Every eye focused on the purple dragon hovering above the landscape. He wore a very tense expression on his face as he stared hard at the black dragoness.

Cynder's heart raced. She had hoped that with Spyro gone she could make a show of defeating the other guardians and lead the wolves away form them. But now that plan was no more. Spyro hovered just over her head, staring into her very soul with his bright purple eyes.

"Spyro." She whispered to herself. "He's dead serious about this situation." The purple dragon was glowing with raw convexity again and the aura seemed to cover the sky overhead. "This is not good."

"Sparx, what's going on?" Stella asked in a frightened tone as the sky transitioned from light blue to deep violet.

"Spyro's getting serious about this whole Dark Master situation." The dragonfly looked back to his brother who shot him a quick glance. "We need to get out of here. Now!"

"R-right." Stella nodded and glided back down to Tremor who stood over Flame and Ember.

"Are we leaving already?" The earth dragon asked nervously.

"I think we had darn well better." Sparx nodded. "Where Spyro's concerned right now, we'll be in real danger if we don't clear out of here right away."

Tremor looked back up towards his friend for a moment.

"Come on Tremor." Stella urged. "We have to go!"

The earth dragon bent down and wrestled Flame up onto his back then did his best to hoist Ember up. The pink dragoness's hind legs and tail dangled sloppily on the ground but Tremor made sure she wouldn't fall off when he started moving. Stella helped a still-dazed Candice over to the edge of the destroyed trees. Tremor did his best to keep in pace but he was already severely weakened. He felt the weight of the two fire breathers begin to weigh him down as he trudged to the edge of the woods.

High above Spyro watched them out of the corner of his eye. When Tremor was close enough to the relative safety of the trees he narrowed his eyes at Cynder.

"Cynder..." He growled. The anger was very audible in his voice and seemed to give it a slight distortion. Cynder froze, fearing what might come if she dared to move. "Why?" Spyro asked his voice suddenly changing to despair. "Why are you doing this? This isn't you."

"Spyro..." Cynder whispered in her mind. She was transfixed on him. She hadn't seen him in what felt like years. But seeing him like this was more than what she could bear. The pain in his eyes was very clear. He hadn't been getting much sleep judging by the dark bags under his eyes and his once rich, purple scales were now a dull violet. He looked like a dragon who was nearing extreme exhaustion. "I want to tell you..." She shut her eyes tight, unable to speak to him directly. "I really do...but...I can't!"

"Cynder! Why!" Spyro roared and unleashed a blast of Convexity. The black dragoness dodged and stared at Spyro with horror in her eyes. She could hardly believe what he had just done. Spyro breathed another burst of convexity and once again Cynder dodged. The blast caused the ground to explode beneath her, sending up a tower of molten rock. Cynder was engulfed by the pillar of melted rock. Down below, the guardians and wolves gasped in shock. A split second later, Cynder burst up into the sky, trails of fire streaking away from her sleek black scales.

Spyro watched her with darkness filling his heart. His scales were flashing between black and purple as the darkness in his heart began to overtake him. Cynder saw his eyes begin to glow white with anger and her heart nearly stopped. This fight was quickly going to spiral out of control if she didn't do something quick.

The black dragoness's eyes flashed red as she roared down at Spyro. The purple dragon's eyes narrowed. Just before the sonic blast hit him, he zipped out of the way using his control of time.

"What the!" Cynder gasped in surprise then ducked as another beam of Convexity shot past her face. She retaliated with another blast of purple energy only to have Spyro flash out of the way again. The purple dragon suddenly appeared beside her and opened his jaws wide. "Shit! How did he..." Cynder turned an fired a beam at the same moment Spyro did. The tow opposing forces collided and sent a shock wave through the air, sending both dragons reeling .

"What the heck is that?" Stella asked over the thundering explosions overhead.

"It's called Convexity apparently." Sparx shouted. "It's a special power Cynder and Spyro acquired in their battles with the Dark Master. As if their powers weren't weird enough already, they have that one to add to it."

"But what exactly is it? It doesn't look like any element I've seen before."

"It's a distortion." Tremor replied.

"What?" Stella glanced at the gasping earth dragon who was staring up at the two brawling dragons.

"It's a distortion." He repeated. "Watch. Whenever one of them uses it, the air around them changes, like they're drawing the power from somewhere else."

"But it's clearly coming out of them like any normal element would." Stella pointed out.

"That may be true. But it's not a natural element of this world. Maybe another dimension?"

"Well we did fight Cynder in a portal made of the stuff." Sparx scratched his head. "So can we go now before this turned into a physics lesson?"

"Why are you joined with the Dark Master!" Spyro roared and fired another beam of Convexity. "Why Cynder!"

The black dragoness couldn't answer. She glanced down below to see Snarl and his pack mates climbing over the piles of debris that covered the ground. The wolves were nearing the other guardians who were totally clueless as to their approach.

"Answer me Cynder!" Spyro bellowed , his voice growing more distorted as black scales began to spread across his body. "I know you can hear me in there! Now tell me! Why are you with Malefor? Why aren't you fighting him?"

"I am!" Cynder cried in her head. Spyro's words hurt her and they would remain in her head during the days to come. "But you just can't tell from your point of view."

"Cynder!" Spyro's body grew pitch-black and his eyes went white. Cynder's eyes grew wide with terror as Spyro's dark side emerged for a one-on-one fight. The dark dragon's eyes narrowed to slits. Cynder barely had enough time to duck as a blast of convexity shot over her head. She dropped towards the ground and Dark Spyro took chase. He zipped behind her and slammed into her back sending her tumbling across the ground.

"Dear ancestors! Did you see that?" Tremor gasped.

"I did. But I don't believe it."

"This has gone on far enough!" Sparx hollered. "Spyro's not himself! We need to get through to him! He has to be stopped."

"Stopped?" Stella looked at the dragonfly curiously. This was the first she had ever seen Dark Spyro.

"That monster nearly killed Candice when the Dark Master showed p at Warfang!" Tremor bared his teeth as he set Flame and Ember onto the ground. "I won't let him get the chance again."

"Tremor, you're in no shape to fight." Candice mumbled drowsily. The shock was beginning to wear off but she still wasn't strong enough on her own feet.

"There's no force in this world that would keep me from protecting you." Tremor growled in a manner that frightened the ice guardian.

"Tremor..." She stared at him with wide eyes and he gazed back with his expression stern and unmoving.

They were interrupted by Spyro's twisted roar high above. The dark dragon shot in and struck Cynder in the chest. The dragoness shrank back, clutching at the tingling spot. Spyro banked around and charged again. He slashed with his claws but Cynder managed to knock him away. Spyro fired another blast of Convexity and Cynder countered with her own. The earth shook and the ground began to split.

"They're gunna tear this place apart!" Stella cried.

"Then we need to get out of here!" Tremor called. He looked at the ice dragoness. "Candice, can you walk on your own?"

Candice gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Well enough."

"That's good enough for me." Tremor sighed. "Let's move! Stella, grab Ember, I've got Flame. Candice you're in the middle."

"What about me?" Sparx demanded. "Just because I'm not a dragon doesn't mean I can't be of some sort of assistance."

"Look after Candice for me." Tremor nodded sharply. "I don't want her falling behind. If she looks like she's about to fall, tell me."

"Go figure. It's a babysitting job." Sparx grumbled.

"It's important to me!" Tremor snapped. "Now help if you want. We need to move!"

"You're not going anywhere!" A gruff voice stopped the young dragons dead in their tracks. Snarl and his wolves rose up over the mounds of debris, crouched on all fours, tails lashing at the air, ready to lung for the dragons.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Stella gasped, taking a step back and setting Ember gently on the ground.

"I have no idea." Candice shook her head worriedly as she took a couple steps back, closer to Tremor. The earth dragon's eyes locked onto the Alpha wolf. He had no idea how, but he felt as though he had seen this particular wolf before. Snarl noticed and pointed his blade at the young dragon.

"You..." He growled an Tremor bared his teeth in response. Every head turned to the earth dragon in surprise. Before anyone could say another word a blast of convexity hit nearby, sending more debris flying. Tremor ducked and covered Candice and Sparx with his wings.

"Cynder!" Spyro roared and slashed at the black dragoness again. Once again, Cynder nocked him away.

"Damn it!" She shouted furiously. She had no idea what to do. She couldn't talk openly to Spyro for fear of giving herself away to the wolves. And she couldn't retreat because Spyro and the others would most likely follow her. "Why me?" She sobbed in her mind. "Why is it always so hard? Why does my life have to be so tough! Why?" She began to curl into a defensive ball, clutching at her head as Spyro struck again and again, trying to get through to her. "Spyro, I love you! Why do I have to fight you!" Tears began to stream down her cheeks and she gritted her teeth tightly together.

"Cynder!" The dark dragon roared and charged in again.

"No!" Cynder screamed in her mind. "No more!" Without even a second thought she lashed out with her long talons. There was a flash as the glowing aura reflected off of her deadly claws. Spyro's eyes were wide with shock as his attack came to an abrupt halt. Cynder was frozen in horror as the darkness faded away from Spyro's body. The two of them locked eyes for a brief moment before Spyro began to fall. Cynder could only watch as the dragon she loved hit the ground in a splatter of blood from the three long gashes across his body.

"What have I done?" She gasped as she looked at her blood-soaked claws. "What have I done!" She clutched at her head screaming. Down below, the wolves yelped and covered their ears from the shrill cry of the agonizing black dragoness. The wind howled in response to Cynder's torment and threatened to blow everyone in the area away.

"Get down!" Tremor hollered and erected a wall of earth around him and his friends. The wolves were all blown away from the gust leaving nothing but fading cries in the wind.

"What have I done?" Cynder sobbed as she landed over Spyro's body. She was slowly shrinking back to her normal size. Spyro lay still, eyes staring blankly out at the world. Cynder leaned down, bringing her muzzle close to his head. She nudged him a couple times, but got no response. "Spyro..." She shook her head in dismay. "I love you...I'm so sorry...I...I couldn't..."

She was cut short when Spyro blinked. The purple dragon's side heaved as he inhaled deeply, trying to catch his breath. His eyes moved up to her standing over him. "C-Cynder..." He wheezed.

The black dragoness just shook her head. "I'm so sorry Spyro. She placed a paw on his shoulder and let her talons gently dig into his skin. Much to his surprise she felt warm. Cynder's shadows began to spread over Spyro's body, healing his wounds and restoring some of his lost energy. After a brief moment she withdrew her paw and stepped back. Spyro watched as her shadows swirled around her as she began to grow larger into her adult form.

"Cynder...I...I..."

"Don't talk Spyro..." Cynder choked back a sob as another tear fell onto his muzzle. "Not now..."

Before the purple dragon could respond, she spread her wings and took off, soaring low over the trees.

"Cynder! Wait!" Spyro called. He struggled to get to his feet but fell to the ground again as his wounds hadn't fully healed yet. "Cynder!" He cried at the top of his lungs as she disappeared from his sight.