Cynder flew over the trees with anxious speed. Snarl and the mutant wolves struggled to hold onto her bare back as best they could. All at once Cynder came to a stop and hovered in the air. The wolves yelped in surprise as they began to slip.
"What is it?" Snarl growled as he grabbed onto her shoulder.
"We're close. I can sense him." Cynder hissed. In actuality she recognized the area where she and Spyro had been together the night before.
"How can you tell?" Snarl looked around and sniffed the air. There was definitely the scent of dragons lingering in the air.
"Because the purple dragon wields the same power I do. Therefore I can sense when he is getting closer."
"I see..." Snarl scratched his chin. "Set us down. We will proceed on foot."
Cynder dropped to the ground and the wolves slid off her back, thankful to feel the soft earth beneath their paws again. "Just don't do anything stupid this time." The black dragoness spat and flew off again.
"Good riddance." Snarl spit back at her as she disappeared over the tops of the trees. "I hope the purple one destroys you and we capture him for our master." He turned to his warriors and barked a couple of orders in their native dialogue before taking off on all fours, following Cynder's flight path.
Tremor's eyes opened calmly. "We have contacts." He reported and looked to Spyro who was laying down beneath an old fir tree. "Looks like you were right about Cynder bringing more reinforcements."
The guardians all woke up from their light slumbers and began to shake themselves awake. "How many do you count?" Spyro asked working the kink out of his neck.
"Four."
"Does that include Cynder?" Candice asked, looking from her dragon to Spyro.
"No. She touched down but I can't feel her anymore. She probably went airborne again."
"Then let's get ready." Spyro nodded. "Cynder flies pretty fast so we probably only have a few minutes."
"Then you guys had better get your tails moving." Tremor smirked.
"Don't need to tell me twice." Sparx saluted and zipped off into the trees. Flame and Ember followed after him. Stella paused and looked back at the three remaining guardians.
"Be careful you guys. We don't want this to be a catastrophe."
"Don't worry." Spyro nodded. "Everything will be just fine."
The lightning dragoness smiled. Seeing Spyro in a better frame of mind put her own at ease. She bobbed her head slightly and ducked back into the cover of the trees to catch up with Flame, Ember and Sparx.
A loud roar shook the sky above the guardians.
"She's here." Spyro said, turning his nose to the clouds above. "You two know what to do?"
"Yeah." Tremor and Candice nodded in unison.
"Alright then. Let's do this." Spyro spread his wings and leaped into the air with shocking speed.
"Dear Ancestors!" Tremor shielded himself and Candice from the dust and leaves blowing through the air. "He's really taking this seriously."
"It's for Cynder." Candice pointed out. "Why wouldn't he?"
Spyro shot up into the sky and looked around. Sure enough he spotted the large black dragoness charging straight for him. Cynder gave an angry roar and lashed out at Spyro. The purple dragon evaded and spat a bolt of lightning at her as she rushed by. Cynder somersaulted and stopped to hover several yards away from him.
"I see you've recovered fairly quickly." She said as she eyed him up and down. His faded purple scales gave a slight golden glow in the sunlight, making up for his duller appearance. The slash marks she had left were nearly invisible but she could still see the bite marks she had left. Cynder's cheeks flushed slightly as she pondered if anyone else had noticed.
"It wouldn't matter if I was fully recovered or not." Spyro smirked. "I'm gunna get my Cynder back!"
Cynder's cheeks burned even more and she gave him a toothy grin. "Then come at me if you dare."
"Don't mind if I do." Spyro growled and charged in. Cynder let out a roar and rushed forward. She slashed with her long talon and Spyro somersaulted out of the way and spat another bolt of lightning. Cynder swiveled around and fired a blast of shadow fire. Spyro tried to counter with his own fire breath but only managed to cough hard. Cynder's flames engulfed him and Spyro fell back with a painful cry.
Cynder winced at the sound and fought against the feelings in her heart. "What's wrong purple dragon? Can't use your fire power anymore?"
"Shit." Spyro cursed to himself. He had forgotten about his lost powers in the heat of the moment. Now he was aching from the burns that spread across his body. He dug down and tapped into his golden power and his body began to shine. The dead scales shed away from him, leaving his body clean from the dead skin and ash.
Cynder's eyes widened. "Impressive." She nodded. She had never known Spyro to have such a power. She opened her jaws wide and unleashed a tornado. Spyro watched as the swirling winds rushed up to meet him. At the last possible second he covered himself with his wings, using his earth element to form a protective shield. Cynder's tornado caught the ball of earth and she watched with a youthful amusement as Spyro was spun around inside the twister. Suddenly the ball rocketed out of the wind tunnel and struck her in the side. Cynder shrieked and fell towards the ground. She got her bearings and spread her wings wide to stop her fall. The wind blew through the trees, sending a chill down the spines of the other guardians. The black dragoness looked back up at Spyro who wore a superior smirk on his face.
"Not bad. You're definitely fighting with your head today. Maybe now our battle will be more interesting!" She spread her wings wide again and flung herself at Spyro. The purple dragon dodged her again but the backwash knocked him off balance. He tumbled head over heals and spun to get himself upright. Cynder banked hard and rushed at him again. This time Spyro was ready. He beat his wings hard as she shot by like a sleek, black missile. The backwash hit again and Spyro gritted his teeth against the extreme pressure.
Cynder came back again for another pass and Spyro did his best to hide his smile. As she whisked by, Cynder noticed the look on Spyro's face and her eyes widened. As she turned her head to look back at him, Spyro fired an earth bullet. The wind propelled the attack even faster and struck Cynder across the face. The black dragoness roared in anger and crashed into the ground.
"Ooh." Spyro winced. He watched as the cloud of dust began to settle.
Cynder got up and shook the stars and checkers out of her head. Spyro's attack hadn't hurt her so much as it had surprised her. Her cheek throbbed from the blow and she craned her long neck up at the purple dragon and gave a menacing hiss. He was going to have to pay for that one; friend or not. She rose to her feet smashing the broken trees around her with her long tail. With a mighty beat of her wings she was in the air again and hovering before Spyro.
"That was a good shot." She growled angrily. "But you should know better than to hit a female."
"Hey, you started it." Spyro pointed a punishing claw at her.
"Spyro..." Cynder growled in a lower tone, indicating that she was not happy about what he had done.
The purple dragon gulped nervously. Cynder's eyes began to glow red and the wind began to howl.
"What the hell!" Tremor shouted and covered Candice with a wing to protect her from flying debris.
"I knew Cynder was no push-over!" Candice called over the noise. "But she's far stronger than I ever thought possible!"
Snarl gritted his teeth and shielded his face from the stinging wind. Overhead he could see the black dragoness facing off with the purple dragon. He and his pack had been searching for the other dragons that were accompanying Spyro. Their scent had gotten stronger and now with the wind blowing so hard it was unmistakably strong.
Cynder sensed the wolves presence and her eyes locked with Spyro. The purple dragon nodded in response.
"How about we stop this whole I'm-weak routine then. I know you're stronger than that."
Cynder was a bit puzzled by his sudden proposal. She had been expecting him to call out the other guardians for help. She knew they were around. But why weren't they jumping in to help him?
"Very well then." Cynder nodded, going along with his plan. "Let's settle this like dragons should."
Spyro smiled and his body began to glow. Much to Cynder's surprise he summoned the power of convexity. She followed his lead a bit unsure of what he was up to. Spyro focused the power into a concentrated orb around his body and nodded for Cynder to do the same. Cynder emulated his actions and growled indicating she was ready.
"That's better." Spyro smiled and turned his head to the sky and let out a loud roar.
Down below, Candice pushed out from Tremor's wing. "That's the signal!"
"Then hang on tight Candy!"
"If you insist." Candice threw her body on top of Tremor's and wrapped her front limbs around his waist. The earth guardian jumped into the air, carrying the dragoness with him and slammed his paws deep into the ground.
Cynder's attention was grabbed by another loud roar from below. She looked down as all the trees in the surrounding area were smashed together, clearing out several acres of forest, leaving nothing but open soil.
"What is this!" Snarl bellowed as he and his warriors struggled to maintain their balance as the ground beneath them shook. The mutant wolves yelped as the mass of tree trunks rushed at them. "Damned dragons!" Snarl cursed and swung his weapon, shattering an oncoming tree.
"What the hell is going on?" The black dragoness shouted in her mind and looked nervously at Spyro.
"Get ready Cynder!" Tremor shouted as he pulled his paws out of the holes. Candice began to glow with ice energy and with a brilliant flash, the entire area was frozen over. Both dragons jumped in unison. There was a thunderous crack as the ground and ice split. Candice hit the ground first, turning all the shards of ice up towards the two dragons. Tremor hit the ground and catapulted the shards and pillars of rock up at Spyro and Cynder.
Cynder's eyes widened and she hissed. She tightened her stomach muscles and the convexity around her began to harden into a physical form. The projectiles smashed against the barrier, rattling her on the inside. The missiles of stone and ice arched high into the air and came back down on on top of the four dragons. Cynder felt her barrier jostle again and watched as the jagged slabs of debris fell towards Tremor and Candice. Cynder held her breath as both guardians stood their ground. Just before they were hit, the two young dragons spun in opposite directions, their tails smashing through the onslaught of falling debris.
When the thunder of falling stones and ice died away, the dragons all looked at one another. Cynder looked at Spyro in surprise. Tremor and Candice exchanged respectful nods. Neither of them could have believed how well they moved together.
It was then that Flame, Ember and Stella burst from the edges of the open forest. Stella charged a concentrated ball of electricity and fired it across the field. Tremor and Candice watched as the ball banked around them and struck the edge of the trees behind them. There was a loud howl and three wolves leaped high into the air.
Tremor's eyes grew wide as they landed hard several yards away from him and Candice. The mutants drew their weapons and stepped forward. Candice hissed and took a step forward. Immediately Tremor shoved her aside and put himself between them. He immediately began to glow green. He spread his wings wide and let loose an earth shattering roar, displaying his power.
"Tremor!" Candice gasped, seeing his extremely defensive reaction to their presence.
"It's more of them." Tremor replied as Ember, Flame and Stella bounded up.
"More?" Ember asked curiously, staring at the wolves.
"The wolf that nearly killed me." Tremor's claws dug into the earth. "He was just like these ones here." The other guardians all stared in shock at the wolves that were slowly approaching, jowls dripping with blood lust.
"Tremor..." Candice took a step closer to him. "Are you sure you're okay enough to fight them?"
"There's no way we can't fight them." Tremor narrowed his eyes as the lead ice-mutant. "They'll kill us if we try and avoid a confrontation. They won't go down easy, so be on your guard."
"Alright then." Candice nodded and she began to glow with ice energy. "I'm with you."
"Me too." Stella nodded and fixed her eyes on the wolf with golden-blonde hairs, bristling with electricity. As scared as she was to face something that could have easily killed her friend she was also excited for the challenge.
"There's no way I'm going to let them take my Flame from me!" Ember hissed and stopped forward, flames sprouting from beneath her paws.
Flame hesitated a moment. He took up position beside Ember without a word. The pink dragoness glanced at him, expecting him to say something. She noticed the expression on his face and she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Flame normally went into battle looking cool and confident but now he looked like his mind was plagued by outside influences.
"Flame?" Ember leaned in to get his attention.
"I'm fine." The fire guardian replied without breaking his gaze from the approaching canines. Ember was about to speak when Tremor turned his head.
"Stay focused! Don't let your guards down even for a moment with these guys."
No sooner had he spoken than the lead wolf lunged forward. He slammed into Tremor, sending the earth dragon tumbling across the ground, and chased after him.
"Tremor!" Candice shouted, whirling around in horror.
"Go!" Stella shouted and lunged for her target.
The real battle had just begun.