Disclaimer: I don't own Spyro, or any other characters from the game.

Chapter 13

The Gateway

Pyris was terrified. Her feet were bound, as were her wings and mouth. She was tied to the pole and surrounded by the oil-soaked wood. Most of the village was gathered to witness her death.

Glancing around at the crowd, she could see that not all of them were giving her hate-filled stares, but those that did sympathize with her, weren't exactly in any position to help.

Feron stepped forward and the roaring crowd fell silent. Feron glanced around and prepared to give the order that would signal the dragons to start bathing the wood with flames.

He stopped as the crowd started to part. Cynder and a purple dragon strode to the front. The crowd was now murmuring excitedly, while Feron looked angry.

"It's a trick," he yowled. "She's just trying to save her sister!"

"It's not a trick," Spyro growled. "I'm the dragon of the prophecy. I managed to beat Cynder and free her from the Dark Master's hold. We're here to try and convince you to return to the realms."

While Spyro said this, Cynder had leapt onto the pile of wood and ran to her sister. The black dragoness leaned down and bit through the ropes holding Pyris to the pole. She quickly ripped through the rest of the binds.

Feron growled as he watched Cynder help her sister away from the pile of wood. He glanced back at Spyro. "Why would the guardians send just you? Where's Ignitus?"

"Well, we're not sure-," Spyro started before blinking. "Wait a minute, how did you know that it was Ignitus that came with us?"

Cynder looked up. "Cause someone told him… The Dark Master used a large shard of purple and black crystal to communicate with those outside his prison, the same kind of crystal that is in Feron's house!"

Feron stepped back, startled. "You've no proof of that!"

Meanwhile, Crystalis had pushed his way to the front of the crowd in time to hear Cynder's accusation. The young ice dragon gasped, as did the rest of the dragons present. He leapt forward and stood face-to-face with his father.

"That's not true, is it?" he asked, a note of desperation in his voice.

Feron glanced down at his son, his face expressionless and then chuckled darkly. An evil sneer appeared on his face. "I'm afraid it is."

Spyro growled and leapt at the larger dragon. Feron's tail shot up and slammed Spyro away and into the wood. The ice dragon turned to finish him, but an arrow shot into his front leg and it crumpled beneath him. Feron growled and glanced in the direction that the arrow had come from, seeing Hunter standing on a nearby roof top and pulling another arrow out of his quiver. Sparx was hovering next to him and most likely nagging the cat to hurry up and shoot again if the frantic pointing and bobbing up and down were any indication.

Feron shakily stood back up, the arrow still stuck in his leg. He glanced around and noticed that the crowd was now closing in on him, lead by Vulcanos. Feron glanced up at the sky and a large wormhole appeared in it, which Spyro and Cynder both recognized. Feron leapt forward and grabbed Crystalis in his front claws before leaping into the sky and flying toward the portal.

"You all right?" Cynder asked, helping Spyro back to his feet.

"I'm fine," Spyro said, staring up at the portal. "Whatever he's up too, he's got to be stopped him."

"All right, let's go," Cynder said.

Spyro glanced over at her. "You sure you want to come with?"

Cynder frowned. "I can handle myself. Now, let's go before the portal closes."

Spyro nodded and the two youngsters leapt into the air. Their wings carried them toward the portal. As they neared it, Sparx zipped up and flew alongside Spyro. "You're not leaving without me, are you?"

"Of course not, Sparx," Spyro said as they entered the portal, shortly afterward the portal closed.

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Crystalis was backed as far away from his father as he could get. Feron was standing next to the pillar of darkness in the center of the floating rock that they stood on.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Crystalis shouted.

Feron turned around. "The Dark Master can only be released from his prison by a dragon born in the Year of the Dragon, I wasn't born in that year, so unfortunately I can't release him from within there, but you can…"

"I won't do it!" Crystalis growled.

Feron frowned. "Think of the rewards that he would grant you for this simple act. We would most certainly gain his gratitude."

"I'm not like you!" Crystalis shouted.

Feron's frown became a scowl. "You'll do it, whether you want to, or not!"

The ice dragon's tail shot out and knocked Crystalis through the air and almost over the edge. He stood back up and was again knocked through the air by his father's tail. This time he collided with the pillar of darkness and fell to the ground beside it. He tried to get back up, but his feet failed him.

Feron stepped toward his son, panting in anger. "I'll keep this up until you break."

"No, you won't!" Spyro yelled landing on the ground behind Feron.

The ice dragon turned to face him. "Then perhaps you would? Think about it, Spyro… or maybe Cynder, I trust she's here somewhere, perhaps waiting to ambush me?"

Spyro growled in reply while Feron laughed. "You should realize that the Dark Master is very interested in you and her. He recognizes talent. He recognized that I could be useful to him. Why waste your time helping those other ungrateful dragons?"

"I don't want power," Spyro growled, the small amount of darkness that was left in Spyro stirred as he said this, trying to convince him otherwise. His tail wagged nervously as he felt this and tried to force down the suddenly dark feelings that he was getting.

Feron smirked as he saw this. The ice dragon detected movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to face it, thinking that he had spotted Cynder trying to sneak up on him. He blinked as he saw the small yellow dragonfly.

"Bye-bye," Sparx waved as Cynder jumped down from one of the rocks above the platform. Her wings slowed her fall and she breathed a stream of fire on Feron's side.

The ice dragon kicked her in the chest and sent her flying. She rolled to a stop, a few feet from the edge.

Spyro was about to leap to her aid, when the pillar of darkness pulsed and the darkness in the purple dragon surfaced again. He screamed in pain as a cloud of darkness swirled around him. A few feet away, Cynder was also being enveloped by darkness.