"You're his son?" Spyro's disbelief made Eclipse wince and look away. Malefor brought his head back up, a satisfied smile crossed his face. "That doesn't make sense, no one would want to be with you."

"You forget young dragon. I was not always what you call 'corrupted', I was just like you all those centuries ago." He pushed Eclipse behind him, taking their attention for himself. "I was the ancestor's prime pupil, honored as a hero among the people. Then one day I met this dragoness, the most beautiful one I've ever seen. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, we were mates and expecting an egg."

"Then why betray everyone? Betray your mate for what? Power."

"On the night of laying Eclipse's egg, another dragon broke into our home and was trying to steal our belongings. While I was away, training with the ancestors, my Eclissi was not so fortunate." He seemed to actually be something resembling emotion, looking back at Eclipse as if he was grieving. "I returned in time to kill the dragon before he could make the final blow. The egg was cracked and she was dying from blood loss. She died in my arms, making me swear to raise our dragonet to be as brave as her and as strong as myself. I took it a step further, I wanted to create a world where no one has to go through what I did, to raise everyone to be better." That emotion left him as he turned back to the group. "Is it so wrong to bring your child up in a world where they don't have to feel sadness or grief? So that they can love someone, without having to fear losing them as I lost Eclissi?"

"It doesn't justify what you did." Spyro continued. "You killed thousands of people just because someone killed your mate."

"How many would you kill if someone killed Cynder, hmm?" He silenced him. "Didn't you wish to kill me once Ignitus died in the Belt of Fire? Weren't you ready to die after I took her back? Didn't you try to kill Eclipse after you convinced yourself that both him and Cynder were having an affair?"

"That's not the same." He shook his head. "I didn't murder innocents."

"What was he guilty of other than being subject to your jealousy and insecurity?" Malefor pointed at Eclipse with his wing. "Tell me, I grow curious of what he's done to wrong you."

"Nothing, he's one nothing." His defeated sigh answered.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Aurora tried to look at Eclipse's hung face but he hid it well.

"I would've told you eventually, I just wanted know that we work out. I feared that you would look at me like the monster I was and I didn't want that." He rose his head to meet her gaze, his silver eyes were now replaced with maroon red. "If I lost you…" His voice trailed off as he dropped his head again. "...I would have nothing to fight for. I may have feelings for Cynder, but you're the one that I can't live without." The words hurt her, but she respected them. She knew it from the moment they kissed outside the guardian chambers. She was a stubborn memory that refused to leave, a fragment of the past he wanted to forget.

"I'm not going anywhere..." She grabbed his face and lifted it up so that she could see it. "...but right now, you need to fix this mess. We'll talk about us when we go back to Warfang okay? I promise."

"DON'T SPEAK TO ME LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE." They were interrupted by Malefor shouts, followed shortly by him launching Spyro into the air. With a thud, he began rolling across the stone floor, coming to a stop with his unconscious face to the ground. The rest of the group moved to recover him, with Aurora checking to make sure he was alive. "Eclipse..." He turned to him, his eyes slowly fading to white. "...if you complete two important tasks for me than you will be freed of my influence." Yellow eyes watched them closely. "Kill the false purple dragon and the traitor then you can live have your life back."

"Master, I-" She knew he wasn't agreeing with the orders.

"EITHER YOU KILL THEM OR YOU WILL FOREVER BE A MONSTER."

The conflict showed on his face, he was debating with himself on what decision to make. She knew it wasn't easy to choose between his real family and his adoptive one. Going through with Malefor's orders meant the end of both her and Spyro, there was nothing she could do against him even with Spyro helped. Going against Malefor also meant he would surely have to fight him, and he taught him everything.

Malefor whispered into his ear, a secret message being passed between them. A smile formed on his face as the words passed from his lips. He was lying to his own son but he knew that he would be believed. Eclipse's breathing became ragged with anger and his faint pupils dilated through the white light covering them. No doubt that his mind was becoming wrapped with Malefor's dark seduction.

A step forward and the visible gathering of dark energy confirmed her fears, he had chosen Malefor. Dark energy arced along his merged scales like electricity, black wisps circled around his legs and his tail dragged it's blade on the ground. The stone floor cracked under his footsteps with his talons sinking in as if it was flesh.

Ardere and Frost looked at her and Spyro, then to each other. With a silent nod they stood up and placed themselves in his path. Fire curled across Ardere's body, encasing him in a blanket of flame. Frost's body began to radiate a freezing temperature, the torch light reflecting off his blue scales.

"We need to get you two out of here, can you help me carry him?" Aurora began to put Spyro's wing of her back.

"I'm not leaving them here, he'll kill them." Cynder looked at the two as they stared down Eclipse's approach.

"He'll kill you and him if you two stay. Then there will be no one to stop him and Malefor from finishing what they started." Aurora tried to lift him but he was too heavy for just her.

"No one is leaving." His voice stopped Aurora in her tracks, instead she turned her head towards him. "Not until I get what I want."

"You'll have to go through us to get to them." Ardere argued.

"Oh? You think you can stop me?" He narrowed his eyes. "That's adorable."

"You don't want to do this. You don't want to hurt us or kill them." Frost froze the ground in front of him, causing him to stop behind the line.

"Do I?" He brought a paw to his chest. "While you are right that I don't wish to hurt either of you, I will do what must be done to complete my mission."

"I don't want to fight you, we've gone through too much to fight now." Ardere stepped slightly ahead of Frost. "You're not acting like the Eclipse I followed into battle or grown to call my friend."

"Friends?" He laughed before stepping across the frozen ground. "You want me to believe that we were friends? I may have been locked away for a few centuries but I know when someone hates me as much as you do."

"Hate you? Eclipse, we've stood behind you for months. We've fought and bled with you and you're going to forsake that for a father who's used you for hundreds of years?" Frost matched Ardere's step forward.

"Is that what you call it? Standing by me?" He stopped again, this time a few feet in front of them. "You did nothing but take me for granted."

"Take you for granted? You're letting him twist your mind Eclipse. Do you remember nothing of what we've gone through those five months?"

"I remember everything."

"Then why are we your enemy? The real enemy is standing behind you, turning you against us!" Frost motioned towards Malefor, who continued to look pleased at the events unfolding.

"My real enemy?" He looked at the ground for a moment. "My real enemy is the so called savior you're protecting. He's taken everything from me, everything that I've cared for since being released. He's blinded you to his sins, to who he really is and now he's turned you all against me. I've given everything I had to you and this is how you repay my generosity? I betrayed everything I am, everything I knew, so that I could have these last few months with the three of you. How did you think I felt, when I had to surrender my body to fight him? When I let myself fall just to protect you, or when I gave my life to ensure that you three had a fighting chance? I emptied myself for you and you took advantage of it. My utter loyalty…" He brought his eyes up and rested them on Ardere, who looked away. "...my complete trust." Frost too shied away from his gaze. "...even my shattered heart..." She knew that he meant that for Aurora but he didn't look at her. "...and it was all thrown away because you couldn't forgive my past."

"We didn't thr-"

"I never thought I could shatter into so many pieces, but this is how I bring myself back together. I'm done with telling myself to hold back…" The sheet of ice behind him melted. "... to be something I could never be…" The dark energy redirected itself to arc onto the ground around him. "... I am done being weak."

He moved quickly, colliding the blunt end of his tail against the side of Frost's head. At the same time, he pushed himself off the ground and over Ardere's stream of fire. Ardere angled the stream after him, the flames barely missing the tip of his tail. Frost rolled on the ground for a moment, before letting off his own breath at the black dragon. He rolled when he landed, the tops of his horns becoming covering in a thin sheet of ice.

Ardere cut of his flames and charged forward with his head down. Heat curled over his head as he sped covered the short distance. Eclipse swirled around him, sending him head first over his tail. Frost tackled him to the ground and together they struggled for physical dominance, talons and teeth catching the torch light. Eclipse grabbed his arm and with a smooth movement, threw him off and righted himself.

Ardere quickly replaced the ice dragon however, pushing him to the ground before he could react. Frost righted himself midair and skidded across the ground, his talons carving into the stone. Orange and black flames collided in the small ball, shifting around each other in their own dance. With a strong kick from his back legs, Eclipse shoved him off and towards Frost. The two dragons smashed into each other, knocking Frost off his feet.

He was quick to recover, with Frost pushing off the ground and launching himself towards Eclipse. The black wisps shot out from his legs, quickly entangling him and dropping him to the ground. Ardere found his target, his paws using his weight to topple Eclipse over. He landed on top of him, pinning him down with all his might. The wisps released Frost before wrapping themselves around Ardere. They dragged him off of Eclipse, flinging him towards the group.

Cynder watched as Ardere landed next to her, his blood slowly leaking from the scrapes of battle. Frost struggled to get up, his arms shakingly holding him up. The wisps rapidly snaked towards him. They crawled low to the ground like predators then ran up his weak limbs. He started to gasp for air as the wisps tighten their grip around his neck. Eclipse sat up and narrowed his eyes at Frost. The wisps released his neck, letting him breathe clearly again. Frost was then fling towards them with the might of a adult dragon.

She stopped his rapid rolling with her paw, his body was also covered in rough scratches and oozing cuts. He was breathing heavy and his eyes spoke more words than he could form in his mouth. "We tried."

"I know." She reassured him before stepping over him, leaving them with Aurora. Their eyes followed her when she stood slightly ahead of them. It was her turn to be the wall between them and Eclipse, only difference was that she was one of his targets.

"Cynder…" His voice trailed off as he stood. The hallowed sound was filled with sadness and grief.

"For twelve years it was you and me against the rest of the world." Forgotten memories reverberated through her head. His dark form giving her old smiles and holding her close during some of those cold nights. Her then young mind remembered feeling his leather wings encase her in under his veil of darkness.

"You were the only light in Malefor's darkness during those times." They stared at each other, their eyes meeting somewhere in the middle.

"Those were better, more simple, times." A shy smile crossed both of their faces. "Is this it?"

"Twelve years and we never came to blows." His small laugh filled her with a bit of hope. "I guess this is it." Then the hope was gone.

"Are we really going to do this?" She asked, memories of his loyalty threatening to make her break at the thought of fighting him.

"Just step aside and I won't hurt you."

"We both know I can't do that." She shook her head slowly, tears welling at the corner of her eyes.

"Don't make me do this Cyn, please." He begged.

"I'm sorry." She apologized as a tear dropped from her cheek.

"So am I." Eclipse disappeared in front of her, reappearing inches from her face. "Forgive me." He pressed forward and for a moment they locked lips, but she didn't want it like this.

She broke from the kiss with a jump backwards, more tears leaving from her eyes. He surged forward, the wisps racing alongside him towards her. She twirled, the wisps missing their mark on her body and her blade finding his cheek. It ripped through his scales and a small amount of his blood stained the blade as it left. Her talon found their way on to his tail and pulled him away from the group.

The wisps circled back around, grabbing onto back legs and yanked them out from under her. He flipped in the air, gracefully landing on his paws without a sound. The stone floor stopped her decent, sending rough pain through her side. The wisps retreated to their master as he stared at her on the ground.

She saw the regret and sorrow in his eyes as he stepped forward. Her legs found their strength, pushing her on her paws. Wind circled around in her throat and with all the strength she dared to muster, she pointed it at him. He stopped in his tracks, instead opting to cock his head at her. The gust stopped dead before it even left her mouth.

The wisps jumped towards her but she melted into her shadow before they reached her. She felt her front paws push on his underbelly as she lept up to the surface. His talons reached down and grabbed onto the closest arm they could find. The world moved in slow motion, as he pulled her out from under him and threw her away. Her wings caught her in the air, stabilizing her before she hit the ground.

His cold paws pushed her down on her back with his weight behind them. It was useless to struggle against him, he was stronger and heavier than her. Something broke in her when they landed, his body crushed her against the ground. Pain came from all over her body as seemingly every bone shattered into dust. Her mind threatened to shut down but she persisted against it's wishes.

He rolled off of her, as if he knew that she was out of the fight. Her legs wouldn't work, screaming at her whenever she tried to stand. She reached out and caught his back leg, using all the strength she had left to hold him there. All he gave her was a shallow but pained glance over his shoulder before shaking her feeble attempt off.

"I didn't want this."

"I know, but I had to try." It wasn't right to be the one apologizing but she felt she had to.

"I'm so sorry." His own apology seemed to be genuine. She watched him approach the group, the wisps falling off him as he did. Frost and Ardere rose of the ground, charging forward as they did. He didn't flinch, instead the wisps grabbed their limbs and hold them down. He looked down as he passed them, their pleas to stop falling on nothing but unaccepting ears.

Aurora stood between him and Spyro. They stood in silence, it was as if the world was holding its breath. Her blue eyes stared into his pale white, the silent message of defiance seemed to fill them. She stood tall in what everyone else viewed as the face of death. He dipped his head below hers, his front legs sliding out and putting him in a bow.

"I can't do this." His words reached her ears, causing disbelief to drown her thoughts. "I can't keep living like this."

"What are you-"

"Kill me." He poked his head up, showing her his eyes. "Kill me please."

"You know I can't do that." She placed a paw under his chin, raising him out of the bow. "I won't hurt you."

"I don't know what to do. Tell me what I need to do." His eyes went soft with the pleas.

"I need you with me..." She pulled him in, lightly kissing him.

"...and I need you with me." He pulled back, the white glow leaving his eyes. The wisps around Frost and Ardere dissipated. His scales came back into view, reflecting the torch light like metal. "Thank you."

"I will finish this myself." Malefor crossed the distance between him and them within seconds, rage plastered across his face. He smacked Eclipse to the side and raised his talons up. With a strong swing he turned white to red then sent Aurora into the sky with the blunt side of his tail. Eclipse caught her in the air, wrapping his wings around her body. They crashed onto to ground and rolled. Frost and Ardere retaliated almost instantly, viciously attacking the much larger dragon.

He opened his wings, laying her on the ground for him to see. Three large streaks ran down her chest, blood dripping to the stone below. The previously white scales were now painted red with the blood they were suppose to protect. His paws covered as much of the injury as possible, apply all the pressure he could.
"No no no no, Aurora." It was his turn to start having tears welling up in his eyes. "You're going to be fine, just look at me."

"This is when I wish we stayed in bed today." Her small laugh made him smile slightly.

"We can stay in bed tomorrow, I promise." The tears slid down his face, soaking the smaller black scales.

"I don't think the doctor would allow you to sleep in my bed." She smiled as she placed a paw on his wounded cheek. "You're too large to fit anyway."

"You're going to be fine."

"You know I don't like it when you lie." Her smile faded, instead her own sorrow showed. "I love you."

"Tell me that in Warfang." The tears came faster, the corners of his eyes becoming distorted.

"Don't cry over me…" She wiped away some of his tears. "...only smile." Her eyelids closed, hiding the sapphires behind them. He let his tears fall on her for a moment, letting all the grief out. He placed a hard kiss on her forehead, then stood up and stopped the tears from flowing. He turned, his face filled with raw rage. The three looked at him, Frost and Ardere deciding to run behind him and to Aurora. Malefor looked on in a mixture of fear and pleasure.

"That was a mistake."

"Why, because you let your emotions weaken you?" His shallow cockyness quickly faded as Eclipse stepped forward.

"No," A vortex of dark energy swirled around him, sucking in energy from the entire room. A dark glow encased him, the arching energy making the ground crumble below his feet. The silver in his eyes gave way to a dark maroon, and red energy poured out of the corners of his eyes. Ice formed around his talons, hardening them more than normal dragon talons. A green liquid dripped off his teeth when as he released a menacing growl.

Loose rocks began to bounce on the ground, and a deep rumbling shook the entire room. The pillars cracked in multiple places but held firm against the shaking. Cracks form in the floor, with molten lava oozing out like blood. Torches feel from their scones along the walls, the small flames snuffing out on landing. "...because now I don't have a reason to hold back."