"Thank you." Spyro bowed deeply to the mole healer. "I really appreciate this." He puffed his chest out, stretching his pectoral muscles. They were healed over and he was grateful to the healer, more than usual.
"You're welcome master Spyro." The mole nodded, pleased with the dragon's happiness. The purple dragon bowed and dashed out of the pavilion. The healer was busy cleaning up his supplies when Cynder suddenly burst into the room.
"Has Spyro been here?" She asked, out of breath. The mole jumped and grasped at his chest.
"He was here to have me check up on a wound he received while you lot were away. He left just a little while ago."
"He did?" The answer confused Cynder. "I wasn't expecting him to do that." She sat down and scratched her head still puzzled with herself. As she looked at the floor she noticed several more drops of blood and her heart began to beat faster. She looked up and squinted slightly as the mole continued putting away his tools. "Was he bleeding?" She asked inquisitively. The healer felt a chill run down his spine as he felt Cynder's eyes on the back of his head. He swallowed hard as he turned around.
"He was a little, yes. He said he was going about some sort of project of his and that he had managed to reopen the wound. Thankfully it wasn't too terrible. Judging by what he mentioned before, it's a good thing the wound wasn't fully reopened."
"I see." Cynder said, still somewhat suspicious. "Thank you for taking care of him. I do worry about him a lot."
"So I've heard." The healer adjusted his goggles. "I assure you he's doing just fine."
"Thank you." Cynder bowed and left the pavilion. When he was sure she was gone the mole let loose a deep sigh and slumped into a nearby chair. "My goodness." He gasped and fanned his face with a paw. "That dragoness can be downright terrifying when she's concerned for that boy."
Cynder walked back up to her and Spyro's room. Unfortunately the purple dragon wasn't there. By now it was already late in the afternoon. She had helped the moles on their construction of the catapults up until a half hour ago. She was exhausted as well as the other guardians. She flopped down on the pillow and let her eyes drift around the dark room. Spyro's armor was still strewn about making quite a mess of his normally neat room. Her thoughts drifted to the purple dragon and what he may have been doing the whole day. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
Several hours passed before Spyro trudged back to his room. He was covered in a fresh batch of cuts and bruises. He sighed when he saw the black dragoness curled up on his pillow cushions. He wanted desperately to be by her side, but in his condition he was only going to worry her.
"Good night, Cynder." He whispered before slipping down the halls again.
Cynder stirred in her sleep as the sound of his voice reached her. "Spyro." She murmured and rolled over but didn't wake up.
The next morning Cynder woke to the light shining in her eyes. She groaned in irritation and covered her head with her wing.
"Damn, I hate when it does that." She grumbled. Usually she didn't have to worry about it because she was usually tucked against Spyro's body who shielded her from the brightness. It was then she noticed that she was alone. Spyro was nowhere in the room. Not even Sparx was around anywhere. The dragoness began to worry immediately. She got up of the pile of pillows and headed down to the dining hall. Along the way she managed to find Sparx who looked like he was flying in his sleep.
"Sparx! Where have you been? Have you seen Spyro anywhere?"
"Not since yesterday." The dragonfly rubbed his blood-shot eyes.
"I'm really worried about him Sparx. Something is going on and he's not telling me."
"You're not the only one sister." Sparx cracked his neck loudly. "I thought it was his suspicion of that new guy Stella brought back as a souvenir."
"Liun?" Cynder raised her brow. This was the first she had heard that Spyro didn't trust someone. Which was really unlike him to begin with.
"Yeah. I was checking him out when the guardians were interviewing him yesterday."
"You were spying on them?" Cynder seemed shocked.
"Well I wouldn't call it spying. Just helping my best friend out." Sparx put on an innocent look.
Cynder smiled slightly. "Well what did you find out?"
"Nothing really." Sparx shook his head. "It wasn't much of an interview to begin with. The big guys seemed more interested with what Flame had to say and even then he didn't get that much attention from them. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this whole thing with the wolves is a lot bigger than we once thought it was."
"There's got to be something beneath all of this." Cynder shook her head.
"Yeah." Sparx rubbed his chin. "I think we should start with that new guy Liun. Just to make sure he's clean."
"I don't know." Cynder looked at the floor. "I don't know if I feel right about spying on Stella like that."
"Hey, do you want to find out what's going on with Spyro and the big guys up top?"
"Well yeah."
"Then let's get to work." Sparx floated over and lay down on top of the Cynder's head and closed his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Going to sleep. I took the night shift. You can take the day."
Cynder sighed and shook her head. "The things I do for Spyro."
Over a week passed. Spyro had hardly slept during that entire time and the times he did sleep, his dreams were nothing but nightmares. Malefor had hovered over Spyro's shoulder, day in and day out taunting the young dragon with his words and tormenting him in his sleep. Each morning Spyro would wonder the halls and streets of the dragon city, doing his best to avoid his friends until he could get to the healer. He was thankful he didn't have Cynder around to see him in such a broken state, but he did wonder what she was doing if she wasn't looking for him.
"Man, I don't know how much more of this I can take." Sparx groaned as Cynder flopped down on the pillows late one afternoon.
"What do you mean? It was your idea in the first place." Cynder let the dragonfly slide down her face and plop himself onto her pillow.
"I know, but I didn't think it would be so much work." Sparx clapped a hand against his forehead. Cynder raised a brow and Sparx took instant notice. "It's just so boring when the guy doesn't do anything except hang around Stella and be all mushy mushy flirty flirty with her."
"So are you saying you hope that something does happen to Spyro?"
"No. But I figured where Spyro's concerned there's never a dull moment."
Cynder sighed. She knew the dragonfly had a point. Every bit of trouble she had experienced had revolved around Spyro. She couldn't fully complain because it had brought the two of them closer together as more than just friends but a couple. The quiet moments they shared never seemed to last long enough though.
Cynder sighed and let herself sink into the pillows. As her eyelids began to fall she whispered to herself. "Spyro."
Spyro groaned as he scraped himself off the floor and sighed. Yet another night without any good sleep. The purple dragon had fought the Dark Master all night long until his body succumbed to his exhaustion. Earlier he had done well to beat the dragon Malefor now possessed, but just when it seemed like he would emerge victorious the Dark Master would retreat into the shadows to plague the young dragon's mind with dark magic. Every time, Spyro was forced to relive that dream where he had failed to protect Cynder, each time worse than the last as the Dark Master would put a new and sinister twist on it.
Spyro groaned as he dragged himself to the healer's pavilion.
"Spyro!" The mole exclaimed, seeing Spyro's wounds were much more severe today than they had been in the past couple of weeks. "What in Ignitus's name are you doing every day to show up at my clinic looking like this? It's been the same thing every morning."
"I'm sorry to trouble you." Spyro mumbled sleepily. He turned to leave but the mole grabbed his tail.
"No so fast! As soon as you step through that doorway you are my patient and you don't leave until I think you're fit to." Spyro did what the doctor said and lay down on his work table and closed his eyes as the mole went about patching him up. "It would be one thing if it was you and the candidates showing up each morning but when it's only you I see, I can't help but wonder."
Spyro didn't answer as he went into a light slumber.
"You're going to lose young dragon." Malefor's voice sneered from the darkness around him. "You will fall to me and so will the rest of the world."
"What are you planning Malefor?" Spyro growled. "Are you going to try and destroy the world again?"
"Oh no, not at all." A pair of sinister yellow eyes appeared in the darkness. "Only a purple dragon is capable of bringing about such an event. At this point all I desire is to make you suffer for my defeat. And I think I'll start with your precious Cynder." The Dark Master laughed as the eyes faded into the darkness.
"Spyro." The purple dragon's eyelids twitched. "Spyro, wake up!"
"Huh?" Spyro opened his eyes to see the healer standing before him.
"S-sorry." Spyro yawned. "Are we done?"
"Yes." The mole nodded sternly. "Now the remedy I used on you today is a bit different. If you want it to work properly you need to get yourself some food immediately."
"Yeah." Spyro nodded lazily. "Food would be pretty good right now." He slightly drooled as he trudged out of the clinic. The healer shook his head sadly before cleaning up.
Spyro made his way towards the massive dining hall. When he got there he found the other guardians already there and finishing up their breakfast.
"Hey Spyro!" Flame called. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you in almost two weeks now!" He and the others all bounded over and Spyro immediately found himself surrounded. When they got close enough they noticed Spyro's condition and their smiling faces turned to worry.
"Spyro, what happened to you?" Ember asked as she looked him over.
"Nothing, what are you talking about?" Spyro asked her.
"You look like you've never heard of the word sleep before." Tremor looked him in the eye. The purple dragon had dark bags under his eyes and his eyes were glazed from lack of sleep.
"I've just been working on something." Spyro tried to laugh it off but his friends weren't convinced.
"Yeah right. Somehow I doubt it." Ember scowled at him. "What could you be doing to get so many cuts and bruises? I've heard of serious training before but this would just be insane on your part."
"What?" Spyro looked himself over to see his wounds hadn't fully healed yet. "Shit!" He thought to himself as he tried to come up with a good lie. "I was just out in the woods and fell into a thorn patch."
"Did you just hear that?" Tremor asked as he tilted his head and listened.
"Hear what?" Candice asked.
"I left my bull shit alarm in my room but I could have just sworn I heard it go off." He looked sternly at Spyro.
"Yeah, I have to agree with pebble-brain." Candice nodded. "That's a crock pot if I ever heard one." Spyro was left speechless. He didn't know what to say. He hung his head low as the candidates pushed past him. When they had gone Spyro turned and left the dining hall to be alone. He practically dragged himself up the many flights of steps to the upper towers where the training room was. When he got there he found the candidates waiting for him. He hadn't expected them to be there waiting.
"Oh, are you coming to explain to us what's going on Spyro?" Ember gave him a dirty look.
"I...I..." Spyro tried to look her in the eye but couldn't.
"You what, Spyro." Flame pressed. "What is so important that you can't tell us? The next generation of guardians for our world! Your friends!"
Spyro looked up at them with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry you guys." He shook his head. "I can't say."
"Why not?" Stella demanded as she took a step forward, lightning crackling angrily around her paw. "How can we help you if you won't tell us?"
"You can't help me." Spyro said through clenched teeth.
"Why? Do you not trust us?" Ember demanded.
"No! That's not it!" Spyro protested.
"Then what is it Spyro?" Candice snapped. "We're not hatchlings! We can handle bad news!"
"I can't tell you! It's something I have to deal with on my own!" Spyro shot back.
"So suddenly the purple dragon doesn't need the help of his friends?" Flame spat. "You're not the Spyro I used to know and admire."
"Fine! You want to know what's going on!" Spyro roared and the tower shook. He could feel his temper rising. Just as he opened his mouth to speak an image flashed in his mind. The city of warfang burned before him with the bodies of moles and dragons scattered throughout the land.
"If you tell them I'll kill her." A familiar voice growled.
Spyro clenched his teeth tight as he fell to his knees crying and shaking his head in despair. Immediately his friends felt sorry for pressing him so hard.
"Spyro. Hey man, we didn't mean it the way it sounded." Flame took a step forward.
"Yeah." Ember nodded. "We just worry about you. It's not like you to disappear the way you did for so long."
"You could have at least asked us to give you some space." Stella placed a comforting wing over him.
"I'm sorry you guys!" Spyro sobbed. "I'm not free to say what's been going on! It's just too risky!" Spyro looked up to meet their eyes but instead found himself staring at a black dragon. The dragon smiled.
"Very good Spyro. It's amazing what you'll do to protect Cynder. You'd turn your back on your own friends for her."
"You!" Spyro bellowed with rage. The candidates all jumped in alarm as the purple dragon suddenly rose to his feet with hatred burning in his eyes.
"I would rethink what you're about to do young dragon." Malefor sneered. The black dragon's flames manifested into the Dark Master. "If you attack me, not only will you be putting Cynder's life in danger, but your friends as well."
Nearby, Candice shuddered. She felt a slight chill in the air and it wasn't because of her.
"No!" Spyro bared his teeth and fear gripped the candidates. "No more! I'm done letting you torment me Malefor! It ends here!"
"Oh you think so?" The Dark Master laughed. "Then show me!" With a cry of anger Spyro rushed forward. The guardians all dove out of the way but Spyro stopped before he even got to them. He slammed into Malefor and the black dragon flew back and hit the wall with tremendous force.
"What the hell was that!" Flame gasped as he saw a cloud of dust blow up from the floor.
Tremor narrowed his eyes and began to focus. Slowly he began to see through the illusion. He watched as a black dragon, much larger than himself rose off the floor.
"It's a dragon!" Tremor gasped.
Candice looked at him then to the wall. With a loud cough she sent a spray of ice across the room. Malefor never saw the strike coming and was frozen where he stood. The illusion disappeared and the candidates all gasped as they watched the black dragon struggle to free himself.
"Damn all of you guardians!" The Dark Master snarled. The candidates all shrank back as the evil manifestation loomed over their heads.
"Hey!" Every head turned to face Spyro. "Your fight is with me!" He spat a fireball up at the Dark Master but missed as the manifestation withdrew into the black dragon's body. The dragon's eyes glowed purple and with a mighty roar he broke free of the ice prison that held him. The guardians all assumed offensive stances and snarled at the Dark Master.
Just as they were about to go on the attack there was a loud thud. The dragons turned to see Spyro laying on his side.
"Spyro!" Stella cried and bounded over to him. The other guardians were about to do the same when four figures began to form in the center of the training ring, cutting the dragons off from their friends and their escape.
Malefor laughed as he watched them take several wary steps back from the monsters that stood before them.
"I'll have to congratulate you if you all survive this fight." Malefor sneered.
"Why you!" Tremor whirled around on the Dark Master. The black dragon slammed a paw into the earth dragon's chest sending him flying. Tremor smashed into the ceiling and plummeted to the floor where he lay still.
"Tremor!" Candice screamed when she saw he wasn't getting up. She turned around to see the black dragon fade away into the shadows. The first monster screeched and reared back on her hind legs, slashing the air with her talons.
"Stella! Go get help!" Flame shouted. "We'll hold them off! But hurry!"
"Uh! Right!" The golden dragoness turned and bolted down the stairwell.
"Flame, are you sure we can take them?" Ember gulped nervously.
"Just remember your training." Flame nodded and puffed his chest out and spread his wings displaying his dominance. "We can do it!" His confidence startled the girls for a split second but they quickly followed his lead.
"Yeah!" Ember nodded. "Let's go!"
"The two big ones are mine!" Flame smiled and his body began to glow with fiery energy.
"I'll take the monkey." Ember circled her opponent who eyed her with his one good eye.
"And I'll take..." Candice looked at her opponent who was glaring back at her. "Spyro?"
Just then a loud roar echoed through the city.
Stella puffed hard as she raced down the halls. She was so confused by what was going on. Her mind raced so much she was practically running blind. Her legs ached as she hurried towards the dining hall, hoping to find who she needed. Outside the clouds grew dark, as if responding to the growing conflict and lightning cracked across the sky. Shortly after, the rain began to come down in sheets and buckets.
At last Stella reached the dining hall and skidded to a stop. "Cynder!" She called out desperately. The moles all turned to her, but she found no sign of Cynder. "Has anyone seen Cynder this morning?" She wheezed, almost unable to breath.
"Not yet ma'am." The cook replied as he hurried over to the frantic dragoness. "What seems to be the trouble?"
Stella shook her head. "We've got major problems up in the training hall! We need Cynder's help now!"
"What's going on!" Everyone turned to see Cynder standing just outside the door behind Stella. "I heard my name down the hall. What's going on?"
"Cynder! You have to come to the training hall quick! It's Spyro!"
Cynder's eyes grew wide. "Stella, you go get Terrador and the other guardians. I'll go and see if I can do anything about..." And earth shattering roar cut Cynder off and a beam of fiery energy cut across the sky.
Without wasting another second the black dragoness spread her wings and flew out into the rain and wind towards the upper towers. She landed near the entrance to the training hall and instantly felt a blast of hot air. There was a shrill cry and a howl of pain from inside. The black dragoness rushed towards the entrance. What she saw inside was enough to make the blood in her veins turn to ice.
Ember was latched onto the back of a flailing baboon, clawing at him and burning his fur with her breath. The ape king Gaul howled furiously and beat at her with his staff.
High above, Flame battled it out with Dark Cynder and Malefor the Dark Master. The two larger dragons dove in, swinging talons and tails at the young guardian who was able to dodge them fairly easily.
In the middle of the chaos stood Candice faced off with none other than Dark Spyro. Neither combatant moved. Candice seemed almost too petrified to make a move.
Dark Cynder fired a black fireball. Flame countered with one of his own and the explosion knocked both dragons back. Malefor charged out of the cloud of smoke and struck Flame, knocking him back into the ceiling. The fire breather recovered quickly and bounced back, slamming his horns into the Dark Master's face. The purple dragon snarled and clutched at his nose. Flame unleashed a wave of fire at the same moment Malefor did. The two forces pushed against each other until Cynder joined in with her own dark fire breath. Flame's eyes widened as he began to shrink back and put more force into his blast. The Dark Master narrowed his eyes at the young dragon. Suddenly he and Cynder broke away and the beam burned clean through the wall, before melting the stone. The two adult dragons charged with mouths open and lashed out at Flame. The guardian shrouded himself in a ball of fire at the last moment, burning both dragons as they struck him. Flame hit the wall and the stone gave way. The dragon's body fell to the floor and the rocks came crashing down on top of him.
The Dark Master and Cynder snarled, pleased with their work. Cynder dove down at Ember who had just about brought Gaul down completely. The ape king was struggling to rise to his feet. Ember reared her head back, flames licking at the edge of her lips preparing to deliver the final blow. It was then that Dark Cynder snatched Ember up in her talons and hurled her towards her fallen mate. Ember bounced off the pile of rocks as the fire blast hit the ceiling, burying both fire dragons.
Candice broke her stare from Dark Spyro as she watched her friend fall beneath the pile of stone. Her jaw fell open as she stared at the recovering ape king and two evil dragons before returning her eyes to Dark Spyro who seemed to be looking right into her soul.
"Why can't I move!" She screamed in her head. "Am I really that terrified of Spyro? What is wrong with me!"
"Candice! Run!" Cynder cried. But instead of running, Candice lunged for an all-out strike on Dark Spyro. The corrupted dragon narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth. He side-stepped as the dragoness's talons missed him by inches. He clamped his jaws down hard on her foreleg, causing her to cry out in pain. Candice continued to scream as the dark dragon proceeded to tear the flesh from her bones. Suddenly there was a loud snap as her foreleg broke. The dragoness went into shock from the pain. Dark Spyro hurled her into the wall, cracking the stone on impact. The dragoness felt the wind rush out of her body and her eyes widened as her head snapped back, hitting the wall as well. She fell to the floor and coughed hard, trying to regain her lost wind.
Dark Spyro rose into the air and opened his mouth wide. A ball of electrical energy began to form, growing larger and larger by the moment. Candice saw what was coming and struggled to get up with her three good legs and her shredded, broken limb tucked to her body. She had just about gotten up when one of her hind legs gave out and she crumbled to the floor.
Off to the side Tremor began to regain consciousness. His eyes adjusted to the light and began to focus. Cynder stood over him, dripping wet from the rain, frozen in horror. The earth dragon shook the stars and checkers out of his head and looked up. Halfway across the room Candice was collapsed upon the floor, blood spilling from her shredded forearm. The dragoness was trying to move away from the dark dragon preparing to fire a concentrated bolt of lightning.
"Candice!" Tremor suddenly sprang to his feet, ignoring the pain that coursed through his body.
"No Tremor! Don't!" Cynder shouted as the earth guardian charged Dark Spyro. Just before he struck his target, Gaul stepped in and struck the dragon with his staff. Tremor rolled across the floor and recoiled from the hit. He charged again as the ape king raised his staff and swung with the intention of impaling the young dragon. Tremor smirked and swung his tail slightly, shifting the ground beneath his own feet, allowing him to evade the attack. As the dragon rushed past the ape king he swung his tail club, connecting with his target's forehead, knocking him on his back.
"No!" Tremor roared and seemed to glow with a swirling green energy, Cynder and Candice had never seen before. Candice suddenly felt as if time had slowed down as Dark Spyro unleashed his attack. The ice dragoness closed her eyes and covered herself with her wings. There was loud screech and thunderous boom. After a second Candice opened her eyes and peeked out from behind her wings.
Tremor stood in front of her with his wings covering him, and bracing against a wall of rock. The dragon struggled against the intense force of lightning until it became too much. Dark Spyro forced more power into his shot and pierced through the wall of stone. The bolt cut through the tough membrane of Tremor's wings and struck him in the chest.
"I...I-impossible!" He gasped in wide-eyed shock. The bolt combusted and the explosion shook the tower. Tremor's body shot like piercing rocket through the wall of the tower and through several more of the lower structures before smashing into the earth far below.
"No, Tremor." Candice squeaked in horror. She had never seen this sort of power before. Dark Spyro turned to the ice dragoness once more and began to charge up another shot.
Gaul was getting to his feet and rubbing his head when suddenly he jolted. Dark Spyro paused what he was doing and every head turned towards the ape king.
"That. Is. Enough!" Cynder growled through clenched teeth with tears streaming down her cheeks. She withdrew her tail blade from the middle of Gaul's back and the training dummy faded away. The Dark Master and Dark Cynder howled in anger and dove for the dragoness. A shudder ripped through Cynder's body. She turned her head to the sky and let out a piercing cry. The sound caused the Dark Master and her evil doppelganger to stop dead in midair and clutch at their heads. Cynder increased the pitch of her cry and the two dragons fell to the floor with a loud crash before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Cynder sucked in a deep breath of air and turned towards Dark Spyro. She had encountered him twice before but never in a battle of powers. The corrupted dragon stood on his hind legs and spread his wings wide. Cynder extended herself to her full body length and gave an bone rattling roar. Her eyes seemed to almost glow and her tail lashed at the air. Dark Spyro smiled and opened his mouth, gathering power from all four of his elements. Cynder spread her wings as a powerful purple aura surrounded her.
"Cynder." Candice whispered in astonishment. She had never seen the dragoness use this new power before.
Just as Dark Spyro was preparing to unleash his attack, Cynder struck first. She opened her jaws as wide as she could and a beam of pure convexity struck the evil entity head on. The four elements Dark Spyro had gathered exploded. Bolts of lightning cut through the walls before the flames turned the rook into a furnace. Candice screamed from the intense heat. Then the ice element froze over the tower, putting the flames out. Then the massive earth bullet Dark Spyro had charged shattered the ice. Candice covered herself as the jagged shards plummeted towards her.
Cynder gave one final push and cut through Dark Spyro. The training dummy vanished giving Cynder only seconds to react. The dragoness leaped into the air immediately creating a whirl wind. The gust blew the debris away from Candice and lifted into the air. When she was high enough, Cynder stopped and tore the wind funnel apart, sending debris flying in all directions. The chunks of frozen stone flew off into the distance and she gasped for breath. As she descended towards the training hall floor she spotted Stella running up the steps with Hunter close behind her and the guardians beating their wings fast to the top level.
The black dragoness landed beside Candice and inspected her injuries. The ice dragoness was pretty shaken from the whole ordeal. Hunter walked over and scooped the dragoness up in his arms, staggering slightly from her weight but being gentle enough not to injure her more.
"Is everyone alright?" Terrador asked and he landed in the middle of the room. Before anyone could answer, a bright light began to shine from under a pile of stones. There was a loud crack and then Ember burst free. She panted heavily before looking around.
"Flame!" She cried and began to dig him out. Cyril walked over and helped her dig out the unconscious fire guardian. He had several cuts, and bruises but didn't look too serious.
"Where's Tremor?" Volteer asked looking around.
"Tremor?" Candice whimpered. Then she came flying out of her trance. "Tremor!" She struggled against Hunter's grasp and looked over his shoulder. The cheetah walked over and looked down at the city below. He could just barely make out the holes that had been punched through several of the buildings and the crater at the very bottom.
"What happened here?" Cynder asked as she walked over to Ember who stood over Flame.
"I'm still not sure myself." The pink dragoness replied warily. She began to tell the story of how they had run into Spyro in the dining hall and how they had approached him in the training hall, how Spyro had seemed to have gone crazy and charged them only to reveal an invisible black dragon whose flames manifested into a dragon that looked a lot like one of the ones they had just battled.
"This is much more dire than we had originally thought." Hunter's ears flattened against his skull.
"What do you mean?" Candice asked, breaking her attention from the city below.
"Never mind that now." Hunter shook his head and looked around. "Where is Spyro?"
"He's right there." Ember turned to where the purple dragon lay, but her voice trailed off. "At least, he was."