±5

Our heroes examined a fire pit in a cave out in the arctic. The wind outside was still for now.

"Who do you think left it here?" asked Cynder.

"I don't know. Someone else must have been looking for the strange presence." Spyro kicked the dried burned wood with his left fore paw. "The wood seems fairly warm. Whoever started this fire must have left recently. I'm guessing they're nearby."

"They probably found another cave. I hope they're okay."

"Maybe we can find them and ask-" SPLAT! Spyro had stepped back and his hind right paw had stepped in a gooey, sticky substance. "Huh?" Spyro looked down and saw his foot was covered in a clear liquid. "What the hell? What is this?"

"What's wrong?"

"I stepped in something. What the hell is it?" Spyro sniffed the wierd substance and his eyes bulged in disgust. "Oh God! It's-"

"Logar! I'm coming!" They heard a voice scream in the distance.

"What was that?" Cynder asked.

"It sounds like someone's in trouble! We have to help them!" Spyro ran out of the cave in a hurry with the egg in his paws.

"Spyro, wait!" Cynder ran after him. "It could be dangerous!"

Spyro was already fifty yards away from the cave when he stopped dead in his tracks, but not because of what Cynder said. He turned around and instantly began running back. "Cynder, get back in the cave!" he said with a panic.

By the time Cynder had said, "What?" Spyro had already passed by her and ran back in the cave. "What the hell?" She turned and walked back in the cave. Spyro was sitting down with the egg in front of him. He was focused on the egg. "Spyro, what's going on?" Spyro did not answer. He kept his attention on the egg. As Cynder got closer, she saw that there was a crack on the eggshell. "Ohhhhh..." she said understanding. She sat down next to Spyro and watched the show.

It was now four months since Spyro and Ember met. They had grown even closer and got new bedrooms right next to eachother. Ember had gotten better with her literacy. Cynder tried talking with Spyro more. Terrador had gotten sick and spent more time in his room. Sparx flew through the halls with a note in his hand. The small dragonfly entered the dining room and saw Spyro, Ember, and Cynder eating together. "Hey, guys!" He flew over to them happily.

"Hi, Sparx," they all said.

"Spyro, check this out! I got a letter from our folks!"

"Really? Let me see." Spyro took the note from Sparx and read it aloud. "Dear Sparx, we're just writing to make sure you are doing well. We hope you and your brother are having a great time at the temple. We love you both and wish you the best of luck. Love, mom and dad. ps, you remember Nala, don't you?" Spyro smiled from reading the letter. "It's good to know our parents are okay. So who's Nala?"

"You don't remember Nala?" Sparx said in surprise. "You don't remember that pretty green dragonfly who lived next door to our tree?"

"Oh now I remember! That clumsy girl you had a crush on!"

"Yeah! She delivered the letter!" Sparx had a big grin on his face.

"That explains the mudstains," Spyro joked.

"Haha. Very funny." A green female dragonfly flew in from behind Sparx. She had yellow eyes and blue dust fell from her wings. "You always were a comedian, Spyro," she said sarcastically.

Sparx wrapped his arm around Nala's shoulders. "Nala, Spyro, you guys know each other. Ember, Cynder, the is Nala. Nala, meet Cynder and Ember."

"Hi," said Cynder.

"Nice to meet you," said Ember.

"Hey there! It's nice to meet some new faces after living in a swamp your whole life."

"Hey, Nala, you wanna go get a drink?" Sparx asked.

"Sure thing! See you later, guys!"

Nala and Sparx both left the room together. "She seems nice," said Ember.

"Was she really clumsy?" Cynder asked.

They heard a crash and saw that Nala somehow got stuck in a keyhole while Sparx tried pulling her out.

"That answer your question?" Spyro asked.

The purple egg rattled around excitedly while Cynder and Spyro watched in anticipation. This large egg had cracks appearing left and right. It teased the father with the fact that not a single piece fell off. Spyro's eyes widened when he saw a tiny hole. "I can see a claw!" The hole got bigger and bigger. Another hole appeared on the other side. "I can see the heads!" Spyro suddenly realized he spoke in plural. "Heads?" The egg broke apart and both Spyro and Cynder gasped.

Cynder stuttered. "T-t-t-tw-twins!"

Two perfectly identical dragons stood before Spyro and Cynder. They had short but broad yellow horns. They each had long beautiful white wings. They had pink underbellies and blue eyes. Their scales were a slightly darker shade of purple than Spyro. Their tail blades were shaped like hearts. With the exception of coloring, they both looked incredibly like Ember. They were both sniffing each other curiously.

"That;s why the egg was so big..." said Spyro. He picked up his children gently and they turned their attention to him. He nuzzled them affectionately and tears of both joy and sorrow fell down his cheeks. He checked their genders. "I'm a father of two beautiful twin girls... If only Ember were here..."

"Congratulations, Spyro," said Cynder.

Spyro looked at the child in his left arm. "I'll do whatever I can to raise you right, Virtue." He then looked at the baby in his right arm. "And you too, Rose." The newborn babies cooed happily at their father, then fell asleep in his arms. They were tired from the effort it took to hatch.

±5

Who here knows what Spyro stepped in?