all an act? Was it just to defuse suspicion?" She didn't wait for an answer. Before Spyro could stop her she hurled herself at the larger dragon. Venom boiled in her blood and sizzled across her fangs and talons.
Just as she was about to tear through the older dragon's throat, a wall of stone appeared out of nowhere and Cynder smashed into it full speed. She slumped to the ground at its base, sobbing from anger and betrayal. Spyro rushed to her side and stood over her. He was going to protect her.
"Oh don't be so dramatic," Terrador said rolling his eyes, "I wasn't exerting my complete control over him this morning. Terrador was very much Terrador when he asked for forgiveness." The green dragon's eyes focused on Spyro. "And the same goes for Sparx. His apology was real."
Spyro hoped that it wasn't obvious, but he knew that he physically relaxed when Terrador admitted this. Terrador obviously noticed it, though. "I see that this was bothering you. I must make a note of this. Who knew that it was this easy to upset the purple dragon."
A great rage filled Spyro's heart. His scales began to glow with heat as his Fire grew within him. But the Fire flickered and died as Spyro remembered what Terrador had said. "You said that you exerted your will over Terrador. You say that like... you... are you..."
Terrador rolled his eyes once more. "I would have thought that either of you would have figured it out by now. No? Fine, allow me to enlighten you."
His moved his paw to his throat,and Spyro noticed an amulet made from a strangely heart shaped chunk of the dark crystal. It reminded Spyro of the orange crystals from the library, but he had a feeling that this crystal wasn't just for moving books.
As soon as Terrador's paw made contact with the twisted black heart, dark black smoke began to pour from the amulet. It looked like gathering storm clouds, only faster. The smoke spread across Terrador's body, eclipsing his green scales with blackness. The shadowy smoke swirled in a cocoon like mass around the Earth dragon as it finally consumed his tail.
Then everything stopped. It all stopped. The smoke stopped swirling. It just hung in the air, eerily still, and Spyro had to take a moment to check whether he had accidentally activated dragon time. Like a vacuum, the smoke was suddenly sucked inward into Terrador's body. The guardian was revealed once again, but everything was drastically different.
The green scales were still there, but they looked sickly. If a scale color was assigned to Cynder's poison ability it would look like those scales. It took Spyro a moment to realize what was going on. It was almost like they were looking at Terrador through a pane of purple glass. Nearer to his head, the purple color became clearer, more defined. By the time they reached his head his scales had lost all of the green color and were just purple.
That wasn't the only difference. Terrador's two horns had vanished, to be replaced with three prominent ones and a host of lesser ones. Glowing, yellow, reptilian, eyes glowed within a face cursed with a permanent scowl.
Spyro felt his knees turn to jelly as he beheld his greatest enemy once again. "How?" was all that he could manage.
Malefor laughed. "How indeed. Those petty Ancestors could only destroy my body." Malefor chuckled, a sound that turned Spyro's blood to ice. "My spirit, however… Well the Planet Crystal was the perfect conduit for my soul and my power."
Spyro backed away from the dark dragon. No this couldn't be happening! They had done everything. They had sacrificed so much to defeat Malefor, and it was all for nothing.
"Why are you doing this!" Cynder screamed again. She got to her feet and was about to pounce on Terrador/Malefor but Spyro held her back. "I hate you!" Spyro didn't know if she was talking to him, Terrador, or Malefor.
"Cynder stop we have to get out of here!"
"How?" she shrieked.
"Yes, Spyro, how do you plan on escaping?" From all around the room came the sounds of bowstrings. Spyro looked around to see the apes, moles, and cheetahs all outfitted with bows and arrows. "You will never leave this room alive. Just submit, welcome in the darkness, and I promise this war will be over."
Spyro opened his mouth to answer, but Cynder beat him to it. "NEVER." Her voice was strained yet controlled. Spyro looked back and found her floating in the air. Grey-green light flickered around her and held her aloft. Her eyes were closed and as she spoke her mouth didn't seem to move. In fact her voice seemed to emanate from the bricks, mortar, and stone that the room was constructed from. "We will never join you! I will give you one chance to leave peacefully and free these people. If you don't I will destroy you, permanently, forever!"
"Fire!" Malefor called to the creatures in the room. Thirty bow strings twanged and thirty arrows shot towards the two dragons. Spyro threw his wings up for protection, but he didn't need to.
The room seemed to explode as Cynder unleashed her power. Grey sheets of wind swirled around her body, spinning faster and faster as they moved farther and farther from her body. The arrows were knocked out of the air and thrown to the ground. Most, if not all, of the shadow creatures lost their balance, and half of them were knocked over. They spun into the others until Malefor's entire army was tumbling along on the floor. Even the great dragon staggered a bit.
The wind didn't seem to affect Spyro. He could feel the energy that Cynder was using, and he also knew that it wouldn't last much longer. "Malefor isn't going to let us leave anytime soon, and we both know that you can't keep this up much longer. What is the plan?" Cynder opened her eyes and slammed into the ground. A shockwave of wind expelled out around her.
The shock wave passed over everything and slammed into the wall with the force of a fully grown dragon. The torches lining the walls were snuffed out instantly plunging the room into total darkness. But Cynder was still in control of the winds.
The shock wave reflected back from the walls converging on Cynder. She used the last bit of her mana and created a vortex. The shockwave of air began to spin, growing taller and taller, spinning faster and faster. Cynder weakly spread her wings and was immediately caught up in the rapidly rising air. Spyro was right behind her.
The glass roof rushed at them at what felt like the speed of sound. Cynder lowered her head, smashing through the thick glass like it was paper. And then they were free. They flew over the walls of the city, their wings burning with the speed of their flight. Neither of them cared though, if they thought of quitting all they had to do was imagine Malefor chasing them.
Miles away from the city, as the two dragons crossed into the swamp they relaxed their pace. "My parent's house isn't far from here," Spyro called, "we can stop there for tonight and rest-"
Suddenly a dark form darted in front of Spyro. The purple dragon reeled back in surprise, his body reacting instinctively. Cynder saw what was about to happen. She cried out in alarm, but she was too late to do anything. She was powerless to do anything but watch as a beam of light fired from Spyro's mouth slamming into the tiny figure of Sparx.
There was a loud snap as his tiny little body broke. Spyro could only watch as his shattered form fell hundreds of feet to the swamp far below.