Cynder lay in her cell unmoving. The days and weeks had gone by without so much as a second thought from her. She had tried repeatedly to get in touch with Ignitus but each attempt had ended in failure.

"What have I done?" She whimpered to herself. She missed Spyro and Sparx along with the other guardians. She longed for Spyro's body to be next to her, giving her comfort when she needed it. It was then she remembered why she was here to begin with.

Cynder began to wonder how Spyro was doing. With two of his four elements gone and being separated from her, he was sure to be wondering what was going on around him. She could only silently pray that he would stay safe and out of harms way.

Just then the doors to the dungeon opened and the head guard entered with a tray. He set the tray down and spat into the bowl. "Eat up dragon! Our Alpha demands it!"

"You can tell your Alpha, that if he expects me to eat, then I'll be taking him as a main course!" Cynder spat, venom dripping from her teeth. The wolf stepped back. There had been several instances since the black dragoness had been brought that there had been reports of guards being attacked when getting to forceful with the dragoness. The canine growled and gripped his weapon threateningly. Cynder hissed back and venom sprayed from her mouth. The drops hit the floor a couple feet away from the bars and sizzled into the stone. The guard jerked back and made a hasty exit. When the darkness had returned Cynder retreated to her corner and curled up around herself.

"Excuse, me." A sudden voice came out of the darkness causing Cynder to jump in surprise. She looked around trying to locate the source of the one speaking. "Are you going to eat that?"

Cynder paused, glancing at the tray with a bowl of animal guts. She couldn't stomach food right now but her belly growled angrily. Ignoring the sound she walked over and pushed the tray away. She had no idea there was another prisoner there with her.

"Thank you." The voice said gratefully. "I have been starving in this cell for months."

"Who are you?" Cynder squinted into the darkness. Her eyes began to glow red. It was then that she saw the prisoner in the cell across from her. The wolf raised his head and stared at her shamefully. His eyes were a dull blue unlike the rest of his pack whose eyes were yellow.

"I can see that you have excellent sight in the darkness." The wolf bobbed his head slightly.

Cynder growled and stepped away from the bars. The wolf sighed sadly.

"Forgive me. I shouldn't have bothered you." The wolf turned away from her.

"Bothered wouldn't even begin to describe what you wolves have done." Cynder's eyes were blazing red and her tail blade twitched irately.

"So I hear." The wolf hung his head. "Every day I hear the guards talk of how the attacked your kind's cities. How they captured a legendary purple dragon."

"Spyro?" Cynder's eyes returned to normal.

"I take it that this is someone you know?" The wolf asked without looking back at her. Cynder didn't answer. "Well, anyhow, I've heard that Snarl was forced to leave the purple dragon behind at the frozen wastes."

"So he's alive?" Cynder took a step closer.

"I am uncertain." The wolf shook his head. "I have not heard anything like that from the guards."

"Well at least Spyro still has the others to look after him. I'm sure they found him by now."

"Others? You mean you were not alone when you were captured?"

"No!" Cynder hissed and turned her glaring eyes back on the wolf. "I have friends who try to protect this world from blood thirsty savages like you who want nothing more than to destroy everything we've worked so hard to protect." Cynder felt a knot tighten in her chest. "I could have lost Spyro so many times because of what you wolves and Malefor have been doing! Doesn't that mean anything to you at all?" Tears were beginning to flow freely from Cynder's eyes.

"I'm sorry." The wolf muttered and his ears drooped.

"Are you really?" Cynder snapped. "Do you know what it's like to almost lose someone you were close to? Because someone else wants to do something destructive?"

"I do." The wolf nodded and Cynder immediately fell silent.

The black dragoness sat down and wiped her tears away. "Why are you in here anyways?"

"Because I am considered a traitor to my people." The wolf looked back at her over his shoulder with sad eyes. "I was once well respected in our pack. Until one day when the Alpha summoned me to his cave. He proposed that I teach the warriors of our pack the secrets of our ancestors. When I inquired as to what for, he revealed that he was planning an attack on a tribe in Avlar.

"The cheetah tribe." Cynder gasped.

"Yes." The wolf turned to her once again. "When I refused he grew angry. He displayed a power I have never seen before in my years of studying magic and the elements of our world. Like the darkness in his soul became manifest."

"He used dark magic." Cynder growled and her talons dug deep into the stone floor. "It was Malefor, the Dark Master."

"I have heard." The wolf continued. "The Alpha branded me a traitor and had me locked away to rot. I've been here ever since. It was some time ago that I learned that he was replaced with a new Alpha, Snarl."

"You mean that big lug that threw me in here to begin with?"

"Yes. Snarl is young and gifted in his skills as a warrior but he is very impressionable by higher powers."

"You sound like you know him very well." Cynder tilted her head inquisitively.

"Yes. He is my great grandson."

"What! You're own flesh and blood?"

"I'm sure this comes as quite a shock."

"You can say that again! He tried to kill me and Spyro along with all our other friends!"

"Then I must beg for your forgiveness." The wolf bowed deeply before the dragoness. "I am deeply sorry for the pain and trauma he and the other warriors have caused you and your allies."

Cynder was speechless. She had never dreamed of encountering a wolf with such a sense of veneration. "Who are you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Something about him reminded her of Ignitus.

"Forgive me." The wolf hung his head. "My name is Exile. I was the senior wolf elder at one time. I studied the world around us in order for my pack to survive and discovered ways for us to use magic and the energies around us to our benefit. Unfortunately other forces desired to use that knowledge for evil."

"What exactly do you know?" Cynder sat down, staring hard at the old wolf.

"My people are known to draw their strength from the moons that watch over our world. When the conditions are right, we wolves can change into much a larger, more powerful form than the one you see before you. When this happens, we can just about match any dragon in pure strength. However, these conditions only last for minutes at a time and only happen two to three times each year when the seasons change."

"I suppose that's convenient." Cynder muttered and her tail twitched, clacking her tail blade on the stone floor.

"Indeed." Exile nodded. "But I discovered a way to acquire that power without those specific seasonal requirements."

"And that's what Malefor was after. To boost the strength of your pack so you could attack the dragon cities without getting completely wiped out by the dragons that protected them."

"It would appear so." Exile sighed. "I never told the Alpha my secret, but I believe that the Dark Master has figured out how to transform the warriors of my pack without my help. So now I'm just rotting in this dungeon, waiting to die."

A long moment of silence passed between the two prisoners.

"Well now." Exile perked up slightly. "In any case, why are you here? I thought all the black dragons were taken to another prison, elsewhere."

"Really?" Cynder gasped and was on her feet in an instant. "Do you know where?"

"I don't." Exile shook his head. "It's a place that I have not heard of before."

"Oh..." Cynder hung her head and sat back down.

"So tell me, why you are so special that they would segregate you from the other dragons?"

"I used to be the Dark Master's puppet." Cynder sighed. "Before I even hatched my egg was captured by the Dark Master's forces. He used his dark magic to turn me into a monster. I fought against those who sought to protect this world from him and I nearly helped destroy it completely."

"Clearly that was not your true desire, was it?" Exile placed a hand under his chin and listened closely.

"No!" Cynder snapped. "I couldn't fight it. He was too powerful for me. It was Spyro who came along and saved my life. Even when I tried to run away from him after nearly killing him myself, he still stayed by my side. He refused to let Malefor take me back."

"It sounds like you really care for this Spyro."

Cynder blushed slightly as her thoughts drifted to memories with her purple dragon. "I do. I love Spyro with all my heart and soul. The only reason I'm here is because I want to protect him. I need to become stronger in order to keep the Dark Master from acquiring the rest of Spyro's powers."

"Hmmm..." Exile rubbed the goatee on his chin thoughtfully. "I think that I can help you, if you will let me?"

"Help me how?" Cynder asked suspiciously. "I know that I need to become stronger, but I don't know how. Most likely I don't have the time to train extensively to get stronger and I don't want to acquire power from the Dark Master ever again."

"Then I will teach you the things I have learned." Exile suggested. "If it's power you require and wish to use it for the greater good of our world, then I will grant you my knowledge of those powers."

"I would cross the universe and back until eternity ends for Spyro's sake." Cynder stood up and thrust her chest out, suddenly feeling stronger than she had been for the past few weeks. "I would lay down my life for him without a second thought."

Exile nodded and smiled. "Love is such a beautiful thing. Very well then. I feel that you are a dragoness of immeasurable honor and can be trusted with this knowledge."

"Really? You'll help me protect Spyro?" Cynder exclaimed excitedly. Exile nodded with a smile on his muzzle. "Oh, thank you! I don't know what to say!"

"You don't have to say anything...I don't believe I caught your name young dragoness."

"Cynder."

"Cynder? The legendary black dragoness of the skies?" Cynder sighed and nodded. "Well then." Exile straightened up and bowed courteously. "It is an honor to be at your service Cynder. Now I suggest that we both eat. We will need our strength in the days ahead."

"Right." Cynder nodded. The two prisoners divided the bowl between themselves. Cynder scarfed down the bland animal intestines and sat waiting for Exile to finish. Despite his ravenous appetite, the old wolf was surprisingly well-mannered. When he was done he scooted the plater back in front of Cynder's cell to keep the guards from suspecting anything.

"Alright then." He said and slowly got to his feet. "Let's get started shall we?"