OFF: Took a while but the next chapter is finally done!

Nearing the end...


Chapter 5: Spirit

The true face of Fate lies in blood and Order, not words alone. A Prophecy without base is void.


A sinking feeling... when Cynder opened her eyes, she found herself falling through an empty void.

Nothing as far as the eye can see, not even the slightest hint of anything... yet, she feels as if she was in some sort of liquid. Yet, she could breathe and her eyes did not sting. It was such a strange feeling...

This feeling, it was so familiar... she had been here before, she could tell it wherever that "here" was.

And then, a light begun to rise from below and soon, it covered the endless horizon. But then, a doubt. Was this truly light?... no, this wasn't light... or rather, not just light. She could see the yellow and orange in the light. This was not mere light... it was fire.

And soon enough, the screams of the damned begun to echo as the twisted skies of the Dark Realm were illuminated, the dawn of a new day arriving, the giant purple sun rising in the skies.

It was a horrific sight, the clouds seemingly made of the twisted bones, spines, and skulls of creatures all mixed together to form mock-ups of clouds. Everywhere around her, countless screaming figures, damned souls, falling just as she was. Many clung to rocks, thinking they were floating... but in truth, it was an illusion as everything in this Realm was falling toward the fire, toward the eternal suffering, just as she now was. She could see it now, the twisted, endlessly stretching maw of the abyss below, as if perpetually gulping the unfortunate beings who fell within...

Then, she saw Sparx, falling as she was, flapping his wings in vain, his expression showing pure, raw terror. Considering what was happening, it wasn't a surprise.

But then, she saw something else. Atop a giant falling platform of rock, Gaul stood, fearlessly gazing down, waiting for the inevitable...

Spreading her wings, the female sent herself toward the rock and then, when she was close enough, she slammed her claws into the edge of the rock and climbed, bringing herself on top of it. Surprisingly, even as she climbed on top of it, she didn't feel gravity lifting her off it. Everything was falling at an equal speed here, everything... It was such a strange feeling. You knew you were falling and you had the feeling you were falling and yet, you could move through the air as if there was a floor, absolutely no friction from the air affecting you... But then, this was the Dark Realm, a Realm that eluded the logic and laws of the physical planes.

Sparx, seeing this, finally snapped out of it and went to join Cynder but before he could say anything, the female turned to him and gestured to him.

"Stay back... this is between me and him. Go find Spyro... help him." she told the dragonfly.

Timidly, the dragonfly nodded and then, changed direction, beginning to search among the maze of falling souls.

Now, Cynder was alone. Just her and the king of the Dark Ones...

"Hmm... so you are finally awake." said Gaul, strangely calm, not turning to face her.

The dragoness slowly nodded as she walked toward the Dark One king, stopping in the middle of the platform and sitting down on it.

"So... you never intended to bring back the Dark Master to begin with..." stated Cynder, every bit as calm as the monstrous ape-like creature was.

"You know very well what is the true nature of the Dark Master. It doesn't truly matter which spirit is used as long as the power returns. If you hadn't interfered, the purple dragon's and the Dark Master's spirits would have annihilated each others leaving a mindless body behind..." explained Gaul.

"... one you would have been able to manipulate and control like a puppet. It wouldn't have been the Dark Master ruling the world, creating the utopia of Darkness... it would have been you ruling the world, plunging the Realms into chaos and despair!" finished Cynder, now realizing what Gaul's true plan had been all along.

Amused, Gaul turned and faced Cynder, an evil grin on his deformed, ugly face. The glow of the infernal fire below reflected off his face, now making the full extend of Gaul's insanity and evil all too obvious. Gaul was not simply maniacal. He was pure, raw evil. He was the very incarnation of the Dark Master's most vile work, the embodiment of the mistakes the Dark Master made. In a way, he was more evil than even the Dark Master himself.

"Why being so bitter, Cynder? Wasn't I the one who raised you, allowed you to come in contact with the Dark Master, gave you all the underlings you needed? Besides, what would have been the difference anyway? The Dark Master is no better than I. In both cases, Darkness would have ruled the world."

Cynder stepped back, a mix of terror and sadness coming back to her as the memories came flowing back. She remembered Gaul... his evil gaze, how he allowed his underlings to beat her up supposedly to make her stronger, how he had chained her and tortured her, day after day. He had never shown her any kindness, never... and she remembered how he had used his staff to charge her with magic, plunging her into the Well of Souls.

Even though Gaul was the one who truly raised her, she had never forgiven him. Even back in the day, she had never understood why Gaul was so... so needlessly cruel even among his own underlings. But now, she understood. Gaul was not an underling of the Dark Master. He was a tyrant, a monster that claimed to serve evil but in truth served no one but himself. She had been nothing but a tool to him, a simple mean to an end, a way for him to gain access to the Dark Master's power.

Even Spyro himself was a victim of Gaul's maniacal plans.

She slowly approached the edges of the platform and looked down. Bound in chains, plunged into the light of the Well of Souls, her soul was exposed to the power of the hellish abyss in the past... and now, she was going to become one with the tortured souls. She was going to fall into the fires of the Dark Realm and join the core of damned souls, burning into the flames of hatred for all eternity.

She always knew it would happen. It was the fate of those who serve the Dark Master... and now, nothing mattered anymore. It was over.

... but then, as she looked at Gaul, her fear begun to change.

She had never hated Spyro, even back when she only saw him as an enemy. Yet, she knew of intense, seething hatred. Now she realized what was the source of this anger.

She despised Gaul. She hated him more than anything else in the Universe and would never hate someone or something more than she hated Gaul.

If she was to burn in the Dark Realm for her sins... then so be it. But before that happens... she will face her fears. She will stop running away. She will stand up and do what she should have done many years ago.

She slowly stood up and stared fearlessly into Gaul's eyes, her face no longer showing any traces of fear.

"It is inevitable now, Gaul. Both of us shall now be punished for our sins..." she begun.

The Dark One nodded slowly, looking into the abyss anew. "Yes. All because of your foolish gesture. There is nothing else to do than watch the final fall..."

"I have a score to settle, Gaul. Although I shall be engulfed by the flames of the damned, you will not live to see it. It shall not be by the flames of hatred that you shall be burnt... but by my flame!"

Gaul turned back to face Cynder, his face clearly showing surprise and then, after a moment, his face distorted into an ugly, unfelt smile.

"Such gratitude. I am your father, Cynder. May you like it or not, I was the one who adopted you."

Cynder shook her head vigorously, her rage beginning to show, a soft growl escaping her throat.

"No! You are not my father! A father protects its child, a father cares for its child, a father is by the side of its child, a father loves its child! You... you brought me nothing but fear and suffering! The Dark Master was my father, not you!"

The gigantic monkey being crossed his arms. All of this amused him to no end.

"Even if it's true, what good will it brings you to destroy me? In case you failed to notice, we are both falling toward our respective damnations. Even if you kill me, you will achieve nothing."

"Maybe it won't prevent my own damnation... but I will achieve something. I shall overcome my past! I shall overcome YOU!" spat Cynder, her body shaking as she kept herself from lashing out and tearing that monster in pieces once and for all!

Gaul remained silent and slowly turned back to look down into the abyss, as if in thought...

... and then, after a moment, his smile turned into a maniacal smirk as he turned back to Cynder.

"One last battle, to settle the past while falling toward certain doom... such a tragic, epic finale... You always had a talent for such drama, Cynder. Still, you are a fool. Even the purple dragon himself was no match for me and you couldn't defeat him even when you had the Dark Master's power flowing in your veins. You do not stand a chance. Why do you even bother?"

The female simply glared back...

"I won't back down."

Gaul didn't seem impressed. He simply stood there, stretched himself slowly, and then unsheathed his swords.

"Fine then, Cynder. While we wait for us to reach the abyss and meet our ends... I shall be your opponent."

And at this moment, Gaul lashed out with all of his strength, leaping high into the air before coming down, both swords pointing downward, decided to strike Cynder down in one hit. Seeing this, Cynder folded her wings to the side as she rolled out of the way...

BAM!

Gaul only struck air but that didn't matter as he pulled the blades out of the rock and then leaped again.

The king of the Dark Ones faked out making a long jump but made a short one, trying to fool Cynder into thinking that running toward him would be the best evasion technique.

BAM!

Once again, his swords struck only air and he turned to see Cynder, glaring openly at him on his side.

The Dark One's face distorted into rage as he lifted his body off the platform and made a mighty, giant leap into the air before slamming down into the platform with all of his strength, at an incredible speed.

BAAAAM!

But again, Cynder was not hit. She stood just in front of him, still glaring.

Frustration rose within the monkey. How could Cynder dodge this attack so easily? No matter! He shall just slice her with plain, regular slashes then!

The monkey-like creature pulled on his swords but this time, his pulls were met with a resistance. He rose an eyebrow and pulled harder... only to find out that he was stuck.

"Wha... what? How?" he whined, more to himself than anything else.

"I survived among your troops and was trained by you. I know all of your tricks, Gaul." said the black dragoness in a surprisingly neutral tone.

Gaul responded by growling angrily before pulling into his blades one last time, pulling them out of the ground. He took on a fighting stance, pointing his swords at his opponent...

"Hmph! So, this fight shall be a stalemate... how disappointing! You know that you cannot defeat me, even if you can run from me!"

The king raised his blades and then, brought them down, slamming them into the ground with great strength and speed.

BAM!

crunch!

Gaul's eyes widened as Cynder effortlessly dodged in a surprisingly graceful way, almost like a dance of sorts, before gripping into his left arm and biting into his wrist with all of her strength, right at the place where the armor was thinner.

Instantly, Gaul roared in pain and flung his arm to the side. Cynder didn't resist the movement and held into his wrist with all of her strength as it happened...

RRRRIP!
SCRLUNCH!

Gaul realized too late that it had been a mistake to react in such an impulsive manner. He did succeed into sending Cynder flying off of him with that motion... but as Cynder was sent flying, a sickening sound echoed and blood flew with Cynder.

The female spun in mid-air and landed right on her paws. Then, as Gaul glared at her, Cynder's expression turned into a naughty, devious smile and she slowly gulped down the chunk of flesh, licking her lips of the blood. Normally, Dark One flesh and blood tasted horrible... but just the idea of inflicting pain upon Gaul and taunting him in the meanwhile made it all worthwhile.

Seeing his glare, Cynder's smile widened and then, she winked at him.

This greatly, GREATLY infuriated the Dark One king, his face turning a funny color. How DARE Cynder does this?

... but then, he remembered that Cynder had always been like this. Even in the most intense of battles, there was always something infuriating about Cynder as she made fools of her opponents. She always seemed to play with her victims, always seemed to take it more or less seriously... yet, he reminded himself that this was all a part of Cynder's style. The female dragoness was a master at exploiting her opponent's weaknesses.

Once calmed down, the ape-like monster figured out that it was time to forget about the swords and fight for real. With part of his left hand gone, his grip on his left sword was weakening and he knew that as deadly he was with two swords, as inexperienced he was with only one.

So, rather than let the smile and the wink get to him, Gaul smiled back and then, thrown his swords away, off the platform.

The king of Dark Ones brought his hands to his shoulders and slowly, undone the straps of his armor.

cling... cling...

... and then, he gripped into it with his right hand and thrown it away as well, leaving only his pants and the Soul Gauntlet, attached to his right hand, on, revealing his horrific mutated body in all of its glory. One could see the strange warts, like eyes, all over his flesh, large patches of fur replaced by ugly green scales. As a side-effect from absorbing so much power from Spirit Gems he stole from dragons, Gaul had, ironically, morphed half-way into a dragon himself...

The two glared for a moment and then, Gaul lashed out like a wild beast.

Cynder once again gracefully dodged and Gaul's hand stab slammed into rock. The Dark One king was not going to let it end there however! Oh no! He shall show that insolent female what REAL speed is!

Thus, almost instantly after this, Gaul spun around as he swung his arms upward, trying to catch Cynder in the middle of her evasion leap. The dragoness didn't show any signs of fear nor surprise as she flapped her wings, adjusting her angle to dodge the attack.

... yet, she felt the claws brushing against her. A wide smile came to her face as she felt it... although internally, she frowned. WAY too close!

SLAM!

Cynder felt the world spin for a moment as Gaul proceed to use his momentum to continue his combo, finally swinging his left hand back toward her into a powerful jab which actually connected.

The female was sent slamming into her back and slid away from Gaul. That... didn't feel good at all.

But far from letting it get to her, Cynder quickly spun, getting back up, back turned to Gaul. The female flapped her wings slowly, spinning back to face Gaul as if doing a mating dance of sorts.

"Hmmm... so you're not so slow... Teeheehee! This might be fun yet!" she taunted.

"I wouldn't get too confident if I were you Cynder! It has always been your flaw..." replied the monstrous mutant.

The two stared at each others, Cynder waiting for Gaul to move before moving herself. Considering his strength and speed, she knew that she would have to counter all of his moves to win. There was no alternative considering who she is up against. Thus, she stood there, smirking, waiting for him to move.

But then, she recognized too late what the suspicious Gaul had on his face meant. The female flapped her wings and kicked into the ground as fast as she could to send herself out of the way as Gaul's unnatural eye glowed.

Then, a beam was shot from it and traveled across the ground, cutting through the rock like butter.

ZZZZZZZIP!

SCHLLLG!

Cynder had been too late and although she did manage to avoid having the beam pierce through her forehead, it did went through her left side. The pain was absolutely incredible ; it felt like a thin sword blade had slice deep, deep into her body without meeting any sort of resistance. It also burnt as heck, the smell of burnt flesh coming up to her in an instant... her burnt flesh.

Thus, she tripped and painfully landed on her side. Breathing heavily as she tried to get a hold, she slowly looked at herself to see what damage had been inflicted and she frowned at what had been done.

As thin as the laser beam was, as powerful as it was. There was a wide, deep cut of burnt scales and flesh across the left side of her body. Most importantly, it had struck the base of her left wing, almost cutting it off, and had also sliced through her left thigh, striking the muscles of her left hind leg. Thankfully, due to how concentrated the beam was, it didn't left her bleeding too much. Nothing but a few drops... still, the pain was almost unbearable... almost.

The female gripped the ground with her right paw and lifted herself until she was back on her feet. Her leg feels weak but it still seems the injury didn't actually break it or anything. Her wing was a bigger concern and she tried to flap it a bit. It felt incredibly fragile, as if it would snap any second now... but apart from that, it was surprisingly like normal.

At this moment, a strange feeling of satisfaction rose within Cynder and she smirked evilly as she turned to face Gaul.

As expected, Gaul stood there, panting. His eye laser was a fearsome attack but it was also extremely taxing, demanding that he concentrate deeply for the duration of the attack, focusing all of his power. Despite being hit, Cynder knew that she had the advantage now and it caused her to smirk. As he stood there, vulnerable, the pain suddenly seemed so sweet, so satisfying... for despite his best efforts, he couldn't truly damage her.

Slowly, the dragoness swung her tail around as she prepared to pounce, adjusting her stance to compensate for her injuries... and then, she pounced, roaring cutely as she did so. Yet, Gaul knew he was in trouble and cursed internally.

The Dark One brought his hand down and prepared to unleash a mighty uppercut... but he hadn't recovered yet and as such, his attack came off too slow to strike the female, who effortlessly soared above his fist before colliding with his face.

"You're mine." she whispered.

The monkey-like creature let out an appropriately monkey-like cry of anger as he felt pain, Cynder raking into his face with her claws, her eyes glowing with intense hatred as she did so, her face deformed by a sadistic grin. The Dark One couldn't help but recoil from the pain as the female slashed into him with her claws and then, once he got a hold of himself and was about to punch that annoying black thing off his face, Cynder winded up and...

SMACK!

"AAAAAAAAARG!" Gaul couldn't keep it in.

His glowing eye was the nexus of his power and his most sensitive body part. When Cynder slammed her right wing into it, the claw at the tip of the wing's thumb of sorts first, Gaul almost lost his footing, blood gushing out of the pierced eye. Cynder unstuck her wing's claw from inside his eye, savoring the moment as she felt the warm crimson liquid covering her wing's.

Then, before the Dark One king could recover, the female winded up and then, flapped both wings before sending herself slamming downward, spinning as she did so.

SWAAAAAAASH!

Cynder violently whipped Gaul right in the face with her tail as she brought herself down, a wide, deep cut right across the king's face. Not only did the whipping sliced his face nearly open but the can opener-shaped blade at the end of her tail dug into his flesh and tore through his face, almost tearing the skin off it.

As Cynder leaped backward, away from the king, Gaul lost all focus on the fight and brought both of his hands to his face as he held his bleeding face in pain. A brutal reminder that even as a hatchling, Cynder's trademark tail whip strikes were every bit as painful and deadly as always.

Cynder stood there, smiling, as Gaul staggered, his face soon enough covering in red due to the massive damage that had been inflicted upon it.

"What's wrong? I thought you defeated the purple dragon? Surely, a cute little female like me shouldn't be too much trouble!" taunted the dragoness in a falsely innocent tone.

The Dark One froze and then, slowly, placed his hands off his face on his sides. His face... looked terrible. Due to Cynder's attacks, it was barely recognizable and looked more like raw hamburger with a sole eyeball stuck on the left side than a face. Gaul's expression was one of such pure, intense rage that one thought he could see the smoke that was coming out of the Dark One's misshapen nose.

Then, rather than an answer, Gaul screamed in rage and brought his hands together as flames begun to gather.

Gaul's very own Fury attack.

Cynder knew she was in trouble. She remembered Spyro's own Fury and knew that if it was anything like his, she needed to put some distance between herself and him ; attacking him in this state will do no good.

And well, it proved to be a good idea as just as she kicked into the ground and send herself backward, the flames that had gathered into Gaul's body were shot in the air under the form of a single beam that then exploded into a real rain of fireballs. The fiery meteors all slammed into the ground around Gaul, soon forming a massive ring of fire.

Yet, although she had avoided being scorched by the meteor, she was not out of the woods yet as the remainder of Gaul's Fury energy was shot into the rings, causing a large barrage of fireballs to be sent flying toward Cynder.

As the fireballs grew closer, a doubt rose within Cynder and fear begun to rise again.

NO! She cannot allow herself to be impressed! She has pierced Gaul's eye, smacked him into his weak point! It's on the ropes! She cannot allow him to make a comeback! Not now!

She then saw it. Although the barrage was impressive, she could see gaps in the wall of bouncing, flying fireballs... a gap large enough for a small dragon hatchling such as herself to fit through.

Cynder thrown herself toward the gap, hoping for the best...

Time seemed to slow down as she felt the fireballs so close up. She could feel the fire and it burnt... pain...

... and then, she tripped and fell down on her stomach.

Breathe... breathe...

Is... is she still alive? She felt the heat... did she burn?

She slowly realized that, indeed, she was alive. The fireballs had come so close but she had not caught on fire.

She did it! Gaul's attack missed!

She got up, smiling proudly, decided to show Gaul a little fire of her own!... but her smile vanished almost instantly.

Gaul had now begun to spin like a top. It looked silly but Cynder knew perfectly what this attack was.

Gaul's tornado spin, his mightiest attack.

The hatchling had never been able to dodge this attack and she knew that even though the platform was big, she wouldn't be able to. Terror filled her eyes and she begun to run toward the edge of the platform, wishing to put herself as much distance between herself and the monkey as possible.

Yet, as she ran, she progressively begun to slow down even thought she still kicked into the ground as quickly with her paws... and looking back, she saw the tornado that was now Gaul approaching slowly, the powerful gusts of wind dragging her closer and closer to her doom.

No! No! She did not get this far only to be killed by that attack! It's not fair! It's... it's...

She forgot about the revenge at this moment. All she wanted was not to die.

She couldn't help but let out a loud whine filled with despair as she increased her pace, trying in vain to get out of the way.

But it served her no good in the end and she yelped loudly as the winds teared her off the platform. The world became an incoherent blur as she was spun around at incredible speed and then, suddenly, time froze.

The platform was now gone, Gaul was nowhere in sight... what had happened?

She looked down and she realized in horror that it was the final phase of the attack. She had been sent flying sky-high by the attack which now meant that she was going to...

"NOOOOOOO!"

SCRUNLCH!

A sickening sound of crushed bones and flesh echoed as Cynder was slammed into the ground with absolutely incredible strength.

As Gaul stopped spinning, he stood there, panting, completely drained. He had used up all of his power and with his eye now pierced, there would be no way he would be able to recover. Not that it matters. Cynder had what she wanted. One last battle...

He approached the body of Cynder and gave it a few weak kicks to make sure she had been properly crushed.

... looks like she was.

Who did she think she was anyway? His tornado spin is an impossible to avoid move that is always lethal. No creature, NONE, can resist its power. She should have known that he would have used it eventually.

Still, she gave him a surprising amount of challenge considering. This was definitely a good final battle... and with all the time spent fighting, he can now see the red shrouding all of his view. The abyss's maw is near... it won't be long now.


It was a distant memory and yet, she had never forgot it. He had always been the only one ever to show her kindness and for this, she had been thankful. Yet, she knew that it would end like this. This had been his will all along...

... or is it?

It is... truly his will?

She could remember it, how he had once been so caring, so gentle, so compassionate toward her. It was why she had always served him. It was why she served him, not Gaul, although Gaul was his hands, the tool through which he could interact with the world.

And at this moment, she finally realized something.

This entire stupid war... all of the deaths... the genocide of her specie...

The Dark Master had felt different during those years. When he begun to give her instructions, his voice changed. It was still the same but... she felt something different in it, something that wasn't there before.

... despair and fear.

He was not the Dark Master that had loved her anymore. He had become a monster, driven for some reason into a mad path, growing obsessed with the idea of getting out.

... but why?

No, that was not the question.

He had transformed years ago. He was... gone and when she heard his voice, she knew it was true.

The Dark Master will never return for the simple reason that he is now truly gone. His spirit has changed and his kindness has been fully erased. He is now a tortured being, thinking only of his own selfish desire, ready to sacrifice all those who once believed in him to achieve it.

He is gone... and she is now truly alone.

... but then, she had a vision.

In the darkness, falling toward the eternal fire, a broken soul clad in purple, crying and sobbing.

And then, she remembered him, how he had forgiven her, how he had cared about her, how he had protected her and had never asked for anything in return.

She couldn't die now.


Gaul suddenly turned as he heard coughing.

Slowly, Cynder's body stirred as she coughed blood, opening her eyes. She was in a bad shape and yet, he saw her, slowly getting up.

B-b-but... how? No one can survive the tornado spin! He sent her flying and slammed her, crushing her! Just a few seconds earlier, she was lying down in her blood, which had formed a pool under her, lifeless! How could this be?!?

But then, he remembered that sometimes, one can get really close to death, so much that the body doesn't seem to be breathing anymore and yet, the creature is not yet dead.

His face deforming into a mix of frustration and anger, he stepped forward.

"Will you die, you stupid scaly vermin?!?"

Cynder fearlessly glared back as he got closer and despite being unable to catch on his breath, winded up for his famous crushing body blow. Surely THAT will finish her off!

"It's my turn now." she said in an abnormally calm tone.

Then, as she rose, he delivered the punch, smashing his fist into her chest with enough strength to break down a concrete wall but against all odds, the strike did absolutely nothing. Cynder didn't even feel it.

... and then, as the flames begun to gather, Gaul's eyes widened as he realized what Cynder had done.

"No..." he whispered as he spun around and begun to run, panic beginning to get a hold of his mind.

BOOOOOOOM!

Gaul's remaining eye widened as he screamed in pain, the massive wave of intense heat slamming into his back and melting his skin while the meteors slammed into his bones and organs, burning him inside-out as he ran.

BOOOOOOOM!

The Fury attack's final wave was shot and went right through Gaul. Gaul had a mix of fear and surprise on his face when his body was reduced to ashes.

Cynder slowly landed as the ashes of the once mighty Dark One king scattered.

The dragoness stood there, panting. It all felt unreal... Not only was she alive but Gaul... he was finally gone? Could this be? Did she... really win?

Although her body ached all over, she slowly walked to the spot where Gaul used to be and saw the half-burnt Soul Gauntlet, all that was left of him... and then, finally, she realized that it was real.

Her revenge was accomplished, Gaul was finally dead. At long last, she was even with her past, the source of her nightmares finally destroyed.

For a moment, a feeling of intense satisfaction washed all over her... and then, she saw a light in the darkness. A yellow one, more exactly.

Sparx was flying just above her, staring at her intently...

"I don't like you. I'll say it here and now... but if you die here, Spyro will flip! Come on!"

"Sparx... it cannot be..." but then, the dragonfly interrupted her and pointed to a serie of platforms.

"I don't want to hear any of that! Come on! Let's follow the clearly marked way before we fall into that freaky red miasma down there!" and then, as Sparx pointed to the horizon, she saw them.

A serie of platforms conveniently forming a serie of stairs that led to a strange tower in the horizon... a tower that was NOT falling.

... salvation.

But... could she truly go to him after all she did? Could she truly be forgiven?

But then, looking at Sparx, she remembered his words, how he had never trusted her... and now, he shown her the way to salvation.

Gaul is dead and Spyro is depending on her. She will not let the past bring her down anymore.

Despite her injuries, Cynder gathered all of her strength and begun to leap from platform to platform, fighting off the gravity and climbing her way toward the mysterious tower, Sparx following close by as she climbed...

Spyro is waiting for her...


TO BE CONTINUED