Out of the Darkness

The surrounding darkness enveloped her like a thick blanket. Not just her vision was impaired, but her very mind felt trapped in the void of nothingness. Her eyes widened in a futile attempt to let more light in. There were moments when she thought she felt movement around her but, in the absence of light, it was impossible for her to know for sure.

The dark shroud that imprisoned her started to play tricks on her. Blurred, unfathomable shapes darted past her and every footstep sent echoes bouncing off every surface.

The lack of sight did not mean that she could not navigate though, as Ember possessed an excellent sense of hearing. This allowed her to use the echoes in order to continue her curious journey without smacking snout-first into a wall.

As she wandered down the corridor, she re-played the chain of events that brought her here in her mind. This lead her down a disturbing train of thought.

"What If none of this works?"

She stopped moving. She was gazing at the floor, or rather, in the floor's direction. A thought crept stealthily to the front of her mind. One that she had been suppressing ever since she first set off creating the time device.

"What if Spyro in gone forever?"

Her sapphire eyes welled up with tears and she shut them tightly. Her jaw clenched as she desperately tried to dispel the thought. She folded her arms across her scaled chest, hugging herself for comfort. Her body shook as she sank, sobbing, to her knees.

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, ending their brief journey when they reached the floor.

She missed his warm, loving embrace and his strong but gentle arms around her. She missed waking up to his gaze upon her, staring at her in a way that only he could. She missed his kiss. His warm lips firmly pressed against her's. She felt empty. Empty and alone in a dark and formidable world were nothing seemed right. The memories of Spyro tormented her.

"Why did you go?" She whispered into the void.

She struggled with herself, trying to maintain control of her emotions. But with an anger and a rage as strong as hers, she may as well be trying to stop an orbiting planet dead in it's tracks. With a scream that shook the walls around her, she raised her fist and brought it thundering down into the floor. Pain shot up through her arm bringing more tears. The floor, though not visible, had splintered into fragments and a small crater had been created by Ember's fist. She rubbed her arm, bringing feeling back into it. The pain extinguished the anger, and Ember sat silently, keeping all other thoughts aside. She searched for her original objective in her memory but her head hurt. She got to her feet, still shaking, but under control again.

"Restore the power," The memory returned and with it, determination. She was angry that she had just lost it. Cursing, she went into a steady sprint. Her footsteps on the hard, dusty floor let her know exactly where she was going. Sadly, they didn't tell her if anything was in front of her feet. Her foot caught on something small, but heavy.

"Oof!"

She hit the floor with a thud and smacked her head on something metallic. There was a small click, followed by a whirring. Ember blinked, trying to get rid of the stars that were dancing in front of her eyes. Then it occurred to her that the corridor was being lit by a faint blue light. Curious, she lifted her head and stared forwards.

A broken, but active, computer lay on the ground. It displayed a number of error messages before opening a power interface. Ember let out a small, triumphant laugh and dragged herself to a kneeling position. The computer displayed a small map of the facility. The different sections of the base were dulled out with little numbers at the side. All of them displayed zeros. There were two red dots, steadily blinking. One was moving slowly, up and down a room. The other was motionless in a corridor.

"Mine and Flair's heat signatures," realised Ember, running a pearly white talon across the smooth screen. A message was in the top left corner of the glowing rectangle. It read 'Power Failure, check generator couplings.'

Ember grinned.

"Finally, I'm getting somewhere," she thought aloud.

A large metal door loomed to her left. It was partially open but without the power, the computer couldn't open it. That didn't mean Ember couldn't get in though. She got to her feet again and grabbed the edge of the door. She shunted it with her weight and it slowly grated against the ground as it slid open further. Ember stopped to take a break. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she grabbed the door again, this time using her strength instead of her body weight. The door shuddered, jammed on something inside the wall.

"You have got to be kidding me!" yelled Ember in frustration.

Summoning as much power as she possibly could, Ember faced the wall and pelted it with a fireball the size of a dragon egg. The wall groaned and shuddered with the force of the blast. The air rippled around the super-heated metal and a gigantic split formed as the metal cooled. Ember plunged her claw into the gap and viciously ripped out the internals. The computer on the floor flickered and the door seemed to be attempting to close.

"Oh no you DON'T!" yelled Ember, diving in front of the door and thumping it open fully.

With a grin, Ember disappeared inside the room beyond and was once again plunged into a thick cloak of darkness. Nothing was visible except for a small, sparking console at the other end of the room. Cautiously, she moved towards it. She placed one foot in front of the other, careful to avoid any more trips or plummets to the ground.

On the screen read a message, 'Reset system?'

Ember noticed two buttons at the base of this screen and pondered wether or not to push one.

A crackle of static over the com system made her jump into a defensive guard.

"Ember? Ember are you there?" It was Flair's voice. Realising that the com system was the cause of her fright, Ember let out an aggressive growl.

"I'm right here Flair, and I need your help," Ember spoke into the microphone.

After seconds of silence, Flair's voice filled the otherwise silent air.

"I was starting to get worried about you. You've been quiet for ages! Anyway, glad to hear you're okay...What did you need help with?"

"Well, I found a computer in this room that asks if I want to reset the system. I'm not sure which button to press. What should I do?" Asked Ember, folding her other arm underneath the one that was holding up the speaker.

"Well...If you reset the system you'll bring all internal systems back online."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"Well, internal defence systems might activate, which means that we may find ourselves in a bit of trouble."

"Any other options?"

"...No."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to find out wether this place can still defend itself," she stated, giving the computer another quizzical look.

"Erm... do you even know what the Draconic military use as defences?" asked Flair, the concern evident in his voice.

"Robots? Genetic experiments? Lasers? Bullets? Predators? I'm not sure but I'm aching to find out," said Ember with a dry smile.

"Well, they use pretty much all of them...wait..., is anyone down there with you?"

This question puzzled her, and with little thought she replied, "No, I'm down here all by my little self...Why?"

"Well, a while ago I managed to hack into a computer interface on your level and I found our heat signatures on it. Now I'm picking up mine, yours and about four others!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Ember, casting a worried look over her shoulder.

"Along your corridor, to the left about two hundred metres. There are four objects, immobile in a small room. They only popped up a short time ago."

"Any idea what they are?" asked Ember, poking her head out of the door and looking both ways.

"Nope...I think you should just reset the system and get back here. We're wasting time."

"Kay then," and with that, Ember hit the reset button. There was a long, drawn-out alarm sound, followed by a buzzing. This grew steadily louder until it engulfed the entire level. The lights flickered on, growing brighter after a couple of nanoseconds. Ember shut her eyes. After all the wandering around in the dark, the light stung her.

"Hey, whatever you just did re-activated the lights and door operation systems! Nice one! Now get the hell outta there so we can bust out of this fucking place."

"On my way, as soon as my eyes adjust."

Ember slowly opened her eyes and observed her surroundings. She was in a dull, grubby white room filled with boxes and sheets of crumpled paper. Tanks of fluid stood tall in each corner, looming over Ember and sending chills up her spine. A faint smashing sound reached her ears, and she spun around to face the door.

"Ember! Those things on the map? They're moving towards you! Fast!"

"What?" Panic crept into her and wrapped it's frozen tendrils around her heart.

She ran for the door and peered out. Nothing was approaching, but a sound, distant and menacing, echoed through the halls. Something was definitely on it's way.

Her pupils narrowed as her vision focussed on the left turn at the end of the hall. Four shining metallic claws clamped themselves around the corner of the wall. These were followed by two glowing yellow eyes that bore into Ember's. It was a gigantic, heavy-duty mechanical juggernaut. Though rusty and apparently old, it looked absolutely terrifying.

"Flair?!" she asked over the com, fear in her voice.

"RUN!" he yelled.

Jolting herself out of the petrified trance that had held her in place, Ember turned around and bolted towards the other end of the corridor. Ember fell onto all four legs, running with terrific speed. She held her tail straight in order to keep the balance in her body. She reached the opposite corner and leapt up onto the wall. She sprang off it and changed direction down another corridor, tearing a chunk out of the concrete in the process. Faster and faster she pelted forwards, leaping over obstacles and whipping through the air like a dart.

The large, dark blast door was now in sight and the distance between her and the door was depleting rapidly. With a large grinding of metal and a wave of horror for Ember, the door began to slide down. The exit was now shrinking and Ember's time was running out. She folded her wings back and pounded her feet against the ground, now thundering along like a locomotive.

It was no good. The door was centimetres away from sealing completely, and no amount of strength would be able to open it again.

"FLAIR!" she screamed in the intercom, seconds before the door slammed shut. She slammed her talons into the ground and went into a skid. The floor split as she went and her tail lashed wildly into either side of the corridor, battering the solid surface in order to slow down.

After scraping along for about half a minute, she ground to a halt, inches away from the door. Her scales were burning with the friction and her breathing was heavy and rapid.

Her ears picked up the steady 'Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud' of heavy metal feet pounding the ground behind her.

Her head whipped around and gazed fearfully up the corridor.

"Ember! The unidentified heat signatures are closing fast and your not moving! What's wrong?!" asked Flair, panic in his voice.

"T-the...the blast door...s-sealed...I couldn't... make it... in time!" she said between gasps of air.

The com system was silent. Ember backed up against the door, getting ready for the robot to emerge from behind the corner. Slowly, it stepped out and turned it's head towards Ember.

She flipped her gun out and planted one bullet in it's chest and three in it's head. It crumpled to the floor with a dull whine.

She crept to the corner and looked around to see if any other robots were waiting at the other end of the corridor. Unfortunately, there was one standing right in front of her. It knocked the gun flying and thumped her back against the door. Ember was now trapped with a killing machine on approach.

"SUBJECT-UNIDENTIFIED. PROCEED WITH EXTERMINATION."

Every step it took towards her made her heart pound harder against her chest. Her eyes were wide and fearful as she stared into the blank, uncaring eyes of the mechanic guard. It's arm raised and a panel slid back, revealing a small cannon that was charging with bluey/grey energy. It grabbed her by the neck and the cannon aimed at her head.

"This can't be happening! Why is this happening? Oh God, I'm so sorry! Spyro! Please! It can't end like this! I didn't come this far to fail! I can't fail him!"

Spiralling around in her head were the memories from years ago when her and Spyro first met. Memories of their lives together. Memories of her hero, memories of her mate.Her desperation built into aggression and she felt something inside of her change.

"IT WON'T END LIKE THIS!" Her mental scream rang through her, filling her with anger and determination that she had never felt before. She released a deafening roar and bared her lethal, razor-like teeth. Her pupils shrank and her soul filled to the very core with burning hot rage. She didn't think, she just attacked. At the back of her mouth, and orange glow grew into a stream of fire. It blasted from her throat and slammed into the robots head. The force of this shunted it backwards and this allowed Ember to drop back to the floor.

She arched her back and became purely instinctual as her inner beats was allowed to take control. Growling savagely, Ember dived onto the robot's chest and took a swipe at it's neck. Her talons flashed through the air and tore a gaping hole. Alarmed, it swung a fist at her, but she grabbed it's shoulders and flipped over onto it's back and then rolled backwards under it's legs. She slammed forwards and head-butted it's groin. With a crunch, the robot buckled and flew a couple of metres before landing on the floor with a crash. Ember prowled up to it's head, grasped it with her claws and then tore it to pieces. Her tail curled around its legs and crushed them into scrap. To finish it off, she plunged her hand into it's chest and felt around for something, anything to rip out. Finding a round, heavy chunk of metal, she grabbed it and removed it with a low growl.

Ember had no idea where this power was coming from, but she embraced it and lapped it up, hungrily yearning for more. Her feral state was far from over. Her ears picked up another sound. More heavy clunking.

"More...MORE!" She cried in her mind. Absorbing the rage and combining that with her natural instincts.

She let out another roar and ran up the corridor to the other two that had now appeared. She leapt up in between them and grabbed their shoulders. She hooked her tail behind the leg of one and her leg behind the leg of the other and rolled in mid air. This flipped them both over and landed her safely on the floor. The robots, however, fell to the floor with a shattering sound.

Ember, still on all fours, hopped up to the side of one and clamped her jaws over it's sides. She lifted it in her mouth and crunched down, splitting it's sides. Her tail skewered the other one and whipped it into the wall where it stayed. She ripped it's head off with her teeth and tore what remained of it's body into pieces, growling deeply as she went.

Retaining her rage but becoming more controlled, she grabbed the other by it's head and hammered in into a wall with one quick thrust. She jumped up, spun and then ploughed her foot into it's mid-section. This destroyed it instantly.

"Ember? Are you alright? Your heat signature is, like, dancing right in front of the others but they don't seem to do anything apart from fade off screen. Ember? You there? Ember?" Flair's voice fell upon deaf ears as she pummelled the remains into the ground.

"THIS UNIT IS DAMAGED...BACKUP REQUEST-T-TED."

More machines marched up through the hall, weapons raised and directed at Ember. Her eyes fixed on her targets and she shot across the ground towards them. They fired as many times as they could, but the bursts of plasma were too slow to hit the enraged dragon.

She whipped her tail around and swept the first off of it's feet. She leapt up onto, then off of, the wall and slammed into the one on the left. It thumped down onto it's back and skidded down the corridor.

Ember's wings smashed one of the lights as they ground along. The others flickered and dimmed. Ember didn't need the light though, as her vision could slice through the dark like a sword. She turned and made her way back towards the third robot.

It fired repeatedly at her but she avoided all of them. She grabbed it by the leg and pulled it down underneath her. She gazed into it's yellow eyes and brought herself right up close to it. She snaked her hand underneath it's chest armour and stabbed it in as far as it would go. She watched it struggle with dark amusement. She snapped her jaws at it and growled as it attempted to attack. She opened her jaw slowly, clamped it down on the defenceless robot and crushed it with ease.

She turned and landed on the other one that had skidded down the hall. She crushed it's head with her hand and hummed in contempt as a pool of oil gathered at the base of it's neck.

"To the door. The danger has passed...for now."

Ember closed her jaws and her pupils grew to their normal size again. A pulsation of weakness spread through out her and she slumped to the floor. Her state of bestial rage was over. Her head throbbed as she lifted herself up and she staggered a little. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind, but to no avail. Using the wall as a support, Stepping over the mangled heaps of metal that remained, Ember made her way towards the large door that separated her from Flair.

"Ember! Please talk to me! What's going on down there?!" Flair's voice contained anger and a slight hint of desperation.

"I'm...I-I'm okay...I think..." Murmured Ember in response.

"What's wrong? Are you injured?"

"Im fine...honestly.." replied Ember.

"Okay...can you get back yet? The main exit is working again so we can get out, but I'm not going anywhere until you make it out"

"Your concern is noted...thank you...The only problem is that the blast door is sealed. There's no way I can open it from here...I'm stuck."

"Can you get back to the system room?"

"Okay, I'm on may way there," Ember said, turning around and sprinting back up the corridor. She still felt weak, but her yearning for freedom was overpowering. The lights at the distant end of the corridor started to flicker and die, as if some invisible entity was approaching, turning them off as it went.

Ember ignored it and focussed her attention on the closed door that separated her from the reset button. She slouched against the wall and thought to herself.

"The door's closed...Can't open it with strength...Can't blast it...Or can I?"

Ember positioned herself in front of the door and charged a fireball. She felt the heat rushing up her throat. The energy gathered in her mouth and she pushed it at the door. With a sound like thunder, it struck, tearing a gaping hole in the metal surface of the door.

While it was still cooling, Ember struck the side of the hole with her tail, thus making it wider. She repeated this until it was large enough for her to squeeze through.

Flair sat on the dusty floor, computer in lap, gazing in a concerned fashion at the tiny red dot that represented Ember on his computer's screen. There had been a massive burst of red a second ago, but he suspected that was just Ember attempting to get through the door.

He sighed, leaning back against the wall, bitterly wishing that he still had the X69 Crisis Suit. With that, he could've gone down there and done the job already. Not to mention Ember would be safe right now.

He examined his bandaged wound with distaste. He carefully wiped away the dried blood on his leg, wincing as claw caught on one of the white pieces of material. He hammered his fist into the ground beside him, clenching his jaw and closing his eyes. When the pain had subsided, he decided to contact Ember over the communication system again.

"Why am I even here with her?" he asked himself.

He held the button down and spoke into the microphone.

"Everything alright?" he asked, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. A few seconds of silence followed.

"I'm fine, thanks, but the computer's busted..." came the reply.

Narrowing his eyes, he continued, "What do you mean, 'Broken'?"

"Well it doesn't have the reset option anymore. It just flashes up with an 'Enter password' box."

"That's not good...Okay, place the uplink on the side of the computer and I'll see if I can hack it," He said, getting his laptop ready and rubbing his eyes.

"Your all hooked up. I'll tell you when you're able to start hacking because the computer keeps shutting off."

Flair waited, talons ready at the keys of the console in front of him.

"Now!" came Ember's voice. Immediately, Flair started furiously pounding the keys. Boxes popped up on the screen and different codes appeared. Flair concentrated on the main code, ripping the other systems apart to find the right combination.

"Almost done," he said quickly into the mic, before returning to his furious battle with the numbers. Seconds passed, though to Ember it seemed like hours.

"Okay, Ember, Hold both keys down and wait for approximately five seconds, then release and tap 'Accept.' Okay?" Flair spoke with enthusiasm that made Ember grin slightly, even though he was the only thing that could help her out of the dark.

Ember held the keys. Her hands were shaking and she wasn't sure wether it was through fear or excitement. She released and hit 'accept.' The screen blanked out completely and didn't re-start.

"Did it work?" asked Flair, hopefully. His fingers hovered over the board, forzen and waiting for her response.

"The...the screen...It's gone..." Ember's voice was faint.

"What?...No, that can't be right! I got the code! It should work!" Flair's voice was filled with anger. She heard his roar, even though the mic was off.

Ember bit her lip and closed her eyes. Her shoulders drooped and she gave the computer one last hopeful tap. Suddenly, It flickered into life. The screen was once again asking for a system re-boot.

"FLAIR! IT'S WORKING! THE COMPUTER WAS ON SCREEN SAVER! YOU DID IT!"

Embers delighted laughter brought a sigh of relief and a smile to Flair. He shoved the laptop to one side and dropped to the floor. He stared up at the ceiling, laughing nervously.

The lights went out and the entire base shut off. Then the light re-activated. Ember ran to the blast door and whispered to herself.

"Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!"

With a low scraping sound, the door slid slowly open. Ember beamed and raced out into the light again. She spotted Flair on the floor and ran over to him, lifted him up and gave him a hug that crushed the air out of his body.

"E-..Ember! I c-can't...b-breath!" He gasped. She released him and planted a kiss on his cheek, thanking him for saving her life. He smiled at her.

"It was no problem, really. I'm just glad you're safe, otherwise I'd have no one to talk to. Heh," he said, turning to gather his stuff.

"I owe you my life... thank you," she said again. And with a smile, she helped him pack the supplies into a bag.

"You had be worried! What were those things that came after you?" he asked, holding the bag open for her.

"Robots. But they were push-overs," she replied, avoiding what had really happened.

"Hmm. I would have thought they would be zombies or maybe genetic experiments. That would have been interesting," he said, jokingly.

"Well, I preferred the robots. Less blood and bodily fluids."

"What's wrong with bodily fluids? I like my enemies to bleed."

"Well, you didn't strike me as the sadistic type at first," said Ember raising an eye brow.

"Believe me, there's nothing more satisfying then standing over the mangled body of your enemy as they bathe in their own blood. Gives me a real kick," he said, seemingly recollecting an event from his past and smiling to himself.

"Well, I can think of someone I wouldn't mind watching drown in their own blood," Ember commented venomously, staring at the ground. Her sapphire eyes displaying anger.

"I'm not that bad, am I?" he asked, grinning.

"Not you..." Ember closed her eyes, anger burning in the pit of her stomach.

Flair was silent as he sealed the bag and hoisted it up over his shoulder. He was curious as to who Ember meant, but thought it best not to inquire.

"Hey, c'mon. Let's get outta here, otherwise none of us are gonna be watching anyone die," he said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and giving her a sympathetic grin.

"This isn't like me... why do I care?" questioned Flair, mentally. He felt somehow connected to this dragon. It wasn't any kind of attachment though. It felt more like relation. Confused, Flair just watched her expression change to that of determination.

"Agreed, let's just go,"

And with that, they opened the door to the outside world and left the outpost far behind.

First of all, sorry to everyone for this taking so long. I've been running low on inspiration. I hope that my lack of speed has not put any of you off and I hope my next chapter doesn't take as long. Secondly, Lithe, I'm sorry if Flair is out of character in this chapter. I'm trying but it's difficult to get him right. Thirdly, Drak179, I really don't mean to be rude but the wall run is a feature of many games and is not obviously copied from 'Price of Persia' (A game that I've never even played). Also, I am making up this story and so any likenesses between yours and mine are purely co-incidental. Your help is appreciated though, so thanks :)

Thanks for your reviews every one, and I hope you enjoy the story :)