Spyro's head spun wildly. He groaned and gritted his teeth, trying to stop the dizzying sensation. His stomach churned and he clenched his teeth, not wanting to hurl.

"Spyro." A whisper called out from the darkness.

"Uh? C-Cynder?"

"Yeah. It's me." The dragoness whispered.

"Where are you? I can't see you?" Spyro called out, his head rocking from the nausea.

"I'm right here Spyro."

"Where?" Spyro called desperately.

"Spyro, you'll see me when you open your eyes."

"My eyes are open Cynder." Spyro looked around in the darkness. "I can't see you, it's too dark.

"Spyro, your eyes are closed. You need to wake up."

"But I am!" Spyro protested. "I can't see you!"

"I think he's finally lost it." Sparx's voice jumped in. Spyro felt a tight pinch and suddenly there was nothing but white. The dragonfly held the purple dragon's eyes open, letting the daylight shine in. Spyro was in shock for a long moment. At last he jerked his head away and his eyelids snapped shut causing his eyes to tear up.

"You see." Sparx gestured to his brother as he blinked himself awake. "Much more effective than having him talk in his sleep.

"What...What happened?" Spyro asked as he looked around. He was in his room on top of his pillow pile. Scattered throughout the room were his dragon friends, each on their own pillows fast asleep. "What's going on?"

"We were hoping you could tell us." Sparx crossed his arms.

"You passed out." Cynder replied softly after she set a bucket of cool water down in front of Spyro. "It was just so sudden. I didn't know what to think."

"I can tell you this much." Sparx pointed a stern finger at Spyro. "When he starts passing out for no reason, I would be worried. He hasn't done that though since you ran away after he saved you."

Cynder looked from the dragonfly to Spyro. "Is that true Spyro?"

"Well, yeah." Spyro hung his head, ashamed of having made her worry about him. "But that was different. Back then was when I being guided by the Chronicler. But this time..." He looked up into Cynder's eyes. "All I saw was darkness."

"It sounds like it." Sparx nodded.

"What's with all the noise?" Tremor groaned as he lifted his head off of his sister. It was then he noticed Spyro sitting up. "Spyro, you're awake." He yawned. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Spyro lied. "Just a little confused right now."

"Well. you've been out for two days." The earth candidate stretched himself out letting his joints pop.

"Two days!" Spyro gasped and jumped to his feet. He immediately felt his head rock and was about to topple over when Cynder caught him.

"Easy Spyro." She warned. "You should rest a little more before you go moving around too much."

"Excuse me." A voice grabbed the attention of the dragons. The ones who were asleep raised their heads to stare sleepily at the mole standing in the doorway. "The guardians have requested your presence in the main temple."

"Everyone?" Cynder asked as she glanced over at Spyro who was attempting to stand upright on his own.

"If possible." The mole gave a slight bob of his head. "It appears that your friend Hunter has returned."

"Hunter's back?" Cynder gasped.

"He wasn't with the refugees?" Spyro asked.

"No. We couldn't find him anywhere." Cynder replied.

"Then we should go see him. Make sure he's all right."

"Spyro, I think you should stay here and rest." Cynder suggested with a worried tone. "We can report Hunter's findings to you when we get back."

"No, I'll be fine." Spyro insisted. "I promise Cynder." The black dragoness stared hard into his purple eyes. After a moment she nodded.

"Okay then Spyro." She agreed reluctantly. "But if you start to feel sick again it's right back to bed with you. Understood?"

"I promise." Spyro nodded.

As Cynder helped Spyro outside the purple dragon took in a deep breath. The day was overcast and the cooling vapor made the spinning of his head subside. As the candidates filed out of his room Spyro took in a deep breath. With a sudden leap he was in the air.

"Hey Spyro, not so fast!" Cynder called and quickly took after him.

"Hey wait for me!" Sparx called and zipped after them.

"What about the rest of us!" Tremor shouted and took flight with the other candidates close behind.

The cool morning air was doing Spyro more good than he had expected. Beat his wings hard, working the soreness from his joints. In a matter of minutes the young dragons arrived at the main temple. When the dragons touched down on the main platform, they found the guardians already there with Hunter. The cheetah looked in their direction and smiled.

"Spyro. It is good to see you are doing well." He gave a slight bob of his head as the dragons approached them.

"More or less." Cynder pointed out. "We couldn't find you when your tribe arrived a couple days ago."

"Yes. I had stayed behind." The feline nodded. "I was attempting to discover what the wolves who attacked our village were trying to gain."

"What did you find out?" Spyro asked, his muscles already tensing up slightly.

"From what I heard their leader was ordering them to attack the tribes native to this land. For what reason, it is unclear at this point." Suddenly Hunter growled and staggered forward.

"Hunter! What's wrong!" Spyro reared up on his hind legs and caught his friend before he could hit the floor. It was then that Spyro noticed the cheetah's arm was still bleeding from three lacerations and his entire right side of his tunic was drenched in blood.

"It's just a scratch." Hunter waved the dragon off as he forced himself to stand upright. "Before I was discovered I saw the wolves talking to a dragon."

"The wolves talking to a dragon?" Volteer tilted his head skeptically. "I would have never heard of such a thing. The wolves have never been fond of us to begin with so why would they attempt to make relationships now?"

"I'm not certain." Hunter shook his head.

"What did this dragon look like?" Spyro asked taking a step forward. Cynder turned her head slightly but didn't say anything.

"It was a black dragon." Hunter raised an assuring hand. Spyro breathed a sigh of relief. "However, it exhibited a power unlike any I have ever seen before. It seemed to use the darkness of the world around it as a weapon."

Spyro felt a chill run down his spine. It didn't sound like the Dark Master but at the same time it seemed all too familiar.

Just then there was a loud screech. The dragons turned to see a falcon coming in fast from a dive. The candidates ducked as the raptor shot over their heads and across the room. The falcon banked hard and flew in quick circles over the guardians heads, squawking and making a raucous.

"Calm down!" Hunter ordered. The falcon shot up in front of the cheetah and landed on his good arm. "Now, calmly. Tell me what you saw." The falcon proceeded to go about squawking and flapping its wings frantically.

"What's he saying?" Tremor whispered. When he didn't receive and answer he turned to see he had been standing next to Candice. The ice dragoness glared at him out of the corner of her eye before turning her attention away from him. "What's he saying?" He asked Hunter.

The cheetah whirled to face the guardians. "The wolves are planning another attack! Their target is the dragon city due east of my people's village.

Flame, Tremor and Gaia all gasped and looked at each other with horror in their eyes. "Home!" They shouted.

Terrador took two lumbering steps towards the young dragons. "Spyro, I want you and Cynder to go help our brothers defend their city. Whatever the wolves are up to we need to put an end to it right now."

"I'm going too!" Flame stepped forward. "I know I'm a guardian now, but that is my home and I have a responsibility to protect it."

"Same here!" Tremor nodded. His sister stepped up beside him, just as determined.

Terrador looked at the other guardians who nodded in agreement. "Very well. I want you young ones to be careful. You don't know how dangerous wolves can be."

"We'll be there to help them too." Candice piped up.

"Yeah." Stella slapped the floor with her tail. "It may not be our home, but we help our friends when they need it!"

"Then let's not waste any more time." Tremor spun around and took of towards the edge of the platform. "Let's go!" He sprang into the air and shot down into a dive. Spyro and Cynder followed on his tail while the others followed close behind.

When they were gone the falcon began to squawk again.

"There's more?" Hunter raised a brow.

The bird continued its fit of noise and the cheetah's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no!"