Hunter's ears perked up when he noticed the faint opening and shutting of a door. The old cheetah quietly sprung from his bed and reached over, grasping the hilt of his rapier. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and he found the door leading to the hallway. Stepping outside, he could hear creeks on the floor beneath him, originating from the forge.

The footsteps reached the base of the stairs and began to make their way up. There were at least two intruders. He held his rapier at the ready until the footsteps were near the top of the steps before jumping around the corner, aiming the tip against the throat of the first individual.

Spyro stopped abruptly as he found the tip of the rapier stuck under his chin. "Ancestors Spyro! What the hell is wrong with you?" Hunter scowled at his apprentice. "What are you doing here at this time?" He noticed the dragoness behind him. "Who's that with you?"

"Hunter, I need to ask a favor." The seriousness that Spyro spoke with caught the old cheetah by surprise, rarely did the purple dragon ever spoke without his usual sarcasm or humor. "Of course, fire away." He gestured for Cynder to step forward. "This is Cynder. The Wings are looking for her. She is injured and will need special care."

Hunter stared at her, noticing that she bore a silver choker with fourteen inscribed on it. "Al right then young lady, there is a room just beside mine. He opened a door just a few feet away, revealing a cozy room stacked with books and a few paintings. Cynder limped inside while Hunter hurriedly picked up a thick wool blanket and draped it over the dusty bunk bed.

"Here, it's not ideal, I wasn't expecting any visitors." Cynder gave a weak nod and slumped into the bed, wincing as a pang of pain shot through her side where she was stabbed. Hunter exited and returned a short while later carrying anesthetics as well as new bandages. He administered the anesthetics first before unwrapping Spyro's makeshift bandage and replacing it with wraps of clean gauze. Finished, he gave her a curt nod.

"Thank you sir." Cynder voiced her gratitude.

"It is no problem, are you hungry miss?" Cynder blushed when at the mention of food her stomach gave a low growl. The old cheetah chuckled and said:

"I'll send Spyro to fix you some dinner. He hasn't eaten either I presume." Cynder thanked him and Hunter exited the room, his voice emanating through the walls as he gave orders. Cynder placed her head against the wool and looked around at the room she was in. It was not a big room in any way, a few steps would cover it end to end; however, the walls and cabinets were all filled with books, pieces of exotic machinery, and a few paintings here and there. She stared hard at a old painting at the foot of the bed, making out a beaming purple dragon with an arm casually cast over the shoulders of another yellow drake, who shared the expression. She could tell the purple drake was Spyro, and from the size of him she would assume that it was well over five years ago. The yellow drake she did not recognize but could tell that he was most likely the former inhabitant of the room. It would appear that most of the items were untouched for many years as a layer of dust had clearly settled over the room. The door clanged open and Spyro walked in, balancing two plates of assorted food stuff in his paws. He walked on his haunches, a position unusual for a dragon and his goofy stumbling incited a slight giggle from her.

"Here, I got some chow." Spyro handed a plate to her and kept the other for himself. Her mouth watered at the scent of dried beef and assorted vegetables served with rice. It wasn't as good as the meals that the garrison served but for now it tasted delicious.

As she began to eat, she noted Spyro setting his plate onto the floor, looking around the room almost nostalgically.

"You used to live here huh." She asked, causing him to look at her. "You can tell?" He questioned. "Yeah, I saw the old paintings and stuff." Spyro nodded, gazing at the paintings. "Who is that?" She inquired further, gesturing towards the yellow dragon sitting next to him in most of the pictures. Spyro's gaze clouded over a bit and for a moment Cynder could have sworn she saw his irises glisten before he blinked and looked away. "He was… he was a good friend of mine."

Spyro backpedaled when a yellow drake his age slunk out of a hiding place behind a stack of unused boxes in the corner. "What the, who are you, how did you get in here?" Spyro bared his teeth at the unexpected appearance. The dragon winced and looked away. "My name is Sparx, an orphan living here in the city. I don't really remember how I got here. Only that I needed shelter yesterday and by chance I stumbled into the old clock tower. Spyro stared at him hard, noting his wiry frame and obvious hungery. He sighed and tossed half his loaf of bread to Sparx, who gobbled it up quickly, surprising Spyro with the speed in which a weeks' worth of bread was guzzled down in a matter of seconds. After eating, they had agreed that they could partner to survive, looting and shoplifting the stalls of the market before splitting whatever they could find between them. This method not only meant that they had a high probability of a successful find, but also meant that if one of them fails, then they both won't go hungry for a day.

This method, as it turns out, worked wonders in the hassle and mess that was the market district of Nova Lumina. As new merchants arrived running from the Dark Master, there were frequent arguments and tussles in the market as merchants competed or argued on the validity of a shop. In the chaos, Spyro- who was at the south end- and Sparx- who was at the north- easily snuck out pieces of meat, fruits, vegetables, and the occasional treat from distracted shop owners. By the end of the month, their enclave in the clock tower had turned from a barren room to a collection of assorted books and scrolls. The dup continued to carry out these daily raids and expanded from the marketplace to the fairground and to even the industrial workshops.

Then one day, something different happened. Spyro and Sparx were together browsing the manufacturing district, where instead of shops lined with trinkets, jewelry, and food, heavy furnaces and machines churned out swords, spears, and shields. Some of the swords were made with such precision that each one took almost half a year to manufacture, and is only sold to the most elite of the squadrons under the command of the city. To the two dragons however, the weaponry meant nothing; instead, they had their attention focused on a plump earth dragon strolling in front of them. To most, he would pass as any noble who went down too hard on the sweet rolls but to the dragons of Nova Lumina, he was Cryux, head of Crux Steel, the largest steel manufacturer in the empire. His company had been in Iron Heights but after it fell, he relocated to Warfang, before finally to Starsrise, the furthest east city of the former Dragon Empire and the impromptu capital after Warfang fell. The city is located almost four hundred kilometers to the east, on top of a peak climbing above the clouds before abruptly ending in a massive cliff almost a mile above the Shimmering Sea. It is said that on a clear, cloudless day, one could see the silhouette of the mysterious white isles far out over the ocean. Whether or not these rumors were true Spyro did not know, but what he did know was that Cryux came once every Season of Fire to check on his factories, and wherever the richest man a live went, so did money, in fact, he had so much of it that he no longer used gold, instead transcending to platinum, a metal said to be worth five times more than gold is worth. And there were five full bags of it dangling from thick leather pouches from the dragon's waists. They made a noticeable bulge out of the full body cape that Cryux wore…

"And so does his belly." Spyro mused, seeing how every step seemed to send a ripple through the rolls of fat bulging from under his scales. He focused his attention back to the platinum. Cutting the bag loose would be easy enough, getting past five armed and armored guards and escaping the detection of an entire crowd of dragons was not however-which was why he and Sparx had gone through a month of planning for this heist. Right on que a flash of yellow darted in between the legs of a large fire dragon, swiftly kicking out, bringing down the large dragon with a grunt. He roared in fury and swung a paw at the nearest bystander, an even larger earth dragon. The earth dragon received a face full of fist and fell back a few feet, knocking over multiple other dragons. Spyro watched as the Earth dragon roared in fury and swung back, inevitably causing massive collateral damage and pretty soon over a dozen dragons were either trading blows or lay knocked out in front of the steel baron. The half dozen guards formed a semi-circle in front of him and the crowd fixated their eyes on the melee, leaving the back open for attack.

Spyro slunk in quietly and with a quick swipe with his razor sharp claws- specially sharpened for this occasion- he swiped off a bag from the large dragon and tucked it quickly under his own cape before slinking off. He snickered and looked back, noticing how Cryux was now quizzically feeling around his waist, having noticed the change in weight. His face distorted and he whipped around to whisper urgently into the ear of one of the guards. Spyro watched amused at the scene as the guard looked around frantically but didn't move, deeming lost money not enough of an incentive to risk his employer getting injured by the frenzied brawl which had spread around them. His eyes fell on him and he stared, confused for a moment. Spyro met eyes with him and blanched, realizing the silver rope that he had cut now hung loosely under his cape. The guard shouted something inaudible above the noise and tried to shove past two dragons, only to have his helmet knocked off his head. Annoyed, he pulled an object out of a satchel around his waist. Spyro froze as he made out the outline of a flint-lock pistol but reassured himself that he was already much too far for the inaccurate device to hit. The guard seemed to have figured this out too and raised the gun into the air, away from any dragons. The resounding "BOOM!" imminently threw the crowd into a flurry, this time in an effort to out as much distance between themselves and the gun as possible.

Spyro ducked from the sound and turned tail to run- only to be blindsided across the face by a furred arm. He fell to the ground, gasping and caught sight of a middle aged cheetah with golden fur frowning down at him. The guard shoved his way past the frenzied civilians and stopped by him. "Thank you sir, you've saved us a great deal of trouble." The cheetah just nodded and handed the bag of platinum to the guard, who gave a brief nod of gratitude and took the bag as well as reaching down to grab Spyro. To his surprise. The cheetah stopped him. "No, I have a solution for these two." He motioned to Spyro and Sparx- who stood observing from a rooftop. The guard nodded and turned, walking briskly back to Cryux's side and returned the bag. The fat dragon gave a "humph" of impatience and strolled away, annoyed. The Cheetah let go of Spyro, who prepared to run just in case but to his relief the cheetah just crossed his arms and glared crossly at him.

"You've got some tough meat to try to steal from the wealthiest nobleman in the world." Spyro rubbed his neck and nodded. "Normally I wouldn't care too much but we cant risk loosing his support and robbing him would not help any of us any bit, though I do complement your ingenuity, I half expected the two of you to have been towed away by the guards twenty minutes ago." Spyro looked at him, cocking his head at the bemused expression that had crept across his features. "Now tell me young dragon, what is your name?" Spyro hesitated momentarily but decided to humor the cheetah; after all, he had just prevented them from being thrown in some prison… "Spyro, of Warfang." The cheetah looked at him strangely.

"Spyro of Warfang? I knew a dragon with that name once I am Hunter of Avalar." Spyro recognized him, he head caught glimpses of him selling wares from a nearby forge. "Tell me Spyro, what was your father's name?" "Captain Flash, of the Iron Guard." Hunter's eyes widened. "Flash? The electric dragon? You're his son?" Spyro nodded. "You know him?" "Ah yes lad, he saved my life three years ago, during the Battle of Avalar. Spyro remembered that day.

The Dark Armies had marched to an encampment just one hundred miles to the west of Warfang, on the outskirts of the valley of Avalar. There, the only force to hold them off was a large village of cheetahs; exceptional warriors, his father had claimed. Flash was put in charge of a twenty dragon scouting squadron to oversee the evacuation of the village as well as tally the force that would march on Warfang. In the cover of night, they had smuggled out of the village a good half of the population, about two thousand cheetahs. The remaining ones however followed their leader, a headstrong but honourable cheetah by the name of Prowlus. Spyro had been overjoyed when his father came home, battered but still alive. The other two thousand were the trained warriors, who insisted on covering the rear. What they did not know was that the leader of the army, a massive ape by the name of Gaul, had already predicted that the villagers would flee and had thus placed an elite battalion of magic enhanced apes in advance to block the route to Warfang, remaining just a mile outside the village. When they had seen the approaching dragons they waited. And Waited. And Waited. Until the first torches held by the cheetah elderly, children, and mothers trudged down the path. One thousand apes wielding one thousand crossbows shot a thousand bolts almost simultaneously before grabbing their scimitars and charging, letting out bloodcurdling yowls and howls.

Three hundred cheetahs died in the first instance and masses more were slaughtered before the warriors could arrive and by then they were again attacked- this time from behind- by another battalion of the fearsome ape elite. Trapped between two semicircles. The cheetahs fell back into hastily fashioned phalanxes, stretched thin to protect the civilians within. Twice the apes charged, and twice the lines held, which each charge accumulating to at least five hundred dead on both sides. The small group of Iron Guard fought with their allies but even the most elite of them could not hold off the sheer number of apes. "Form with me!" The electric dragon unleashed a devastating wave of electricity, frying the nearest warriors, waiting for the cheetahs to form into a crude edge lead by his Iron Guards. He knew that in doing this, their chances of breaking out increased but at the loss of the ones bringing up the rear, who would be surly overrun as soon as the powerful front broke through.

When the front broke the ape lines, the sides and back immediately collapsed but now that they weren't trapped, the cheetahs fled into the brush, relying on their superior mobility to evade the heavily armored apes. A blue cheetah crossed blades with an ape almost twice height, sporting dual scimitars. "Puny cheetahs!" the ape laughed, making him cringe at the smell of rotting teeth. Hunter ducked under the second scimitar and thrust with his short sword, only to be thrown off balance by a hard punch. The ape stood over him and swung, only to succeed in a deep but not life threatening slash across the arm when the cheetah rolled out of the way. The ape roared in rage and raised his sword again, this time to be thrown off by a dragon tackling him. Both fighters were thrown a dozen meters before recovering. The dragon stood just to the giant ape's shoulder but again charged at him, this time using his horns to gouge a deep set of wounds on the ape's stomach. It screamed and grabbed the horns, throwing the dragon away before grasping his scimitars again. The dragon placed its paws against the ground and unleashed a barrage of ice, only hiss in dismay when they were deflected uselessly by an elemental shield enchanted into the ape's armor. The ape roared furiously and charged, forcing the dragon to duck out of the way before turning swiftly and hurling a scimitar at it. The dragon howled in pain as the sword sliced cleanly through his arm. The ape again charged and this time, made contact- only to have the experienced dragon roll with the momentum, landing on top of the imbalanced ape. It cursed as the dragon bit furiously at his throat before kicking with his hind legs, sending him into a tree. The incapacitated dragon gasped for air as the ape grabbed him by the neck, grunting in annoyance when a arrow lodged into his shoulder. He turned to see Hunter with a bow drawn. The cheetah hurriedly launched another arrow, attempting to distract the ape but this time it just clanged uselessly against the thick armour. The ape howled and squeezed, making the dragon choke and scratch feebly against his padded arms. Hunter drew another arrow. If only he could land a shot into the crack between the ape's helmet and back plate… a sickening crack made him freeze as the ape turned back towards him, still holding the dragon, except he was no longer struggling. Hunter stared into the now lifeless eyes of the guard, whose neck was bent in a unnatural angle and blood began to trickle out of his throat. The ape threw the corpse to the side and approached the frozen cheetah. Hunter shook himself back to attention and stared at the ape's soulless eyes. His eyes! Hunter waited for the perfect shot, then suddenly raised his bow and let an arrow loose. Before the ape could react, the iron lodged itself deep within his left eye. The ape howled with fury and swung blindly at the cheetah, who turned to run, only to be grabbed by the tail and thrown into a tree. The ape roared and raised his scimitar, only to be tackled again by another dragon. This time, the dragon ripped away its chest plate before it could react and sent a powerful current of electricity into the foul creature. The ape screeched and fell limp, with part of its chest burnt to a crisp. The dragon stepped off and helped the cheetah up before kneeling by his dead comrade. The dragon sighed and grabbed the dead dragon's helmet, which Hunter saw had his name engraved on the front before turning back to the cheetah.

"My name is Captain Flash of the Iron Guard." "Hunter, of Avalar." The dragon nodded. "Get on, we need to leave this place."

Spyro sat, wide eyed as the cheetah finished his story. He never knew what had happened that day. "Wow... all that was… true?" He stared at the cheetah, who nodded. "Ay lad, your father was a good man, he came back looking for survivors more than once, fighting off the apes with such skill. I owe my life to him and never got to pay him back before he died." Spyro shook his head.

"You don't owe him anything, he was doing his job."

"No, more than his job, and I never got the chance to pay him back… until now." Spyro looked up quizzically. The cheetah was now grinning. "No I may not be able to help him, but I can help his son. Spyro, how would you like to work for me? I can provide you a home and money, you won't have to steal or live in the streets. Spyro blinked at the offer and looked at Sparx, who was sitting by him and had the same expression. "I.. I accept- but only if Sparx can stay as well." Hunter laughed and patted him on the back. "You've got a deal."

Spyro looked up from his story when a gentle knock resounded from behind the door. Cynder, who had been listening intently on the story gave huff of annoyance but also rose, tensing just in case the Wings decided to check the forge again. However, instead of bristling men at arms, Hunter walked in, shortly followed by a petite mole who was carrying a suitcase almost half his height.

"Dr. Ingar" Spyro dipped his head respectfully. He knew the mole well, Ingar was one of the best doctor and surgeon in the city, having treated both the guards along the walls and the Legionaries who occupied the city. What made Spyro like the mole was that he showed no bias towards any sides, valuing all sentient life on the same level. Like Spyro, he had been targeted by the Wings but never taken due to his skill in the trade.

"Young Spyro, you've grown so much since the last time I've seen you, how have you been?" The old mole's nose stretched into a warm smile. "Very well, you? I heard that you had been hired to treat a patient at the embassy all the way in the inner city, how are you holding up?"

The mole chuckled. "No worries young dragon, this old bag of bones is gonna be fine for at least another ten years. Now let's see who I will be treating today." Spyro let him approach Cynder, who shot him a questioning glance. Spyro smiled at her reassuringly, silently telling her to trust the doctor.

"You look very nice, keep that healthy habit of yours going little lady." The mole spoke as he examined the wound, neglecting the fact that Cynder stood at least a neck and head taller than him. He opened his suitcase and pulled out a vial of liquid and a few red crystal shards. Spyro's eyes widened. "Crystals, but how? I thought the Dark Master had his armies destroy all of them years ago?" "Oh goodness no, why would he give up such a useful thing for his armies? No, that's just what the guardians tell us to keep people from risking their necks to gather mines all belong to the Dark Master after all." Spyro watched as he opened the vial and poured some liquid into a handkerchief.

"Now there darlen a bit of this will disinfect the wound but since its deep, it's going to hurt quite a bit. Cynder tensed but nodded and the mole slowly rubbed the dripping handkerchief over the wound. Cynder cringed and bit back a howl as a burning sensation pierced through her body. Dr. Ingar placed a rubber mouthpiece in front of her. "Here, bite on this, the pain should be over soon." Cynder bit down hard and the pain gradually died down, allowing her to relax and notice how sweaty she had become. "Good job darlen, that was pretty impressive. Even young Spyro here nearly woke the entire block when I had to give him some of that." Spyro looked away embarrassed as he recalled the occasion. "I was only thirteen back then."

"I don't see how that justifies your point." Dr. Ingar laughed under his breath and held up the crystals.

"Since I work with the Legionnes so much, I get these a lot." He placed a shard against Cynder's wound and immediately the crystal glowed, seeping magic into her body. Cynder closed her eyes at the warm feeling and when she opened them again the crystal was a clear colour, signaling that it was fully drained.

"Yeah, Commander Corryn told us how dragons and crystals are bonded by magic although one does not need it to survive, it works wonders in the battlefield so the Dark Master focused on the crystal mines first." Spyro nodded and turned back to Dr. Ingar when three loud knocks came from downstairs. He raised an eyebrow at Dr. Ingar. "Did you have any assistants?" The mole shook his head.

"No, just me." Hunter stepped out of the room and went downstairs. Spyro could hear the muffled sound of the door open and Hunter greet the new comer. "Oh, hello there Akyla." "Hey Hunter, I must speak to Spyro." Spyro heard him hesitate. "He… uh is very busy right now." "Oh nonsense, not when he hears this!" The loud creaks of paws against the wooden stairs snapped him out of his stupor and he looked desperately at Cynder, who scrambled up, searching for a place to hide. The door flew open. "Spyro! Guess what?" The yellow dragoness burst through the doorway and froze. For a moment the four occupants in the room stared at each other before Spyro broke the silence. "uhhhhh… hi?"

"So… Rayze is dead?" The yellow dragon sat on a cushion across from Spyro while Cynder and Hunter looked on. Dr. Ingar had taken his leave and went home- or wherever he was needed.

"Yes." Spyro replied. "Along with his two leftenants?" Spyro nodded again. Akyla sighed and scratched her muzzle before turning to look at Cynder. "Normally I would have had the both of you publically hanged for killing our soldiers and harboring a sworn enemy of the empire." Spyro winced and could see that Cynder was tensed, ready for a fight. However, Akyla just rested her head against her paw and said. "But… I do owe you one for that armor, it saved my life more than once today and frankly, Rayze and his cronies were a pain in the ass." She chuckled.

"Their heads aren't worth much in my eyes but that's not what the rest of the Wings would think. Tell ya what, this actually fits in quite well with my plan." Spyro cocked his head.

"Plan?" Akyla nodded giddily. "Yes, as you know, we have begun to launch a overthrowing of the Dark Master's forces in both this city and port Silversail up to the north east; however, there is a large presence of legionaries still in the city controlling the half with the embassy and industries. Now, a full on assault would be costly for both sides so our leaders and the Commanders have agreed upon a deal. As you know, we have captured over four hundred prisoners in the last battle including two Centurions: Commanders Corryn and Reyden. They are incredibly valuable so in exchange for a release of prisoners, the Legionnes are willing to pull out of the city." "But won't they just turn around and besiege us again?" Spyro asked. "No, that's the thing, they can't. With the Dark Legionnes spread across the entire realms and invading other lands the nearest force that can possess any threat is the garrison at Warfang, some five hundred miles west. When the Legionnes leaves the walls, any reinforcements will need at least three weeks to get here and set up camp and by then we will have both Nova's forces and Starsrise's forces with us. She turned to Cynder. You will be part of the prisoner contingent released." Cynder nodded her head, relieved that she would be part of the Legionnes again soon.

"When will this occur?" She asked.

"At the main gates, tomorrow at dawn." With this Akyla turned to leave but before she did she called to Spyro. "You know how to fight well, my offer is still open." She stepped out and a moment later the downstairs door opened and shut. Hunter sighed and turned to the two dragons.

"Get some sleep, it's almost dawn and tomorrow's going to be a busy day."