The third book in the L-Emerald series. If you have not read Dying Knight or Darkened Time, you might want to now. Or you might be seriously

confused. Unless of course you want to be confused then go ahead and read this :) This book was an interesting challenge to do but I'd have to say

it's not my favorite out of the ones I've previously done. However, this does not make the story a bad one and I still love it. :) Enjoy and comment! ~DakotaShryke

Prologue

I'm going into Super Silver. He thought. But how?

He slowly turned to Blaze, pulling out his L-Emerald from behind his spines. He stared at it, remembering the night Icefire had given it to him. The night he had

accepted her.

"You asked for my help. I can't back down now. Not when other's lives are at stake."

Slowly, Blaze lifted a hand and grasped it. She jumped a little as a spark shot through her arm, and then looked up to say something. But he was already gone.

"Let's get on with it then."

Calcifer glared at him, he blew out a hot steam of air. Silver rose into the sky until he was face-to-face with the lava beast.

"Are you ready?" Calcifer growled inside of Silver's head.

"Are you?"

He levitated a huge rock and flung it at one of Calcifer's eyes. It met its mark, causing the creature to roar in pain as he tried to get it out.

"Keep it. I want you to have it."

As he ran he could feel something powerful inside of him, when he looked down at his hands they were glowing a golden color.

I'm sorry, Icefire...

He reached out for the fire; catching it before it hit Blaze. Levitating it he swung it around toward Calcifer.

"Yeah. But I'll be back. I promise."

Silver crashed to the ground. Pain shot through his body as he slowly stood to his feet.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

Every inch of his body throbbed with pain. Calcifer loomed over him, all four glowing eyes showed hate.

"I'll miss you."

She smiled and hugged him, catching Silver off-guard. He slowly moved his arms to hug her back. A smile on his face.

"I'll miss you too."

The future and the past had mixed… Almost perfectly.

Almost.

Chapter One

"Where do you live?" She asked.

"In the future…" He replied.

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him dumbfounded, "The future?"

Silver bumped into a vase, causing it to topple over. Sylvia caught it before it hit the ground and set it back on its stand.

"You're off today." She said, raising an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"Nothing." He didn't want to tell her that he had started having weird flashbacks of things he should remember, but didn't.

"Well, alright then, let's just hurry before we get caught. I want to be out of here with that map before the guards find us." Sylvia said as she started to walk further

into the museum.

"Yeah."

Silver followed her into another exhibit of ancient history. Sylvia started looking at the different maps, trying to find the one that O.N.E. wanted. Silver came across

the map that they were looking for. The map that led to the fire beast, Calcifer.

"Hey, Sylvia," Silver called softly, "I think I found the map we are looking for."

Sylvia hurried over to his side and looked down at it. "Yup, that's the one."

Slowly she started scratching the glass with the small knife that she always had with her. Once the glass was out of the way, Silver levitated the map out of the case

and rolled it up.

"There, now that that is over, we can get back to O.N.E." Silver slipped the map into a bag.

He looked up at Sylvia who was trying to stuff another map into her bag.

"What are you doing?" He asked, levitating it out of her grasp.

She gasped and tried to get the map back, but it was already in Silver's hands.

"What? A map to the locations of the Ring of Life?" He asked. "Sylvia, what are you trying to do?"

The raven looked down at the floor. "You wouldn't understand."

"Tell me." He urged.

"I want to bring my sister back with the Ring of Life!"

"Whoa, I didn't think you would tell me that quickly." He raised an eyebrow.

"I had to get it out." She sighed. "Please, let me have the map so I can get her back."

Silver shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you shouldn't bring her back. Some things that die are meant to just stay dead."

Sylvia's eyes flashed. "So you're saying my sister shouldn't be alive? That she shouldn't have the joy of living longer? She was so young, too young to die!"

"I'm sorry, Sylvia, but that's just the way it has to be."

"I'll find a way to get her back, Silver!" She snarled. "With or without that map!"

She pushed him into one of the cases and stared back out the way they came. Silver watched her go and looked back down at the map in his hands. This shouldn't

even be on exhibit. It brings too much hope for broken souls.

Silver looked at one of the torches that dimly lit the room, then levitated the map and tossed it in. He watched it burn until it was nothing more than ashes, and then

turned and started after the raven. Reaching down, he fished through his bag for the other map, only to find it was not there.

"Sylvia!" Silver yelled out as the raven continued up the volcano's face. "Don't do it!"

Sylvia still kept going up. "You can't stop me! I will find the Calcifer beast so that he can sniff out the Ring!"

"How do you know the beast can sniff it out?" He said as he flew up to her side.

Sylvia tried to smack him with her dagger but he avoided it. "I read that he has a smell for life."

"Sylvia, please. Stop while you can. You'll just get yourself hurt."

"Does it look like I care?" She growled.

The surface of the volcano shook and both hedgehog and raven were thrown to the ground. The mountain started to spit up flames and sparks, Silver looked at Sylvia

pleadingly.

"Come on, just give it up. How do you know he will help you?"

Sylvia shrieked and scratched Silver's face and struggled up the mountain side again. "You don't care, do you?"

"I care for your safety! Why should I care about someone who is already dead?" Silver levitated her and brought her back down to him.

Sylvia struggled to get out of his grasp. "Let go!"

He did and she attacked him head on. Silver defended himself from the fury of the raven.

"Let's not fight about this!"

"You're the one making me. I am fighting for my sister's life!" She stopped attacking him and started flying up the mountain. Silver started after her, flying past rocks

that had just started being spat up by the volcano. Then the mountain erupted.

Lava started falling down on both of them, a medium fire rock plummeted to the ground, right were Sylvia was.

No!

He landed and used all of his strength to stop the fire rock from hitting Sylvia. "Sylvia! Please, now is not the time to look for that fire beast, the volcano is about to

destroy us, unless we leave now!"

"Just another excuse to make me not find Calcifer." She snarled as she threw darts at him.

"No it's not!" Silver stopped levitating the fire ball and deflected the daggers. The rock fell towards her, the raven looked up and tried to dodge the fire ball before it

hit her, but it was too late.

"NO!" Silver rushed towards the bolder and levitated it off of her. She lay there; her once beautiful face was now nothing more but burnt skin and blood, her right eye

was gone and her beak torn.

"Sylvia… I am so sorry." Silver said.

"I… hate you…" She whispered before she lost consciousness.

Silver lifted her up and started down the mountain.

The fox turned to look at him. "You know her?"

Silver glowered. "Know her? She's pure evil that bird is!"