Cynder lay next to the purple dragon and dabbed his head with a cool, damp towel. Spyro hadn't fully woken up yet after a couple of days. The stress and loss of blood had finally taken its toll on the young dragon, weakening him severely.

"Oh, Spyro." Cynder shook her head sadly. "Why do you put yourself through these things?" The purple dragon groaned in his sleep and his body shivered. Cynder draped a wing over him to help shield against the chill. Outside it was still raining, though not as heavily.

Cynder looked up as she heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. The rhythm was staggered and the dragoness rose to her feet and spread her wings as she took up a fighting stance. Much to her surprise, Candice appeared around the corner. When she saw Cynder she stopped.

"Sorry, is this a bad time?"

Cynder sighed and sat back down. "No, not at all." She shook her head. "I didn't recognize the footsteps so I wasn't sure."

Candice only smiled softly. "It's really cute how protective you are when it comes to Spyro." Cynder blushed slightly as Candice hobbled into the room. "How's he doing?"

"Not so good." Cynder sighed. "He's had a fever that I've been trying to control but he seems so exhausted from whatever he may have been doing."

Both dragons sighed heavily. Cynder looked the ice dragoness over. Her shredded foreleg had been bound up many times, making a thick cast. The limb had been splinted to her side so the bone could set properly forcing the dragoness to get around on three legs. Her left back leg was also splinted but this injury wasn't as severe as her front leg.

"Speaking of well being, how are you doing?" Cynder asked.

Candice gave a slight chuckle. "Honestly, I've felt better. But all things considered, I'm just peachy."

Cynder cracked a smile. Spyro groaned again and she continued to pat his head with the damp towel.

"Cynder, can I ask you something?" Candice looked down at Spyro who seemed to settle down as Cynder stroked his cheek.

"Sure."

"Back there in the training hall. Those enemies we fought. Who were they?"

Cynder froze for several moments. The memory came flooding back to her.

"You already know about the Dark Master." She sighed heavily. The dragoness Flame fought was me."

"You?" Candice cocked her head to the side.

"Yes. You can ask anyone around you and they will tell you what my full title is. I'm known as the Black Dragon Cynder, Terror of the Skies. That is what I used to be when I worked for the Dark Master."

"You worked for the Dark Master?" Candice nearly fell over. "But how? You're nothing like that creature we saw in the training room."

"I know." Cynder nodded and went on to tell about how Gaul, the ape king they had fought, had taken her egg in the night of the raid on the dragon temple. How the Dark Master poisoned her with his powers and turned her into the fire breathing beast the candidates had seen in the training hall, and how Spyro was the one who had beaten her in combat and freed her from Malefor's spell. Candice listened to the whole story with her jaw hung open and her eyes wide. At last after almost an hour of explanations Cynder concluded her story.

"That's insane." Candice shook her head as she stared at the floor. "I had no idea the Dark Master was that...horrible."

"You have no idea." Cynder sighed. "If it weren't for Spyro I may have joined them again. But he never stopped believing in me." She looked down at her purple dragon and kissed him on the forehead. In his sleep Spyro growled happily. "And when we faced the Dark Master, I never stopped believing in him."

"So that's why you and Spyro have such a tight bond." Candice looked down at Spyro then back to Cynder. "You really are a lucky dragoness Cynder."

Cynder chuckled. "Yeah. Though many times I question why. After everything I've done to Spyro and the rest of the world, I usually think the opposite."

"No way!" Candice thrust her head from side to side. "Everyone deserves a second chance. It wasn't like you asked for your past to happen. It just did. You deserve a sweet guy like Spyro."

Cynder sighed again. "I try and be worthy of him. But in times like this, I do wonder if I'm really that precious to him as he is to me."

"Don't think like that." Candice bumped her head against Cynder's shoulder. "I would be pretty upset if you left Spyro just because you thought you weren't worthy enough. So you had better stay with him, you got that sister?"

Both girls giggled. "Yeah, okay. I will." Cynder nodded.

"No! That has to be a promise." Candice extended her tail. Cynder looked at it for a second then wrapped her tail around Candice's. They leaned in and bit down on each other's tail blade, sealing the promise. Satisfied with their deal Candice turned towards the door. "I'm going to go check on Tremor, see how he's doing."

"Okay, just don't kill each other." Cynder laughed.

Candice smiled over her shoulder. "No promises." She chuckled.

"Candice!" Cynder called. The ice dragoness stopped and turned. "If you ever see Spyro the way you did back there. Don't try to fight him. Just run." Candice stood still as she remembered the terrible white eyes that seemed to cut right through her and a chill ran down her spine. She nodded and turned back down the hall.

As she made her way up the long stairwell she glanced down at the city below. The rain was a still heavy but the wind was no longer blowing, making the wetness tolerable. As candice watched the guards march through the rain, she saw several buildings with their holes being patched up by the construction teams. The dragoness followed the line of destruction until her eyes came to rest on the impact site where Tremor had hit. When the guards had gotten to him he wasn't breathing and it had taken a long time to resuscitate him. Moving the earth dragon had been a delicate process since many of the bones in his body had been broken. Candice's mind drifted back to the battle in the training hall when Tremor had thrown himself in front of Dark Spyro's attack. It was a valiant side of him she hadn't never seen before, but wasn't too sure that it was for the best.

Meanwhile, up in his room, Tremor struggled to his feet. He had been awake for a couple hours, testing his body out to see what was broken. His injuries had been patched up and his chest was heavily bandaged from the burn he had received from Dark Spyro's attack.

At last he felt confident enough to attempt to get out of bed. As he rose his bones and joints seemed to groan against each other like old machinery. As he straightened his back out he heard several loud cracks along his spine.

"Ah, that felt good." He breathed and shook himself slightly. He grunted as his broken ribs burned inside him. "Okay, that didn't feel as good." He took a shaky step forward, letting his weight move to his front leg. Then he dared another step. He continued this process around his room until he was confident that he could walk steadily on his own. His body ached and his wounds throbbed, but he didn't mind.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tremor jerked and turned towards the doorway to see Candice standing there watching him.

"Nothing. I was just walking around."

"You should be resting!" Candice scolded as she entered.

"Yes, you may come in." Tremor rolled his eyes.

"Don't give me that." Candice brought her face right up to Tremors. He could see the dragoness was serious. "You need to regain your strength or your wounds won't heal properly. Now lie back down."

"I can take care of myself Candy." Tremor brushed by her. "I appreciate your concern but it isn't needed."

"Excuse me?" She whirled on him and stopped him in his tracks. "Not needed? You nearly got yourself killed back there! That shot had my name written all over it and you took it for me to save my life! Why wouldn't I be concerned for someone who just saved my life? The least you can do is be gracious you have someone who is willing to care for you!" Tremor hung his head and stared at his paws. "You of all dragons should know what it's like to lose someone close to you. I know as guardians we get thrown into dangerous situations but purposely trying to get yourself killed won't bring Gaia back!"

Tremor felt his heart tie itself into a knot. He sighed heavily and looked back over his shoulder. "But that's exactly why I wanted to save your life." Candice's head jerked back. Tremor turned towards the door and walked away leaving Candice in a state of shock.

"Wait! Tremor!" She called but he ignored her. Candice clenched her teeth and her tail lashed at the air furiously. "Damn it!" She shouted and fired an ice bullet into his fireplace, freezing the chimney solid.

Spyro moaned in his sleep. His head spun and his body felt as if it were frozen. He shivered like a leaf in the wind. His teeth chattered and his heart raced. All at once he felt something fall across his body. The chill went away and he began to feel warmer. Spyro opened his eyes and tuned his head slightly, just enough to see his black dragoness staring down at him.

"H-hey Cynder." He murmured.

"Hey Spyro." She whispered softly and stroked his cheek with the back of her paw. "How do you feel?"

"C-c-cold." Spyro curled himself into a tighter ball. Cynder looked at the fire place and spat at ball of black fire into it. The wood burned and the room was shrouded in a beep purple light. Cynder curled her tail around Spyro's and pulled him closer. "Th-thanks Cynder."

"If you have a moment, I want to ask you something." Cynder leaned her head over Spyro's neck

"S-sure." Spyro let his eyelids droop. His dragoness felt warm against his scales.

"Why didn't you tell us about the Dark Master?"

Spyro was silent for a long time. "Because...I was scared."

"About what? You know we would have helped you in any way we could have."

Spyro sighed and his eyelids drooped a little more. "Because he would have killed you."

"Me?"

"Back at the eastern city. When you found me on the steps of the dragon temple. That was when I first discovered that dragon was the Dark Master. You couldn't see or hear him, but I could. I wanted to tell you. I really did. But he put his blade to your throat and said that if I told you, he would kill you on the spot."

A chill ran down Cynder's back and she huddled closer to Spyro. Everything seemed to make sense now. His constant avoiding her and the other guardians, the blood stains he had left behind, the visits to the healer every morning which she had recently found out.

"I'm sorry Spyro. I should have trusted you more."

Spyro shook his head weakly. "No. You did trust me. If you had gone out looking for me you would have been in more danger. I'm glad you didn't." He let out another sigh and let his eyelids fall completely. "I'm feeling kind of tired now, so I'm going to get some sleep."

Cynder smiled and nuzzled him slightly, being careful not to poke him with her long horns. "Alright, go on. You deserve it." She kissed him softly and Spyro shuddered slightly. "Just do me a favor."

"Hm?"

"Dream about me."

Spyro smiled at the thought of that and drifted off to sleep. It didn't take long before he was sound asleep. Cynder smiled and licked his cheek.

Just then Sparx flew in. "Hey Cynder, how's Spyro..."

"Shush!" Cynder hissed. "I just got him to sleep! If you wake him up, I won't be helped responsible for what I'm gunna do to you!"

The dragonfly gulped and cringed. "Sheesh! Sorry." He fluttered over and lay down next to the two dragons and the three of them fell asleep together.

The guards on far wall held their spears at attention as they marched up and down the line. None of them were particularly fond of the rain, but were willing to do their duty none the less. The last two days had dragged on slowly with nothing but the latest gossip going around to keep them company.

All at once one of the guards shouted. "We have contacts coming in from the west!" The guards charged to the wall and armed their catapults. Off in the distance they could see lights and torches moving across the ground. The captain adjusted his goggles in the rain and squinted.

"Hold your fire! They're friendlies!" The guards relaxed. The torches drew closer and soon came to a stop just below the outer wall. The lead torch twitched before popping up, revealing a grey-haired, long snouted creature, bearing a striking resemblance to the moles themselves. The manweersmall sniffed the air and turned hi nose up towards the captain and his guards.

"I am Mole-Yair! Leader of the Manweersmalls." He called up. "My people require shelter. We bring news of great importance to the guardians."