Chapter 5

Friend or Foe?

Hunter, Cynder, and Sparx had been traveling on foot for days with still no sign of Spyro. The sun was setting in the west as the small party finally stopped to rest in the same forest Spyro had been in a few days before. Hunter went to gather firewood while Cynder and Sparx stayed at their campsite. Sparx noticed that Cynder had been silent ever since they had started their journey.

Since Spyro had been captured, Sparx and Cynder had put aside their differences and worked together. The dragonfly was concerned about the dragoness's strange behavior and felt like asking about it. He went over to her and cleared his throat to get her attention. She turned around.

" What?" she asked weakly.

Sparx couldn't help but kid her. " Finally she speaks!" he declared as he raised his arms into the air.

She managed a weak smile then asked, " So what do you want you pesky mosquito?"

He shrugged. " I don't know. Maybe I was just wondering about why you haven't even talked this whole time until just now."

Now it was Cynder's turn to shrug. She sighed, " Well, it just…you know…I'm worried about Spyro."

"I'm worried about him too, but you don't see me all depressed about it."

Cynder seemed angry with this. " You just don't get it, Sparx. To tell you the truth, I love Spyro, and I want to tell him before anything else happens. It may already be too late." She turned away from the yellow dragonfly.

Just as she finished saying this, Hunter returned with the firewood. He looked over at them and saw they were both seemed upset. " What did you two do to each other now?" he asked.

Sparx tried to act casual even though it was nearly impossible. He knew Cynder had liked Spyro, but loved? They barely knew each other. Trying to forget about it he merely replied, " Oh you know, the usual."

Hunter just decided to leave them alone. Whatever it was, they could solve it by themselves. He started a fire and sighed as he warmed himself by it. Why hadn't he just stayed with Spyro and helped him escape? Then Cynder and Sparx could have left with him instead of having Hunter feeling guilty and going on a quest he'd rather not be on. He hadn't just wanted to let them go by themselves though. It was dangerous. He tried to forget about it and focus on how they would find the illusive purple dragon. The sooner they did, the sooner he could go back home.

Later that night when the fire had died down, the three were sleeping peacefully. At least Hunter and Sparx anyway. Cynder tossed around on the hard dirt. She was having a strange dream. In it she saw Spyro getting captured much like the way she had actually seen it. But as it continued, it was as if she was seeing everything through someone else's eyes.

She watched as he was thrown into his prison cell and tortured by the apes. She saw Hunter break him out and when he met Ignitus. The black dragoness saw almost everything except when Spyro met Blaze. The dream continued on until Cynder realized where Spyro was. Finally she knew he was O.K. Finally she could find him and tell him how she really felt.

Blaze was exhausted. He had lost sight of Spyro hours ago and felt like he was getting nowhere. He finally stopped flying and landed in a small clearing with a stream running lazily through it. He took a long drink then lay down and closed his eyes. Something watched him from some bushes not too far away from where he slept. It was Mulgrath. His grey eyes were a strange color in the pale moonlight.

He stared expressionlessly at Blaze. He was pathetic. Why had Malefor sent him to find the purple dragon? Even if he did, Mulgrath doubted he could capture him again. But that was why Malefor had sent him. To make sure the young fire dragon did capture Spyro. And he would, with the ghost ape's help.

Surprisingly, Mulgrath had a lot of patience. Well, it wasn't like he had to worry about death or anything. He simply crouched in the bushes until Blaze woke up the next morning, thinking of the Dark Master and his plans for Spyro.

Blaze stretched. He was stiff. He stood up slowly and went over to the little stream. The fire dragon splashed the cool water in his face and sighed exhaustedly. Suddenly, he heard voices. He dashed from the clearing and into the forest surrounding it. The voices came closer, and soon he could see two forms making their way to the stream through the thick forest.

A cheetah like creature came into the clearing and journeyed on without hesitation. He carried a finely crafted bow and a quiver of arrows on his back. He was followed by a dragonfly, which followed quickly behind. Last, a beautiful black dragoness appeared, taking her time, unlike the others. She stopped to get a drink from the small stream and stood there for a moment.

Blaze had never seen a female dragon, and thought that this one was beautiful. Getting up his courage, he emerged from his hiding place and stepped out into the open. The dragoness looked up at him and immediately took on a fighting stance.

" Wait! It's O.K. I mean you no harm," he tried to persuade.

The dragoness relaxed a little then asked in a strong voice, " Who are you? I thought that all the other dragons were dead."

He smiled slightly. " My name is Blaze, and I'm obviously not dead. Who are you?"

" I am Cynder," she replied then seemed to examine him. " How did you get here?"

Blaze didn't know if it was the best idea to tell her his mission, but he did anyway. " I'm on a quest to find an escaped prisoner of the Dragon Master. I must find him and bring him back before he hurts anyone."

" I've never heard of the Dragon Master. Anyway, I'm on a mission to find my friend. We need his help to defeat the Dark Master."

" The Dark Master? Don't know him. He sounds dangerous."

" He is. Very."

The two continued asking questions, both not having a clue who the other really was. As Mulgrath watched Blaze and Cynder he became angry. The fire dragon was supposed to be out looking for Spyro, not talking with some dragoness. Especially not when that dragoness was Cynder. Mulgrath suddenly became invisible and made his way silently over to the two. He came up behind Blaze and every time he tried to continue his talk with Cynder, he would kick him in the back of the leg.

Blaze was about to give up the conversation because of the pain, when the two creatures he had seen before came back into the clearing. The cheetah looked over at the pair with an arrow notched on his bow. " Get away from her!" he yelled.

When Blaze remained where he was, he shot the arrow at him. It missed by a few inches.

" Hunter, stop!" Cynder shouted at him, but to no avail. He refused to listen as he sent more deadly arrows at the fire dragon.

He was sending such a fierce volley of them that Blaze had no choice but to escape. He flapped his wings furiously and was soon flying away from the three unharmed. Soon, he was out of arrow range. Hunter stopped firing the arrows and glanced over at Cynder. She seemed pretty angry.

" Hunter! He wasn't hurting me. He was a friend."

Hunter seemed embarrassed. He scratched the back of his neck with his paw, something he did every time he was nervous. " Oops," was all he could manage.

Cynder sighed and began to walk away back towards the forest. If there was one thing they could all agree on it was the sooner they found Spyro, the better.

Finally Chapter 5 is done! Chapter 6 is on it's way. Please R&R. I really want to know what you think of this so far.