Gabriel hated dreaming. Every time that he would experience pain or an overwhelming emotion as the last thing that happened to him, he would wake up in the same state as in the dream. Sadness, he would wake up crying for an unknown reason. Pain, whether it was a small cut to a loss of a body part, he would wake up with the sense of the pain.

It was the same again, yet somehow, somehow the pain that covered his chest felt... real.

'It's only a dream' Gabriel thought to himself to calm his nerves.'Only a dream'

Normally the pain was instantaneous and went away as quickly as it had come, but the pain he felt now continued.

Gabriel tried to wipe the sweat away that began to bead up on his forehead and slowly slipped into his eye's but couldn't.

Gabriel forced his eye's open through the sting of the sweat. The pain subsided and once his vision cleared all the color drained from his face.

Instead of waking up to his normal bed with his brother across the room getting ready for school, he woke up, strapped down to the bed from his dream. Several bloody rags and cloths filled a bucket on his bedside; the smell made him sick. The pain in his chest was not helping and each moment it only got worse. On a tray next to his bed two crystals, one dull red and one bright red lay with an assortment of medical tools.

He assumed that, because of the dull throbbing from his broken ribs and bones that should have been agonizing, that they were healing crystals. But for what ever reason they had not healed the burning on his chest.

The straps that pinned his forearms and legs down prevented him from reaching the crystal. Luckily though he could reach it with his mouth then figure out how to use it, hoping it would ease the pain which was growing.

The burning sensation was unbearable, almost to the extent where tears were beginning to form in the corners of his eye's as he reached for the crystal.

'Come...on...just a little...more...' He struggled to reach for the crystal and just as his snout had touched the tip of it his neck gave way and forced the tray to fall to the ground.

"Shit." Gabriel said aloud. As if being quiet mattered now.

The crystals along with all the medical supplies, bottles, and other miscellaneous items fell to the floor and crashed loudly alerting any, and everyone.

Gabriel quickly put his head back down and closed his eye's as he tried to pretend to be asleep.

The charade however did not fool the now present Hunter who had been just outside the room.

"I'll let the guardians know you're awake." Hunter said and walked out of the room.

Gabriel lifted his head. "Hey wait I... Damnit." Gabriel sighed. The burning was now getting the better of him and he was about to vomit.

Not even a minuet later, all three guardians along with Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx entered the room.

"Thank you Hunter," Terrador said to the cheetah that stood in the doorway. "You may relax for the rest of the day if you wish."

Hunter put his hood on. "No can do." he said and walked off

Terrador would have given an earthly chuckle if under better circumstances, but now was not the time. Spyro had almost been killed by a crash, Ember was now under the control of Malefor, Flame has just been injured, and a new dragon has appeared and is connected to it all.

"Just a fair warning," Terrador began as he stood staring out of the doorway where he just finished his conversation with Hunter. "This is an interrogation and if at any time we feel threatened by you, we will not hesitate to take actions that may not be pleasant for you." Terrador now turned to face Gabriel with a serious look on his face.

The color that had just returned to Gabriel's face disappeared once more. He gulped in dry air and nodded.

"Good, now is there anything you need before we begin?" Terrador asked with a slight grin on his face. From Gabriel's expression, Terrador realized he had scared the living hell out of him and decided to make the mood a little lighter, after all, he was the same age as Spyro from what he could assume, and he didn't want to frighten him to the point where he wouldn't or even 'couldn't' talk.

Gabriel's voice was shaky and that only added to Spyro, Sparx, and Cynder's struggle to keep quiet. "Asking f-for the crystal would be out of th-the question huh?" Gabriel asked nudging his head towards the crystal that fell to the floor.

Terrador shook his head and his grin widened as he enjoyed the tension in the dragon.

'I suppose asking for a lawyer would be out as well...' Gabriel thought to himself and laughed inwardly trying to ease his tense nerves.

"Would some water be f-fine?" Gabriel asked as politely as he could with a nervous smile on his face.

"Alright, I'm done." Sparx said throwing his arms in the air, no longer able to be silent. He flew out of the room and laughed all the way down the hall.

Terrador sighed. "What are we going to do with him?" He asked rhetorically putting a paw to his forehead.

"We could always glue his mouth shut." Cynder whispered to Spyro.

"That would probably only make him want to talk more." Spyro answered back.

Both of them laughed quietly until Terrador issued them to be silent. "Spyro would you mind getting him some water please?" Terrador asked.

"Oh uh, sure." Spyro said and walked out of the room leaving Cynder with the others.

"I'll go with him." She said quickly and followed suit.

Cynder caught Gabriel trying to stifle a laugh and glared at him as she passed. Gabriel's grin grew wider and Cynder cocked her head up and gave a 'humph' as a response.

Once they were both gone Cyril motioned a few passing guards outside to help clean up the broken glass and fallen tools around the bed. The guards cleaned the mess in a hurry to get away from Gabriel. Just as they finished Spyro returned with a bucket of water and placed it at the end of the bed followed by Cynder who glared at him as she walked in. The two dragons walked by the guardians and sat on their haunches. Cynder placed a wing around Spyro and dragged him in quickly by her side. The scene was comical and Gabriel was about to laugh but he knew better.

"Well here's your water, anything else?" Terrador asked.

"Yeah can I, yah' know, 'drink' the water?" Gabriel asked a little annoyed.

"Oh I'm sorry, you wanted to 'drink the water'? I'm afraid that's not what you asked, you asked merely for the water." Terrador said slyly.

"Heh you're good." Gabriel said. He looked over to Cynder and Spyro was staring at her as she stuck he tongue out at Gabriel triumphantly. "Well damn, guess I should have been more specific." Gabriel sighed.

Terrador finally chuckled. "Alright Volteer you may let him off the bed now."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Cyril questioned.

"Well lets put it this way, if he were one of Malefor's goons than he would've attacked us or tried to escape by now." Terrador explained. "And besides, I think he deserves to get a drink after scaring the life out of him."

"I see your point." Cyril said.

Volteer nodded and unbuckled the fastenings to the straps that were binding Gabriel to the bed. Gabriel rolled off and landed on the ground and try as he might, he couldn't stand. Volteer pushed the bucket of water next to him and sat next to the other guardians watching the display of the trial and error standing. Gabriel gave up on trying to stand and sat on his haunches as well.

The strain of trying to stand and the pain in his chest finally got the better of him and caused him to vomit. The relief of the nausea disappearing from him was overcome by another pain in his throat. As dry as it was from almost two days without anything to drink, it burned like fire and stung as if needles were being jabbed into his throat. Gabriel had had enough and dunked his head into the bucket of water trying to suck in as much as he possibly could.

The relief of the water rushing down his throat, cooling the pain was blissful. Once he had gotten his fill he removed his head and stared blankly into the rippling water. He had yellow almost a golden color scales, but his chest scales were a deep gold that glowed majestically through the cuts that had been marked on his chest. Two lightning shaped horns curved back and a lightning crest swept down his back. He traced a claw across the markings on his chest scales. A sun sat atop a curved archway with a crescent moon at the bottom. The small puncture wound in the center of the arch glowed with a faint red color.

Terrador had cleared his throat for the second time now getting Gabriel's attention.

"Alright now first off, where did you come from?" Terrador asked now beginning the questioning.

"I guess a planet called Earth." Gabriel answered.

"And where is this 'Earth'?"

"I...I don't know." Gabriel said sorrowfully.

"Next question." Terrador changed the obviously sensitive subject. "Who was the hooded one that kidnapped Ember, injured Flame, attacked Hunter and our guards, and tried to kill you?"

Gabriel laughed. "Tried to? No, he needs me, for now at least. He is or was my brother." Gabriel hung his head.

Gabriel's answer got a variety of expressions that were either skeptical or intrigued.

Terrador was one of the more intrigued looks and decided to push on with this specific subject. "And why does he need 'you' exactly?"

"I assume its because we are the only two that know about the Arc."

"The Arc?" Volteer repeated now intrigued as well.

Gabriel nodded. "A few years ago me and my brother would share dreams of this Arc and it showed us... basically those two." Gabriel pointed to Cynder and Spyro, both of whom were shocked. "every day we would watch them fight against each other or help each other until the time when Spyro froze them inside the mountain, then, it just stopped. Three years went by and we didn't have any more dreams until one day when they were freed by Malefor's minions up until a few days ago, and now here we are."

"So what does the Arc have to do with Malefor?" Terrador asked.

"If I could tell you I would," Gabriel said. "All I know is that we need to find it, or the pieces of it from what my brother told me, in three months time ore we would have to face the consequences."

Terrador scratched his chin as he reviewed the information he just received in his head.'If only Ignitus were here'

A few moments of silence passed and Terrador made a statement. "We need to find this Arc or the pieces of it before Malefor does. As of now Ember is captured and Flame is just now recuperating. Gabriel, as it is your brother we are dealing with I want you, Cynder, and Spyro to go out looking for the pieces as I assume he will be there. You three will have a week for preparations so that should be ample time to get the training and supplies you will need." Terrador said. "Gabriel, I assume that you are foreign to your body correct?" He asked.

"If foreign means that I can hardly stand up, then yeah, very foreign." Gabriel joked.

"Alright, Volteer take him and train him as best you can in the next week. Be prepared for anything, dismissed."

Everyone nodded and turned to walk out the door to go do their respective tasks but stopped when an echoing voice called out from behind them. "Hello friends."

Everyone's head's turned simultaneously towards the voice. Ignitus.

Spyro was the first to say anything. "I-Ignitus?"

He couldn't, everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing, yet there he stood as real to one as to the rest. The only difference was his now pale blue scales and a sack that carried a variety of scrolls and books.

"Yes Spyro it is me, but I do not have much time to talk I'm afraid." Ignitus said grimly.

Spyro was a tough dragon, having fought hordes and hordes of Malefor's minions, Cynder, and Malefor himself he never cried, but seeing the one who he had lost, the one who cared for him and gave his life for him stood before them. Spyro's tears dripped to the floor silently and he nodded to Ignitus. Cynder wrapped her wing over Spyro again and drew him in to her side as he silently wept under her wing. Her wing shielded her face but it was useless, everyone knew she was sharing the same tears as Spyro.

Ignitus wanted to comfort the two, he wanted to be there for them, but time was not on his side.

Ignitus through the difficulty of seeing the two dragons in that state spoke to the crowd. "I have come to bear a warning to you all and if you do not take heed of it, I am afraid the consequences will be catastrophic."

Gabriel was the only one unfazed by the sight of Ignitus. He did however know how much he meant to the others and sat there quietly.

Ignitus did something unexpected that even surprised Gabriel. "I assume that Gabriel has informed you of the Arc and that Malefor is looking for it correct?" Ignitus asked. How did he already know about the Arc and about Gabriel?

Though he was confused as the rest Terrador nodded. "But we do not know why."

Ignitus sighed. "Allow me to show you what I have seen." Ignitus breathed in deeply and released a blue mist into the air that surrounded the dragons.

The mist covered the walls, ceiling, and floor as it slowly crawled to the door. Once the entire room was covered in the mist everything started to morph into different shapes and colors until it finally settled onto an open field.

A large gold dragon with one wing and one lightening shaped horn stood in the middle of the field. The world around him was dead, the grass, the trees, dark clouds in the distance struck lightening in several places, the sky a blood red color, everything was either dead or decaying.

The dragon held a small bouquet of flowers in his mouth. The flowers had missing petals and were a shade of dark grey.

A small tombstone lay embedded in the ground in front of a line of graves.

"In memory of all those who sacrificed everything, thank-you."

The grave in front of the tombstone was covered with dirt and dust from years of neglect. Two scales, one dull grey and the other a faded purple were placed just far enough in the grave so you could see it without the wind blowing it away.

Many other graves were like this. One with a blue scale, one with green, yellow, pink, red. An archers bow on one and a cape next to it. A black hooded cape smeared with dried blood and covered in holes on another.

The dragon set the flowers down in front of the tombstone and bowed his head in respect. He moved at the foot of the two scaled grave and sat on his haunches. He plucked a scale from his body and placed it at the foot of the grave.

"So that's it then, you're just, giving up?" A voice from behind the dragon asked.

The gold dragon didn't move, he didn't even fix his gaze from the grave. He sat there motionless before the voice.

A sickening cackle came from the voice. "Didn't you're parents ever teach you it was rude not to look at someone when they talk to you, Gabriel?"

"I have nothing to say to you Malefor, just finish me and go away." Gabriel said still staring at the grave. He had accepted it, many years ago he had accepted that it was over. A voice in his mind had always told him to push forward, to keep going, that maybe someday, someday he could beat Malefor, but now the voice had gone silent, he had given up his will to live. He was skinny now, almost to the bone from lack of food, blood shot eye's and dark bags under them showed the lack of sleep he had, his voice was hoarse from dehydration. It was over, he was finished.

Malefor scoffed and walked in front of him at the head of the grave. Gabriel refused to raise his head and acknowledge him.

"Well you're no fun, I was starting to enjoy chasing you everywhere, watching you flee in fear, it must be hard only having one wing and all." Malefor mocked the dragon. "After all I have to have some entertainment, you and I, we are the only two alive now."

Malefor read the tombstone and laughed at the dragon. "Isn't that touching? And whats this? Is that Spyro's and Cynder's scales? Oh my you have a little collection for each one I killed don't you?" Malefor's sick game was getting the better of Gabriel, he wouldn't hold much longer.

"So Spyro and Cynder together in one grave? Isn't that cute?" He continued his game. "And lets say if I were to, I don't know, remove those scales and burn them to ashes?" Malefor asked as he reached for the scales.

Gabriel's eyes widened in horror and anger. He couldn't hold it any longer. Just before Malefor gripped the scales Gabriel had slammed his paw to the ground and snapped it in half. Gabriel's body was glowing with a gold energy, his eyes had gone full white and a strange trail of energy followed them as he shook his head.

Malefor grunted in pain as he tried to pull back his wrist from the dragon. Gabriel spoke, but when he did, voices, many dark voices echoed off of his words. "Don't touch them." He said and let go of Malefor's paw.

The gold energy swirled up into Gabriel's body and he sighed as Malefor gripped his broken paw.

Gabriel could have killed him then and there, but it wouldn't matter, all his friends were dead, his only family cast out like trash, he had nothing to live for. Killing him like that wouldn't solve anything, he was alone with no food or water, and dying quickly from Malefor instead dying from starvation, dehydration, lack of sleep, or anything else sounded like a relief.

"Please, just... just end it." Gabriel said as he finally looked up into Malefor's face. As large as Gabriel was, Malefor was larger, Malefor was better groomed and looked healthier than him. His pitch black scales showed no light as if from a dark void of nothingness. His horns were well kept and his wings undamaged. His previously broken wrist now fully healed and ready to strike.

"Gladly." He said. Just before Gabriel was about to be killed the blue mist from before returned to take away the scene and returned the room to normal.

Everyone now stared at Gabriel in horror. He too was confused and terrified that his fate would lead to that.

"I have seen all of your deaths and there is nothing you can do to stop it if Malefor gets the pieces of the Arc and uses its power. Do not let him achieve his goal." Ignitus told the group of dragons as his body slowly started to fade away.

"Ignitus don't go!" Spyro shouted.

"Do not worry Spyro, I will visit you again soon, I promise. For now my friends, goodbye."

Ignitus disappeared leaving Spyro in tears once more.

"Come on Spyro, lets go." Cynder said as she lifted his weak body and helped him out of the room

Well there ya' go. Gabriel is stuck in the dragon world, Ignitus gave a warning of pure doom for the others, and we only got one line from Sparx! (Praise the ancestors!)I feel like this was a good chapter :) Please R&R and continue with me on this lil' ol' journey :D