Chapter 2

Spyro and Cynder could now see the dragon temple in the distance, rising out of the trees and mangroves of the swamp like a bull in a china shop.

"Almost there, Cynder."

She nodded wearily in response. It had been a long one and a half day flight to arrive at the dragon temple this soon, pushed by their eagerness to tell the Guardians of the news. They had flown nearly nonstop. Now, they flew the last short distance, and landed next to the first ramp of the temple. They were breathing hard, enervated from their long journey.

"You tired?" He asked her, still panting.

Cynder nodded slowly, her facial expression and the slowness of her nod already answering his question before she even spoke. "Yes, Spyro, All I want to do right now is sleep."

He nodded as well, agreeing with her wholeheartedly. "Yeah," he gasped out, "Me too."

Cynder asked him a question, her eyes piercing his like an arrow.

"Spyro?"

He responded almost immediately. "Yeah, Cynder?"

"About us marrying and all..." she began, "What are Cyril, Volteer, and Terrador going to think? What if they... don't want it to happen?"

Spyro smiled, reassuring her. "Don't worry Cynder. They'll love it. Why would they not? I mean, after all we've been through..." he trailed off.

Cynder lifted her head, a tired smile on her face. "You're right, Spyro. There's nothing to fear. I'm sorry I was doubtful."

Spyro nuzzled her head against his lovingly. "Don't be sorry. I understand why you're nervous. I am, too. This is a big thing, after all."

Cynder gave another weary nod to Spyro in recognition, and proceeded to the entrance of the temple. Spyro closely followed. When they approached the gate, Cynder hesitated slightly, and motioned over to Spyro with her head, stepping back slightly to allow him in front of her.

"You go in first, Spyro. I'll follow you in."

Spyro did so, passing in front of her. He walked up to the door, and for a few moments, stared at the large, red circle in the center of the door. Spyro inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with air. Cynder watched as Spyro abruptly exhaled violently, bringing with it a mighty sheet of fire which blasted onto the doorway. The four other circles glowed red as well, unlocking the door. Spyro promptly ceased breathing fire as the door slid open, and they both walked inside the temple.

Cyril, Terrador, and Volteer stood around the pool in the center of the room. They whipped their heads around to face the door startled by the door suddenly opening. Cyril stopped in the middle of something he was saying, apparently already discussing something beforehand. They were shocked to see Spyro and Cynder in front of them, walking into the temple side by side. A short period of silence came over the scene, until Terrador managed to utter, "You-You're back?"

An awkward silence ensued, causing Spyro and Cynder some discomfort, until Volteer broke it with his incessant chattering.

"You're back here? Oh, this is stupendous, marvelous, oh how wonderful! It's good to see you two again! What happened? How are you? We can see the ring of fire is gone, and the volcano now ceases to spew ash and molten debris from its maw! Were you utterly victorious against the forces of evil?"

Cynder smiled. "Still using an excess amount of vocabulary I see, Volteer?"

Cyril laughed. "All the same since you have been gone. He's nearly driven us out of the roof with his constant babbling!"

At once the awkwardness was broken. It was if Spyro and Cynder had never been gone. Cynder answered Volteer's question.

"And yes, we were victorious. Malefor is never to return to the land."

The guardians began instantly commending them for their victory against Malefor.

"Well done, you two!"

"Evil has been vanquished! Long live the era of peace!"

He saw a familiar glow out of the corner of his eye. He grinned when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Spyro! Hey, buddy! You're alive!"

Turning his head, he saw Sparx flying toward him, a look of happiness on his face. Spyros' face lit up as well.

"Sparx! I haven't seen you in forever! How are you? You doing fine?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm doing fine, but what about you? What happened with Malefor? I can't believe I'm saying this, but how is Cynder?"

Spyro hesitated slightly at the mention of Cynder, but answered, "Well, after a long, would I say painful battle with Malefor, me and Cynder defeated him. And uh… yeah."

"I'm, uh… fine, thank you." said Cynder." She was hesitant to mention the news as well. She still had her doubts about their opinions.

Cyril stepped forward, and looked at the two inquisitively.

"Is something wrong? Are you two tired? You just seem a little off, is all..."

"Well, yes, we're tired, but um… that's not why… um… We're, um…"

Spyro finally could not take it any longer. He couldn't stand to see Cynder this uncomfortable. It was now, or never. He stepped forward.

"We have decided to marry." He stated abruptly.

Sparx's jaw dropped. The other guardians stood, staring at Spyro. Silence. Spyro and Cynder felt awkward, and blushed slightly. The quiet lasted about ten seconds, before Volteer, once again, broke it.

"Well, that's wonderful news! Although, I must say, after all you've been through together, I would expect so as much. Well done, and congratulations on the love you two share! Bravo!"

Terrador shook his head admiringly. "Ignitus was right. You two do share a bond that is unbreakable."

Cyril could not find the right words to say, and Sparx were still in disbelief. Spyro sauntered over to Sparx, who stared at Spyro as if he had two heads. Sparx stuttered in disbelief of what he just heard.

"Y- You're marrying Cynder. Wh- Wh- Why?"

Spyro turned his head and looked Cynder in the eyes.

"Because I love her."

Cynder blushed deeply. Sparx sulked.

"What on earth could make you…?"

"That's enough, Sparx!" Cyril piped up, "None of us understand their reasons, only they do, and the least you could do is show some support in the most important decision of their lives!"

Sparx still stared in disbelief. "Uhhh…"

Spyro rolled his eyes at Sparx. He motioned to Cynder.

"Come on, Cynder. Let's get some rest. We're very tired; could you show us where a room to sleep in is?"

Terrador motioned to a small staircase. "There's a dormitory that's open in the third hallway on the left. Would that suit?"

Cynder nodded her head. "Yes. Let's go, Spyro."

Spyro followed her up, glad to sleep after their long, grueling flight back home.

Meanwhile, Sparx turned to Terrador.

"At east my fat lard of a brother is getting married to somebody."

His comment was greeted by hard glares from all the guardians. Sparx shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, can't blame a poor little dragonfly for an opinion, can you?"

Volteer ventured out onto the outside region of the temple, looking at the nighttime sky, filled with stars. The moon shone brightly, casting its light onto the world below. All that Volteer could see was totally serene, completely peaceful in all aspects. He heard the soft chirruping of crickets echo out over the land, and the gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees, creating a calm, warming feeling in the dragon guardian. Volteer sighed softly, and began to turn around and head back to the temple, when something strange caught his eye.

Curious, Volteer turned back around to face the sky. A tiny, flickering light showed itself in the distance. A candle?

No, it wasn't a candle. But what was it?

Volteer partially closed his eyes to give himself a better view of the strange light. It had gotten bigger. A campfire, perhaps?

No, that could not be. It was too far away. And too big.

"Wait," said Volteer to himself. "Is that another one?"

Another light had formed up, a little bit to the right of the first one. The first one had already grown three times its size. A steady glow had formed between the two spots of light.

"What the…"

Suddenly, Volteer spotted two more splotches of light like the first two. Another glow formed between them, and lit up the night sky.

"No…" Volteer began, his eyes riveted on the scene. "It cannot be!"

The lights that Volteer saw, he realized were made of fire. They were fire.

"No! This is… it's a monstrosity!"

Volteer flapped his wings once, and zoomed across the short gap from the deck to the side door. He landed, sliding through the main room, stopping short of Cyril. He asked rather teasingly, "My, my, Volteer! What are you in such a hurry for?"

Volteer jerked his head to the side door. "Why don't you come and find out for yourself, hmm?"

Authors Note: I tried to improve this chapter, but it was hard. I hope these first two chapters were better than they were. I hope you liked it, despite them being very similar.