"Tremor!" Candice's voice seemed so distant to the earth dragon. The earth dragon's eyelids twitched. His head throbbed and his body suddenly ached. There was a sharp stabbing pain in his back just below his wings. "Tremor!" Candice's voice was a little louder this time. There was the sound of hissing and snarling and yowls of pain. The earth dragon opened his eyes. Everything was a spinning, blurry mess. He struggled to get himself up but his body didn't want to cooperate.

"Tremor! Get up!" Candice ordered and she knocked away a bleeding wolf. "I've been trying to get you to wake up for over thirty minutes!" Tremor blinked several times, not fully sure where he was or how he had gotten there. He looked up at Candice who was flapping her wings to spread the force of her ice breath upon the approaching canines. When she saw Tremor was awake she inhaled deeper and blew hard. The wolves unfortunate enough not to get out of the way were left frozen in the think wall of ice, cutting the rest of the pack off from the young dragons.

"Damn it Tremor! I told you you needed sleep so you could replenish your strength!" The dragoness bent down and did her best to help the earth dragon to his feet. "This is what I was afraid of!"

"Afraid?" Tremor seemed to come back to reality. "Gaia!" He shouted and Candice jerked her head towards him in surprise. "It's Gaia! She's in trouble!" Tremor looked the ice dragoness in the eye. "We have to find her!"

Sure enough that he could stand on his own, Candice backed away from Tremor. "Then go Tremor! Go and help your sister! I'll cover your escape!"

"What? You can't be serious! All on your own?" Tremor took a step towards her. "That'd be suicide!"

"I'm a lot stronger than you give me credit for Tremor!" Candice snapped and shoved him aside as she faced the wall of ice. On the other side the wolves were trying to break through. "Now go to her! Help Gaia, before it's too late!" Tremor hesitated, torn between his sense of honor and his need to help his sister. "I'll catch up to you when I'm finished here! Now go!" No sooner had she spoken than the wolves burst through the wall. Tremor's eyes grew wide and he turned and ran. The wolves spotted him and sprang past Candice to take pursuit.

"Where do you think you're going!" The ice dragoness fired an ice bolt in front of the wolves. The canines skidded to a halt as another wall of ice formed in front of them. "If you boys want him, you need to go through me first!" The dragoness looked around as the pack began to circle her, intent on making her eat her own words.

Tremor felt a chill run down his spine as he rushed through the streets of his home city. He had no idea why or how he had been rendered unconscious but he didn't like the feeling it left in his stomach. He had no idea where he was running, nor did he really care. He just followed his instincts dodging down every alleyway he could.

At last he came to an open courtyard and he skidded to a halt. He had no idea why his body had chosen to stop here. The yard was littered with stone debris and the blood and bodies of fallen wolves. Tremor took a cautious step forward, slowly making his way around a broken dragon statue. It was then that his eyes widened in horror and his heart nearly stopped.

"Gaia!" He shouted and bounded over to her. The dragoness lay on her side in a large puddle of her own blood. Tremor's eyes wavered as he looked her over. She had several slash marks that ran up her neck and across her cheek, covering her face in blood. Her legs had been slashed and broken and her tail had been hacked in several places. One of her wings was limp, just barely hanging on by a thread. Then Tremor noticed the savage gash along her spine exposing her to the bone. "Gaia." He shook his head in disbelief and leaned down towards his twin. He scooped her head up in his paws and nuzzled her.

There was a soft moan and Tremor's head jerked back in surprise. Gaia slowly opened her eyes and stared up at her brother. "Tremor..." She said in a whisper. "You made it... You're okay?"

"No." Tremor shook his head. "I'm not oaky. You're not okay."

"I know." Gaia smiled and coughed, spattering her brother's face and chest with blood.

"Gaia! Hold on! Don't try to move! We'll get a healer to fix you up! Just hold on a little longer!"

Gaia just continued to smile. "It's okay Tremor. I'm not scared." Her brother looked at her with eyes glistening with tears that were begging to come out. "I know you'll make a fine guardian when your training is done."

"Don't talk like that!" Tremor shook his head desperately. "I can't go on without you there with me!"

"I'm not going to leave you Tremor." Gaia tried to lift a paw to her brother's cheek but her strength had left her body long ago. Her eyes were already glazing over as her time trickled away. "I'll always be there with you. I'll always be there for you." Tremor clenched his teeth and held her tighter, not willing to let her go.

"Gaia! Don't go!" He pulled her close to him. There was a long silence. The dragoness smiled as she listened to the strong pulsing of her brother's heart.

"You have a strong heart." Gaia cooed softly. "Much stronger than you know."

"Gaia..." Tremor squeezed his eyes shut. How wanted desperately to cry but he needed to remain strong for his sister. As he held her close to him he felt her straining to breathe. The dragoness coughed hard several more times. Gaia's chest heaved as she tried for one last deep breath.

"Tremor..." Her voice was almost inaudible.

"What is it?"

The dragoness gave him a smile. It was the one she gave when she wanted something from him. And it was never just something little with this smile.

"Don't be too hard on Candice. Just remember what I said before."

Tremor's eyes grew wide and it took him a moment to recover from the shock. "I will." He bobbed his head slightly with a smile. Even when she was ready to die his sister was still always thinking about those she cared for. "I swear to you, I will keep my promise!"

Gaia's breathing began to slow and Tremor pressed his lips tightly together, seeing what was coming. Gaia breathed in a couple times before closing her eyes for good. Tremor didn't utter a single word. He just closed his eyes and bowed his head over his sister as the sounds of the battle raged on in the distance.

All at once Gaia's body temperature began to rise. Tremor opened his eyes to see his sister's body begin to shine with a bright green energy. Then slowly the energy began to disperse and Tremor watched as the tiny orbs of light melted into him. His body tingled and burned from the inside out. He held his sister closer to him, not ready to release her. Tremor tried his best not to call out for his sister as she faded from his sight.

The glow died away and Tremor looked down at his empty paws. He looked at the ground in disbelief then turned around hoping to wake up from this horrible nightmare. Tremor hung his head in defeat. He suddenly felt lost. His only remaining family was gone before his very eyes.

Just then Gaia's voice echoed around him. "I love you Tremor. I'm proud to have been your twin."

"Gaia!" Tremor looked up hoping to at least see a vision of her.

"I'm not going to leave you Tremor. If you ever need me, just listen to the earth." Then she gave a slight giggle. "After all, it's what we do best."

Tremor sighed and closed his eyes tight. He hurt all over. His insides burned like they were on fire. He couldn't take it anymore. The earth dragon jumped and slammed his back paws into the stone floor and smashed his front ones into the ground. With his paws embedded in the rock he made his mind one with the earth. He felt every little vibration, sensed every heart beat within the cave.

Just then the cave began to shake. It was subtle at first then it felt as if the entire cavern was rocking like a boat in choppy waters. A thunderous crash rang throughout the cavern and every head turned up.

"What was that?" Cynder asked.

"I don't know." Spyro shook his head. "But I have feeling something bad did, or is about to happen."

Suddenly the cave floor seemed to shatter. Stalagmites shot up like blades of grass throughout the underground city. The spikes impaled the remaining wolves and soon the cave was filled with their howls and cries of pain. The dragons dodged the spikes and took to the air as blood, bodies and limbs flew through the air.

"Look out!" Stella shouted and tackled the wounded black dragon as another row of spikes burst through the wolves she was fighting. She closed her eyes, expecting to get impaled herself. When she opened her eyes the rocks had formed a protective barrier between her and the blood-stained spikes.

Ember and Flame sprang onto a wall and bounced off into the air. Below them the wolves barked and howled as they tried to get away from the spikes suddenly bursting through the ground. Several managed to leap onto the roofs of the pavilions but even there they were not safe from Tremor's wrath. The stone pavilions grew spikes and killed the canines where they stood.

Tremor felt every wolf drop dead inside the cavern. He clenched his teeth tight trying to hold himself back but he couldn't anymore. He raised his head and let out an agonized roar that shook the earth. Dirt and stones fell from the ceiling, smashing into the streets below.

"Holy shit!" Candice banked hard as a stalactite shot past her. The sound of sorrow reached her and her heart rate quickened. "Oh my god. Tremor!" She dove back down and shot low over the streets. The fallen rocks and bloody stalagmites sank back into the ground leaving the streets as clean and clear as they had been before. When she was sure she could set foot down, Stella ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

At last she stumbled across the courtyard where Tremor was.

"Tremor!" She called but her words fell on deaf ears. She stood at the edge of the courtyard and looked around. The wolf bodies lay in a heap across from him. Tremor had his back turned to the bodies and seemed to be staring at the ground.

Slowly, Candice approached him. As she drew closer she saw that he was standing in a large pool of blood which flowed into the holes at his feet.

"Tremor?" Candice felt a sharp pain in her heart as she slowly began to realize what had happened. "Tremor, are you there?" She stopped several feet away from him. After several long silent minutes the earth dragon moved. He pulled his blood-stained feet from the holes and turned towards Candice. The ice dragoness gasped in shock when she saw how much blood he was covered in.

"Oh my god! Tremor, you're a mess!" She stepped forward to meet him but he moved to her side to avoid her. "Tremor?" She glanced back at him sadly as he walked away from her without so much as a word or a look. She felt the knot in her chest tighten up and she pressed her lips together tightly.

Tremor never saw the tear that escaped from her eye and froze upon her soft scales before falling to the ground and shattering into a million pieces.