The guardian candidates all took to the air; even Tremor. They broke above the tree tops as another roar spread across the land.
"That does not sound good." Flame muttered darkly.
"It sounds like it came from a dragon." Ember pointed out.
"If that's the case, then who is it?"
The four young dragons all hovered in the air, eyes sweeping over the horizon in every direction. When another roar reverberated through the air Flame felt a chill run down his spine.
"Ember, I want you to find some cover. I don't want you fighting in your condition."
"I'm not gunna leave you to fight on your own Flame." Ember protested. "I've always fought at your side and I'm not changing that now."
"Normally I would let it go, but this time I want you to hide. Please."
"I'm not doing it Flame!"
"Ember please!" Flame pleaded, his voice nearly cracking from desperation. "I see something!" Candice exclaimed and pointed a claw to the north. A small dot was coming from over the far hills. and closing fast.
"I've never seen anything move that fast before." Ember raised an eyebrow.
"Ember, I'm begging you! Find a place to hide! At least until we figure out if it's a friend or foe."
"Flame, I'll be fine." Ember insisted.
"Is that...Cynder?" Stella squinted at the approaching dragon.
"Cynder?" The other guardians chimed in together. They all stared hard across the horizon.
"Yeah, that's Cynder all right." Tremor nodded. "But...she looks...grown up?"
"Grown up?" Flame looked at the earth guardian. Then his eyes grew wide as he came to realize what was about to happen. He whirled around and grabbed Ember and dove towards the cover of the trees.
"Flame! What are you doing!" The dragoness cried. The fire guardian landed and pinned Ember to the ground. "Get off of me Flame!"
"I'm not letting you go until you promise me to stay out of this fight!"
"No! Why should I? Tremor's in even worse shape than I am! Why does he get to fight and not me?"
"Tremor is Candice's responsibility. You're mine! I'm getting a terrible feeling about this right now and I need you down here as support."
"I can support you just fine out there as I can here!"
"No!" Flame shook his head. "You don't get it..."
"What don't I get?" Ember spat a few angry tufts of fire from her nostrils.
"Look at me!" Flame snapped and held the dragoness firmly under his paws. Ember's eyes locked with his. "Trust me when I say...I need you down here for support."
Ember still wasn't sure what was going on but something in Flame's voice told her it was important for her to stay on the ground.
"Alright Flame...I don't know what you have in mind...but I do trust you..."
Flame sighed, thankful that she finally got the message. "Thank you Ember." He stepped off of her.
Meanwhile, up above Candice and Tremor were having their own spat.
"You should probably go down and protect Ember." Candice suggested.
"What for? She's not my girlfriend and she's more than capable of taking care of herself without me babysitting her."
"That not the point pebble-brain. You're not in your top fighting shape either, so we'll use you guys as back-up just in case."
"I'm fine Candy."
"Fine, I'll go." Stella sighed and dove towards Flame who was just stepping off of Ember. The new couple watched her go and Candice glared at the earth dragon.
"Tremor...why are you so stubborn?"
"Would you love me any less if I wasn't?"
"No. In fact I may even like you more."
"Well too bad." Tremor smirked and shot a glance back at Cynder. The dragoness dove low, just skimming over the treetops. "Do you think that's really Cynder?" He squinted at the dragoness.
"What are you thinking?" Candice raised a brow at him inquisitively.
"What if that's not really Cynder? What if it's just another illusion like the one we fought back home."
Candice looked back at Cynder. Tremor did have a point. Even if it did seem unlikely, it was definitely a possibility.
Just then another roar thundered across the sky. A gust of wind hit the two dragons. Tremor and Candice fought to keep from being thrown around by the intense force. The wind picked up, blowing leaves and dirt into their faces.
"Damn it!" Tremor shouted over the howling wind. When gust subsided the two dragons looked up to see the massive black dragoness bearing down on them.
Cynder closed in with shocking speed and struck Tremor with her long talons. Time seemed to slow down as Candice watched his blood fly through the air. The earth dragon flew back and slammed into the ground.
"Tremor!" Candice screamed. Down below, Stella, Flame and Ember turned their heads up to see Candice facing off with Cynder. "Cynder, what's wrong with you? Why are you attack us? We're your friends!"
"I have no friends." Cynder hissed and swiped at Candice who dodged. "Now I'm going to ask you once, and one time only. Where is the purple dragon?" She lunged and snapped at Candice.
"I don't know." The ice guardian hissed and breathed a cloud of ice only to have it blown away. "He left to go find you."
"Is that so?" Cynder paused. She was glad to hear Spyro was nowhere in the area. That meant she could could move on without having any sort of confrontation with her friends. "Any idea, where he went?" She leaned her long neck in towards Candice.
The ice guardian glared daggers at her. "I wouldn't tell you to save the world."
"Oh really?" Cynder lashed out at Candice again. Candice weaved to the side and struck Cynder across the face with her tail. Her spade left a small cut but did little to faze the dragoness. "I'll ask you again, Candice. Where is Spyro?"
"I have no idea!" Candice hissed and sent a shower of ice spikes at Cynder. The black dragoness knocked the spikes away as if they were nothing but flies.
"Damn it." Cynder thought to herself. "She isn't making this easy for me!"
Candice roared and charged Cynder. Cynder slashed with her talons again, missing her target. Candice banked hard and unleashed a blast of ice energy at Cynder's side. There was a loud explosion as the ice engulfed the black dragoness. Just before the ice could seal her in, Cynder unleashed a cloud of shadow fire. The ice melted away and the force from the energy recoiled back at Candice. The ice dragoness screamed as she was send spinning head over heals through the air. Cynder beat her wings hard and sent out a powerful gust. Candice went tumbling even farther.
"Wait here!" Flame ordered Stella and Ember. He sprang into the air and unleashed a wave of fire. Cynder banked to avoid it and was about to counter when she spotted Stella and Ember down on the ground. She waited until Flame was already above the trees before spewing a dark shadow-ball at him. Flame jerked his head to the side as the shot whizzed past his cheek. He spit into the air and a shower of tiny fireballs peppered Cynder's hide. The dragoness growled in irritation and breathed another wave of fire. Flame's jaws opened wide as he belted out a massive wave. The two forces collided and Flame struggled to keep up with Cynder. The black dragoness was barely trying. She narrowed her eyes at the fire guardian and let out a loud screech. The piercing sound reached Flame's ears and his eyes grew wide with terror. His heart began to race as Cynder's eyes flashed bright red. He knew it was her fear that she was using to get to him but he couldn't fight it.
At last he had enough. He ducked out of the way of Cynder's shadow fire and took cover in the trees. Cynder was about to go after him when another orb of ice energy hit her in the side again. This time Candice had caught her by surprise. Cynder's right wing and lower torso were frozen solid. The black dragoness roared angrily as she fell to the trees below. Candice flew down beside Ember and Stella and drew in a deep breath. With a shrill cry, she exhaled with all her might, turning the forest into a frozen maze of trees and bushes.
"Go check on Flame." Candice ordered. "I'm gunna go find Tremor."
"Gotcha." Stella and Ember nodded together. Candice dashed off towards the clearing while Stella and Ember picked their way through the trees being careful not to step on any sharp, frozen objects. At last they found Flame sitting on top of the frozen ground, back against a tree, head pointed to the sky with his eyes closed. Ember could see he was trembling, but not from the chill of the ice.
"Flame." She called softly. The fire guardian didn't answer. He was standing on his hind legs, and his claws dug into the trunk of the tree as if he were trying to melt into it.
"I think he's frozen stiff." Stella pointed out. "He's not moving."
Ember walked up to the fire breather and reared back on her hind legs as well. She placed her front paws on Flame's shoulders and his shaking grew more erratic. "Uh oh..."
"What is it?" Stella asked taking an anxious step forward. Something about Ember's tone frightened her.
Ember dug her talons into Flame's shoulders and shook him. "Flame! Wake up! It's me Ember!"
"Eyes!" Flame gasped. He was beginning to hyperventilate. His heart was pounding so hard against his chest it hurt. "Those eyes! Don't look at me!" He wailed.
"Flame!" Ember shouted and slammed him hard against the tree to try and get him to open his eyes. "Look at me! Flame! It's Ember! Look at me!"
"Those eyes! Those eyes!" Flame's pulse was beating out of control. His body began to convulse from the mass amounts of blood pumping through his veins.
"That's it!" Ember grabbed Flame's face and held him firm. The next thing he knew, he had the pink dragoness's lips pressed hard against his. He paused for a brief moment, allowing Ember to stroke his crest gently. "It's okay, she murmured through pressed lips. "I'm here for you."
Flame suddenly felt dizzy. His legs buckled and her fell on top of Ember. The dragoness yelped in surprise as she fell on the ground, cracking the ice beneath them.
"Are you okay?" Stella asked taking another step closer.
"Im fine. He's just a bit fear-stricken." Ember sighed as she stroked Flame's crest a couple more times. The fire guardian groaned and opened his eyes.
"Thanks Ember. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Let's not stick around to find out." Ember nuzzled him and helped him to his feet. "Let's get Candice and get out of here."
The ice dragoness bounded across the clearing. Tremor had landed smack dead in the middle of the dirt clearing. Much to Candice's surprise she saw him getting up as she drew closer.
"Okay...I'm convinced..." Tremor groaned as Candice skidded to a halt in front of him. "It's not an illusion."
"It took you that long to realize it?" Candice gave him an annoyed look. "Even after the beating you received, it took another one to convince you." The dragoness shook her head sadly as she looked over Tremor's wounds. Most of the serious ones had reopened and he had three new slash marks across his hide from Cynder's long talons.
"I guess I'm just a slow learner." Tremor chuckled, trying to hide the pain. He didn't want her to worry about him too much.
"Clearly." Candice rolled her eyes. The two of them turned to see Flame, Ember and Stella running towards them. "Can you fly?" Candice asked turning back to the earth guardian. "We need to get out of here?"
Tremor reared up on his hind legs and flapped his wings a couple times. They hurt a lot and the bones hadn't fully healed yet. "Well enough." He replied. Candice narrowed her eyes at him. She knew he was lying about how bad his injuries were but under the circumstances she was willing to let it slide.
Off to the side Snarl watched as three young dragons ran over to meet the two in the forest clearing. Cynder had dropped him and several of his wolf warriors off into the cover of the trees before engaging the guardians. Now the black dragoness was down and out of commission. This in tern meant that Snarl and his pack were free to act as they felt fit as long as they didn't kill the purple dragon who was nowhere in sight.
The Alpha sniffed the air. He could smell the many days of rain that had passed nearly two weeks before. The scent of dragon blood was strong and he looked across the clearing at the wounded earth dragon. The wolves could faintly detect the smell of one of their own The scent grew stronger the more they leaned towards the clearing.
"It smells like blood." One of the canines growled angrily.
Snarls eyes narrowed at Tremor. He had never seen the earth guardian before but there was something familiar about him. As much as his mind told him this his instincts refused to admit it. "That green one." The Alpha bared his teeth. "I' recognize him...But I can't tell from where."
"Perhaps the dragon city?" The rest of the pack focused their attention on Tremor and saliva dripped from their yellow fangs. The sight of dragon blood was making them ravenous for a kill.
"Hmmmm..." Snarl focused in on his target. "We will take these young ones in one swift blow." He said as he turned towards the rest of his pack. "Save that green one for me. I want to find out something about him before I kill him. Understood?"
"Yes Pack Leader." The wolves whispered softly to avoid being heard.
Several yards away, Cynder was just about free from her icy prison. She secretly cursed Candice for paying so much attention to Terrador and Cyril's lectures on combat maneuvers and battle tactics.
"We will take these young ones in one swift blow." She reared her head up and spotted Snarl and his pack of wolves crouching under the cover of some frozen trees and shrubs at the edge of the clearing. "Save that green one for me. I want to find out something about him before I kill him. Understood?"
"Yes Pack Leader."
"Shit!" Cynder thought to herself. She looked across the clearing to towards her friend. "I have to do something!"
"Are you two okay?" Stella asked as she and the fire breathers came stopped just in front of them.
"We're as golden as we're gunna get." Candice bobbed her head slightly. Stella looked over at Tremor whose blood was beginning to stain the dirt again. She opened her mouth to say something but she was cut off by Cynder's terrifying roar. The sounds shook the earth and the guardians felt their eardrums tremble. The frozen trees shattered and the sonic shock wave sent jagged chunks of ice and wood flying. Flame, Ember and Stella's eyes grew wide as they watched the wall of debris came rushing out to meet them.
"Get down!" Tremor and Candice shouted in unison. Both dragons leaped over their friends heads and landed between them and the cloud destruction heading right for them. Tremor ducked his head down and slammed a hind leg into the ground. A wall of earth burst up from the ground and he pressed his head against it for support. Candice released a beam of ice energy. A thick wall of ice formed over the stone, providing a larger protected area. Flame, Ember and Stella all dove close to the two other guardians as the wall of debris rushed by. The ground shook with tremendous force.
Meanwhile the wolves howled in surprise as they were send tumbling across the ground but the blast of Cynder's wind. Their cries were drowned out by the roar of the wind. When the shock wave finally died off, Snarl and his remaining warriors struggled to rise out of the piles of debris left in the wake of Cynder's blast. Several acres of the forest had been leveled and now the clearing that Tremor had originally created was littered with the broken remains of trees, bushes and branches.
"Is everyone alright?" Snarl coughed. Blood trickled from his head and his right arm had several chunks of wood sticking out of it.
"We lost Rip." One of the wolves answered looking up from a mangled hand that extended towards the sky from under a pile of tree trunks.
"Snort as well. I lost track of him when the blast hit."
"Damn that impudent dragon!" Snarl cursed and smashed his sword against a broken tree. He turned a hateful glare on Cynder. The dragoness felt his eyes on her but she pretended not to notice and slowly stalked towards the dragons huddled behind a wall of earth and ice in the middle of the clearing.
"Good work." Tremor nodded with a smile.
"You too." Candice blushed and nodded back. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when we actually worked together as a couple."
"Stay focused you two." Flame jumped in. "We're not out of here yet. Cynder's bound to recover soon."
"Too late you guys." The young dragons all looked up from under the arched wall that protected them. Cynder loomed over them with eyes glowing deep crimson.
"Oh...well..." Tremor swallowed hard. "Wow, this is embarrassing."
Cynder's jaws opened slightly and black flames began to lick at the edged of her mouth.
Flame and Ember were the first to react. Both fire breathers spewed a yellow-hot stream at the black dragoness. Cynder jumped backwards into the air with a tremendous flap. The gust of wind hit the young guardians like a ton of bricks. Tremor threw himself on top of Candice and gripped the ground with his claws; but Flame, Stella and Ember were blown away. The three of them spun through the air several times before spreading their wings and flapping to a shaking halt. Flame and Ember both spat another pair of fireballs. Cynder growled and beat her wings again. The gust of wind carried the burning orbs away from her and careening back towards Flame and Ember. Both fire breathers roared in pain as their own attacks exploded against them.
"Ember! Flame!" Stella cried as the two of them fell to towards the ground unconscious.
"Go help Stella!" Tremor jerked his head up at the lighting dragoness. "I've got control of those two."
"Alright. Be careful." Candice nodded and gave him a quick kiss for good luck.
"You be more careful." Tremor nodded as he watched her take to the air again. Candice fired a beam of ice nearly catching Cynder off guard again. The black dragoness rolled away as the ice guardian shot past her. Candice looped around and hovered beside Stella. Cynder glared at Candice. The ice dragoness was beginning to get on her nerves.
"Now I know why Tremor is always getting pissed at you." She hissed. "Always sticking your nose into someplace where it doesn't belong."
"Oh zip it!" Tremor shouted from the ground and spat an earth missile up at Cynder. The black dragoness hissed in irritation and swatted the mound of earth back at him.
"Look out!" Candice shouted.
"Shit!" Tremor covered himself with his wings and a barrier of rock formed over his head. The missile smashed against the barrier causing the ground to implode. Tremor shook himself as he emerged from the cloud of dust and stone. "That was close." He muttered.
"You are so in for it now." Candice hissed furiously. "I just barely got him back from the brink of death and you're trying to take him away from me?" The ice dragoness spread her wings wide ad began to glow with energy. The ice particles shimmered against the sunlight. Cynder cringed and shrank back from the blinding reflection. Candice's purple eyes were glowing wide with frosty rage. When she couldn't hold herself back anymore she let loose a roar that hurt even Cynder's ears. A white flash came from the back of her throat as she unleashed her power.
"Damn it!" Cynder cursed as she back-winged to get away from the beam.
Suddenly from out of nowhere a lighting bolt intercepted the beam of ice. The two forces collided and Candice felt a surge pulse through her body. She gave a quick shriek before jerking from the shock.
"Candice!" Stella hollered and dove to catch her friend. The bolt had stunned the ice dragoness but left her still conscious.
"W-what? What hit me?" Candice murmured lazily, her head spinning in circles. Stella just looked back at Cynder whose attention was focused on the sky above.
"That's what I'd like to know."
"Hey are you guys okay?" Stella turned to her left to see a glowing insect zipping towards them.
"Sparx?" She cocked her head to the side. "Is that you?"
"In the flesh sweetheart." The dragonfly stopped just beside her face. "We should probably clear out of here. With Cynder like this, things are gunna get really messy."
"What do you mean?"
Just then a roar came from the sky above. Every head turned up as a glowing purple orb flew out of the glaring sun. The aura dissipated and Cynder's eyes grew wide. The one dragon she feared the most to this pint had just showed up.
"Oh no." She thought to herself. "Spyro!"