Hello, a day late. Sorry. Got home late and didn't have time to publish this one on time.
Thanks again for DragonMaster000 for beta reading this chapter!

Enjoy!

Chapter 3
~Light at the End of the Tunnel

01/02/0000

"SPYRO!"

Cynder's blood ran cold from the purple dragon's cries. She listened in horror as the thought of what might have happened to him flooded throughout her body. Immediately, she grabbed the glowing crystal in her jaws and threw it a little ways into the passage. Cynder froze when she made eye contact with Spyro as the crystal lit up the cramped cave. What she saw horrified her even more. The purple dragon lay on the ground in deep pain as a huge boulder rested on top of his back leg, crushing the bone into splinters.

"SPYRO!" she shrieked again.

Cynder lunged forward and began to crawl into the passage to help assist her purple friend, but when she began to enter, Spyro held a paw in front of him trying to stop the her from getting any closer.

"Cynder, no!" he hollered while gritting his teeth in pain. "D-don't get any closer."

"What? Spyro, you're hurt. I need to help you get out before another earthquake occurs!" Cynder protested.

"T-that's w-why I don't w-want you to come here. Ahhh!" he cried as another spike of pain rippled through his body. The sound of his hollering sent another tremor of worry into Cynder's heart.

"If another earthquake occurs while you're in here, then you might get trapped here as well."

"But, Spyro I–"

"Cynder, stay there!" he demanded, "I know how to get out…but it might be risky." Spyro looked away with an expression of pain. He thought of what he had to do to free himself. It might be the only way for him to do so without any further damage to his injury, or it might make things completely worse.

"What do you mean, it might be risky?" Cynder questioned with worry across her features.

Spyro gave another cry of pain. Every passing second that went by felt like hours for him. The large chunk of rock felt like it was growing in weight every passing minute. After all the years of fighting, Spyro had never felt pain this bad in a very long time. The most he'd usually receive were small gashes and cuts but were easily treated from the spirit gems. This was far worse.

"I'm going to attempt to fire an earth missile at the rock and shatter it. I just hope I have enough energy to do it. If I hit it right, it should disintegrate without causing further damage. But if not, the vibrations might cause the chunks of rock above me to fall."

Spyro turned his head back to the massive rock that rested hard on his leg. He took a deep breath and began to gather all of his strength to charge up his earth power. He was unable to clear the blocked entrance earlier so he worried that he wouldn't have the strength to accomplish this either. Nevertheless he pressed on, but as the green magic started to lick between his jaws Cynder's voice stopped him before he fired it outward.

"Spyro, stop! There must be a better way. This is ridiculous! You could hurt yourself even more, or... worse."

"I'm afraid there is no other way," Spyro said at length with sadness in his voice. "But I don't want you anywhere near here when I do this, ok?"

Cynder closed her eyes as fresh tears seeped out and ran down her muzzle. She wanted to argue, but she couldn't think of any other option. There was a long silence until she finally spoke.

"You sound just like Ignitus." The way Cynder said those words was enough to put faint smiles on both of their muzzles. Not even a second later she stamped her paw hard on the floor, though. "But I'm not going anywhere!"

Spyro took a forlorn sigh. He wanted her to be safe in case for any reason things made a turn for the worse, but he knew that he couldn't stop her stubbornness. He met her gaze once more. ('depressing' to 'forlorn' since I think it fits the emotion of the scene a bit more. Also as a grammar note, 'depressed' would have been a better tense than 'depressing' here since it's applying to Spyro's state rather than enacting depression on someone/something else)

"Ok, but please run away if something goes wrong. Can you promise me that, Cynder?" Spyro asked firmly.

"Nope!" Cynder said stubbornly, turning her head away from the purple dragon. She looked back at him to finish. "Like I've said before, I'm with you."

Spyro shook his head several times from her decision. He was a little disappointed in her response but couldn't blame her. He would have done the same thing if she was in such a position.

"You're so stubborn, Cynder. You know that?" the purple dragon admonished her with a forced chuckle.

"Yep, that's me. And you can't change that no matter how hard you try."

Spyro was left with no choice to surrender. If it weren't for the crushing pain in his leg he might even have laughed, but in this situation it was too much to manage. The purple dragon turned his head back around facing the huge chunk of earth that rested on his leg. Once again, he focused hard as green earth energy cracked between his jaws creating a ball of pure energy. After a few more seconds of controlling his breathing and charging up his element, he opened his jaws as wide as he could and fired a massive earth missile that glowed brightly as it traveled through the short distance. When the projectile made contact with the rock, the earth missile exploded sending small chunks of rock everywhere. Luckily, Spyro's plan did work in shattering the rock without any further damage to himself, but as he feared the boulders above him began to shake and were about to break free.

"OH, NO!" Cynder gasped with horror. She was only a few meters from Spyro and saw that the rocks were starting to break loose. In a split second, she lunged further into the passage and grabbed his left forepaw in her jaws lightly, dragging him out as fast as she could. The purple dragon gritted his teeth as she dragged his body out, his injured leg scraping against the hard surface triggering even more shooting pain. It also didn't help that the remains of the massive boulder was scattered around him when she pulled him out, poking and scraping his hide. As soon as Spyro was completely out, the rocks above began to cave in rapidly, completely blocking out the passage. After the collapse, the whole tunnel was covered in a thick, dense cloud of dust of fine rock particles. Even with the glow from the spirit gems, visibility was rendered useless.

They coughed and choked on the fine dust particles, which irritated and burned their lungs with each breath they took. But this was only temporary. After what felt like hours of coughing and being unable to see, the dust started to settle and they could finally make eye contact with each other again.

"T-thanks, Cynder," he spoke in pain and between coughs.

"Sure, Spyro. You know I will do anything for you." Cynder replied with a shaky smile. "I told you I wasn't going to leave you no matter what and I'm glad I didn't listen to you." After she finished, they both managed a laugh at her stubbornness, Spyro knew that she meant it.

Time went by slowly for the two dragons as they lay on the ground waiting for the dust to settle. However, they didn't need to wait too long before the dust finally settled down completely for them to realize the size of the new tunnel they have entered. Their eyes wandered about the cave and they were both in awe from the sheer mass of it. the faint glow from the crystals was enough to show the full size of the cave.

"Wow… This is almost as big as The Ruins of Warfang." Cynder said in awe. "Do you think this leads to the surface?"

"There's only one way to find out. Come on," Spyro finished.

He began to rise to his feet so they could continue on but he completely forgot about his injury. Once he applied pressure to his hind leg he felt a stabbing force of pain that moved up his leg and down his spine until it felt like his whole body was shattered. Not able to keep balanced, he fell hard on the ground again with the worse spikes of pain he had ever felt in his life. He gritted his teeth and groaned in pain, wishing it could all stop at once.

"Spyro!"

Cynder shouted when the sound of the purple dragon's cries pounded hard against her ears. The black dragoness didn't waste a second and ran straight to him as fast as she could. She wanted desperately to help but she didn't know what to do for her purple friend. When she managed to reach Spyro, all she could do was stand over him as he hollered out in agony. Fear filled her mind at the sight of the one she loved going through this kind of torture.

Cynder felt hopeless.

All of a sudden, a warm yet chilling sensation ran through her body and Cynder froze in place. It felt like ice running through her veins, fire running through her soul, and something that she had never felt before, something that she couldn't describe. Her mind went silent and the sounds from Spyro seemed to fade away as a haze of colors clouded her vision. She saw a cloud of blue and red mist on opposite sides of her vision that eventually collided into each other. This created a light purple cloud that fogged her vision completely, the same purple as Spyro. Cynder felt a little frightened from the odd silence, the weird feeling that coursed through her body and the colorful haze that clouded her sight, but deep down inside her she felt a bit of confidence. She felt that this was something that was supposed to happen.

After a few more seconds of the rather peaceful sensation, reality rushed back in as if she had slammed into a wall head on. Cynder was a little on edge when everything came back into focus, but she recovered her thoughts quickly and now she could see and hear the purple dragon on the ground in great pain. But to Cynder, she was neither scared nor worried about his condition. She actually felt peaceful because deep down, she felt that Spyro was going to be safe in a few moments.

"Spyro," she spoke in a soothing tone as her fears washed away, placing a talon on his to get his attention. "Don't worry, you'll be ok. Trust me." Cynder finished with a firm nod and the purple dragon eventually gave her one back. He didn't know what she was talking about or what she was going to do but he trusted her.

Cynder then arched her head down until she was only inches away from the purple dragon's crushed leg. Cynder focused her thoughts and let out a long sigh, calming her nerves and becoming more relaxed. At this point, the warm and cooling sensation that grew inside her became more active. She closed her eyes and placed her snout on Spyro's hurt leg. He stared at Cynder with a confused look on his muzzle.

"What was she doing?"

The purple dragon didn't understand what was going on but he didn't bother to question and let her proceed on. Cynder felt the two different sensations combined into one inside the core of her warning, the sensation raced up to her snout and down into Spyro's leg.

Spyro stared the whole time and was a little frightened from the sight of a purple aura radiating from the slender dragoness and swirling into his leg. Immediately Spyro felt the shards of bone in his leg form back together.

He was feeling the reconstruction of his leg.

Spyro gritted his teeth from a sudden spike of pain, but only a second later he felt no pain at all, not even a little pinch. After about ten seconds of healing, Cynder could feel that his leg had fully reconstructed back together and she slowly opened her eyes. When she opened them completely, the bright purple aura faded away as if it had never happened. She slowly raised her snout and backed away from her purple friend. However, in doing so, she felt dizzy and a little weak as if what she had done drained her strength. Cynder sat down beside Spyro with a thud and her head spinning a little. Regardless, she was able to stop the nauseating sensation but not her weakness. Spyro looked at her with a shocked expression stretched across his features.

"How did she do that? What did she even do and how long has she been able to do this?" Spyro couldn't even mutter a word, just completely frozen from what had happened, what she did.

His leg. It was… healed… But how?

Spyro kept looking back between the black dragoness and his leg. He couldn't believe the exquisite power she had displayed. He flexed his leg and twisted it side to side to see if he would feel any pain. To his surprise, he did not. Both dragons looked at each other with the same expression on their muzzles. How was that possible? After a few more seconds went by, Spyro finally broke the silence. He spoke in a timid tone and his voice broke up from a little bit of excitement but mostly shock from what he witnessed.

"H-h-how did, h-how did you, do that?" Spyro mumbled quietly.

"I-I don't know. I felt like I had to do it. As if it was my nature. And when I did, I felt two different forms of energy flow through my body and into yours. I can't explain it but it felt kinda… Peaceful."

She spoke with a very hesitant voice while she thought of what the sensation felt like. She also tried to stand up but couldn't do much more than lift her head. Whatever she had done, whatever power healed Spyro had drained her energy. She could hardly do anything but just lay there and think back on what just happened. All her worries and sadness seemed to evaporate away from her mind now that Spyro was healed.

Spyro stood up to his feet and walked around in a circle, testing out his functioning leg. When he looked back at Cynder it was with a thoroughly confused look on his muzzle.

"Cynder, you… you healed me. But how is that even possible? I never heard of a dragon with the power to heal before," Spyro asked as he walked up to her.

"I-I don't know. I never had this strange feeling before, but when you were in pain, well, I felt something. I didn't even know what to do, but it's like that feeling was guiding me to do what I did." Cynder explained, but as she finished speaking her body went limp from how drained she felt and her head fell towards the ground.

"Cynder!" Spyro shouted, crouching down to the black dragoness.

"It's ok, Spyro. I'm just a little tired, that's all. I guess whatever I did, it must have taken a lot out of me." She sighed before closing her eyes.

Spyro turned around and walked up to the two glowing crystals; their light source. He picked up the green gem in his jaws and walked back to Cynder. When he reached her, he dropped it next to the her right flank so he could speak.

"I'm glad I grabbed this before we left the chamber," Spyro spoke quietly. "Cynder, may I?"

The black dragoness opened her eyes, smiled, and gave him a nod. Spyro smiled back and grabbed the green spirit gem with his talons and placed it on her flank. He then applied a little pressure onto the crystal to activate its ability. Soon after, the green gem started to glow even brighter until it was a blinding glow of green light. It was then slowly absorbed into Cynder's body and faded away. Immediately, the black dragoness could feel a little more of her strength come back but this wasn't a great amount. Nevertheless, it was enough for her to move on.

A minute passed on and Cynder felt she could rise from the ground. As she did, she could feel weakness throughout her body but nothing quite like it was just moments ago, allowing her to rise without hesitation. When she was fully up to her feet, she looked at Spyro with a grin spread across her features.

"Thank you, Spyro. I don't know what I'd do without you."

The look Cynder was giving the purple dragon was more or less a loving smile and Spyro couldn't help but give her one back. Spyro's face burned with eagerness from the passionate expression she graced him with.

"I need to tell her how I feel but were could there be another great moment like the previous one?" Spyro stood in thought as his body tingled from the feeling.

"W-well I'm, I'm g-glad I c-could h-help." He looked away from embarrassment from his stuttering.

"Well, we should probably get going. I'd like to see the sun today for once." Cynder chuckled a little, and Spyro smiled and chuckled as well. She walked up to their remaining gem and wrapped her long tail around the crystal. The black dragoness walked back up to Spyro and the two started their way up the larger cave beside each other. As they walked through the cave in hope that it would lead them to the surface, Spyro thought back to how he stuttered when Cynder looked at him in that certain way.

"Why? Why is it every time Cynder looks at me like that I don't know what to say? And why do I always feel strange inside? I never had this feeling before the battle with Malefor. Is it just because I haven't told her how I feel about her yet?"

Spyro was upset with himself for holding back on his feeling for her. He didn't know if he should wait for her to speak first and ask him or if she was waiting for him to ask her. He thought about it for a long time without much luck in finding a solution. He could tell her right now, but this place wasn't good enough for him. Cynder deserved something special and that was what he was going to wait to find. Some place more peaceful and relaxing.

As they walked, Spyro then thought about another concerning puzzle. How was Cynder able to heal him? He couldn't just let it go. It was too intriguing for him to just accept what happened and let it fade away.

"Cynder?" Spyro said with a timid voice.

"Yes Spyro?" Cynder replied and looked at the purple dragon that was on her left and with a loving grin on her features. Spyro saw her expression but turned his head forward so he didn't feel nervous from her stare. He took a sigh before he spoke again.

"I don't understand."

"Understand what?" Cynder questioned.

"Back there, you were able to heal me. I just don't understand how." He turned his vision to her with a confused look.

"I don't know," she paused. "Like I said earlier, I was scared but something told me to do what I did and somehow it worked," Cynder finished as she hung her head down from the fear she was in.

"So you knew that whatever feeling you had, it would heal me?" Spyro asked as he cocked his head to the side.

"No, I didn't. Just when I saw you in pain, I couldn't just stand there and watch you suffer. I had to do something but I didn't know what. Like I said before, I felt two different forms of energy: one was like a warming sensation and the other a cool sensation flowing through my body and up to my chest, but still divided. Then something strange happened, something I still don't understand." Cynder stopped from walking as she thought back to what she felt when it all happened. Spyro saw that she had stopped and did the same.

"What was this strange feeling you had?" Spyro asked curiously.

"Everything went silent. Even when you hollered out in pain at your highest, I couldn't hear it. I wanted to be frightened but something... I don't know what but something told me that you were going to be just fine. I didn't believe it but my gut instinct told me it was right and you would be safe."

Cynder closed her eyes as she finished, flinching as visions of Spyro crying out in pain still bothered her. The purple dragon could tell the discomfort she was in and draped a wing around her in a friendlygesture. Cynder opened her eyes and looked to her left to see the purple dragon next to her with his wing around her flank. She smiled when she saw a grin on his features, showing his gratitude for what she did to help him.

"I guess I've always had the power to heal but never knew it until now. I guess when I saw you in so much pain, it must have triggered it somehow." Cynder finished.

"I wonder if the Guardians know about this kind of power," Spyro thought. "I guess we could ask them when we get back… But I'm glad you did it, and I'm very lucky to have a great friend like you Cynder."

Spyro gave the black dragoness a loving smile and pulled her in closer in a half-hug. Cynder blushed but embraced his affection and leaned into his hug. Not long after, they broke the hug but Spyro maintained his hold on her with his wing around her. They didn't waste a second and continued to walk further down the tunnel.

Spyro looked all throughout the cave from the eerie glow from the red crystal grasped in Cynder's tail behind them. He was astonished from the dimensions of the passage. Tens of thousands of tons of molten magma must have once flowed through these parts. This created a swirling ripple effect along the walls and ceiling throughout the channels. Though it was difficult to see with limited light, the magma's presence was clearly recognized.

They continued to walk in silence when suddenly Spyro felt something brush against him. His eyes widened from the unexpected feeling, and he looked back behind him very quickly to where he had been touched. To his surprise, he saw Cynder's tail which was still holding the gem, but which was now also wrapped around his tail. Spyro maintained his shocked expression as he turned his head back to Cynder. Once again, he saw her with a loving smile across her features as she looked at him, and he couldn't help but laugh a little. The purple dragon was completely dumbstruck from her friendly gesture, his body filled with excitement and his legs feeling weak again. Nevertheless, he mustered up the strength he needed to prevent himself from collapsing and continued to focus on the trail while returning a goofy smile.

"She must have said those words to me, I just know it. There's no mistaking it now. I really feel confident in telling her now, but I need to find a better place to show her my true feelings for her," he thought to himself as the excitement continued to grow inside of him. As he thought about it, his smile grew even larger and he couldn't help but chuckle a little over how thrilled he was but trying to keep it very quiet. Unfortunately, he wasn't quiet enough and Cynder heard his little laugh. She looked over to him before she spoke with a puzzled expression.

"Something funny?" Cynder asked with a raised brow. Spyro felt a wave of embarrassment and quickly shook out the thoughts in his mind.

"What? Oh, sorry. I-I was just thinking about the things Sparx said during the adventures we went on, always complaining." Spyro rolled his eyes. After he mentioned his brother, the purple dragon took a forlorn sigh. He wished they could escape soon so he could be there for his brother.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Cynder asked, but she already knew the answer to her question. Spyro gave her a firm nod and focused his head back to the ground. Now that Spyro brought up Sparx, he completely forgot about Cynder's tail around his and reflected more on his dragonfly brother.

"I just hope he's alright," Spyro worriedly. Once the he finished, Cynder pressed her body even closer to his. Even though Spyro still had his wing draped around her, she closed in the gap between them until their scales were rubbing against each other. Spyro looked back at her but the expression on her muzzle said it all; everything would be fine.

"It's ok, Spyro. I'm sure he's safe in Warfang and we'll get out of here soon." Cynder thought about the yellow dragonfly and chuckled slightly. "I'm sure all that stubbornness will keep him going until we get back. He's also with the Guardians and you know that they'll keep him company and take care of him throughout our absence."

"Oh, believe me, the Guardians don't need to take care of him. He'll just drive them all crazy." As soon as he finished speaking they both laughed, but in reality he was serious.

"Well, let's just focus on getting out of here first. Once we do, we shouldn't be too far from the city. Maybe a couple hours' flight?" Cynder said, trying to raise their spirits.

Spyro gave a sigh in relief from the thought that they might be back to where they call home soon if the tunnel led them to the surface. He turned his sight to Cynder and gave her a nod in agreement. Both of them smiled and started to pick up their pace, covering more ground as they hoped they were on the right path for their escape.

They walked for another twenty minutes without saying a word. Their minds were focused on their escape out of the mountain and to end their chaotic ordeal. However, they encountered a strange feeling, but this time it wasn't the feeling of an earthquake, fear, healing ability, nor a loving sensation. This one was completely different.

They couldn't envision what this could be, but they both felt it may be pleasant. They kept walking at a steady pace with the crystal as their only light source, but after another ten minutes of walking Spyro and Cynder felt something brush against their scales that went down the whole length of their bodies. Both dragons stopped dead in their tracks.

"Spyro, did you feel that?" Cynder asked with concern in her voice.

"Yes, I felt it too. It feels like a small draft of air. But where?" Spyro questioned as both dragons looked at each other with a puzzled look on their features. Indeed they both felt a light and gentle breeze inside the cave. The two scanned all throughout the tunnel for any signs of where the breeze could come from. After a few minutes of looking with no success, Spyro then looked down even further into the cave out of curiosity but what he saw surprised him. The purple dragon noticed something a few hundred meters away, something that made his eyes widen and his heart race in his chest.

"Could this be? Is that what I think it is?" The thoughts rushed through his mind, hoping his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"Cynder!" Spyro shouted causing the black dragoness to jump in surprise when he yelled.

"What's wrong?" Cynder asked, a little frightened from the way the purple dragon shouted. When she finished speaking, she unwrapped her tail from Spyro's as the purple dragon retracted his wing.

"Cynder, I think I know where that breeze is coming from. Is that what I think it is?" he asked her before gesturing a wing in the directing he was facing. Cynder raised a brow before focusing her sights down the corridor. She continued to scan the area until she could see it too.

"Spyro, I-is that?" she stuttered.

He smiled and gave her a firm nod as his smile grew wider from the excitement he felt. What they saw in front of them was what seemed to be an extremely dim flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. It was very hard to see but it was light. They both couldn't believe what they saw and were completely tickled that they may have finally found their way out. They knew it had to be sunlight shining through and not another crystal patch because of the breeze they felt. This could only be the cause of the elements from outside the mountain. At last, after two and a half days trapped in a dormant volcano, they could finally see their first glimpse of what the new age looked like. This was what they dedicated their whole lives for, this was what they nearly sacrificed themselves for.

"Do you think this is our way out?" Cynder asked.

"I believe so Cynder. This could be the start of a new age for us. This could be the way to see what the new world looks like. All of our suffering. Everyone who has perished. This is what we all fought for,"

He paused. "Now let's hurry before another earthquake appears."

"AH! You just had to ruin such a great moment!" Cynder hollered out. "But don't say that. It might just happen."

"Well, come on. Let's finally get out of here."

"I'm way ahead of you," Cynder agreed, but then she paused as a thought passed through her mind. "Actually, how do you feel about flying? There's clearly enough space for us to. Do you think you can manage?"

Spyro gave it a thought before he spread out his wing to their full extent. "Yeah, I think I might be able to."

Cynder smiled before dropping the gem she carried with her tail and picking it up with a talon. "I'll lead the way but follow close, and take it easy Spyro," she spoke while walking in front of him. Spyro smiled and gave her a firm nod in agreement.

Cynder led the way and took flight with a jump and a flap of her wings. Spyro did the same and followed right behind her. The two flew cautiously as the light from the gem barely gave them any time in advance for any obstacles that may be in their flight path. Spyro flew behind the black dragoness but he stayed fairly close to her; he was unable to see ahead.

The light in the distance grew in size. It went from the size of a grain of sand to the size of a large pebble. The light began to radiate off of the walls and the chamber was becoming brighter. Spyro still couldn't see the edges of the path they flew through so he remained close behind Cynder for safe measures. Smiles grew on their features as the gentle breeze picked up as turbulence. This was a great sign for the dragons because it meant this was truly an opening to the outside world. The gentle breeze also brought fragrances from the land beyond, such as the pollen from nearby trees and the aroma of fresh dew from the grass. This was the greatest scent the two dragons had ever taken in.

With the light ever expanding, it didn't take long until it was more intense than the light radiating from the gem. Spyro then flew closer to the black dragoness' right flank rather than behind her. The two dragons both looked at each other and smiled as they rapidly grew closer to the large opening. They finally were about to see what lay ahead of them in the new age they have only dreamt about.

Several minutes into their flight and they were nearing the end to their horrific ordeal. They were a mere one hundred meters away from the cave opening. From this point on, the light that reflected into their eyes was a mix of different colors. They could see greens and yellows from trees, grass, and other plant matter as well as blue from the sky. Their hearts pounded against their chest, not from exhaustion but from excitement. They were eager to see what great wonders were beyond the vast opening of the cave. They wouldn't have to wait much longer until they were free.

Finally, after days inside the mountain, they were about to cross the threshold to a brand new world. Once they were about twenty meters from the mouth of the cave they retracted their wings and began sprinting to the best of their abilities. Their bodies ached and cramped but their excitement and determination canceled out all fatigue they felt. Once they were about to leave the base of the cave they slowed down into a walk. Blinded by the light that poured into their eyes, they had to shield their vision with a wing until their eyes fully adjusted. This only took a few seconds before they retracted their wings and emerged outside the cave and onto a small plateau.

The first thing they noticed was the tall, green grass between their feet as they walked through it. Immediately they both collapsed in sequence to the soft, lush grass and rolled onto their backs staring straight up into the cloudy blue sky beside each other. They didn't even bother to look around to get an idea where they may be. They were so excited to get out of the mountain that they didn't have a care in the world once they saw the light.

"F-finally, we're out!" Cynder said with excitement and exhaustion.

"I never thought I would be this happy just to see the blue sky again," Spyro said, panting as he spoke. All they wanted to do for their first experience outside was stare at the sky and watch the clouds roll by with great happiness that showed across their features.

"Same with me, Spyro. I never want to be trapped in a cave for that long ever again."

Spyro then turned to his left where the black dragoness was lying.

"Well, we were trapped inside a crystal for three years if you count that," Spyro spoke with humor in his voice. Cynder met his gaze and took a depressing sigh when she thought back to that frightening day.

"Well, when you put it that way, this didn't seem as bad," she replied in a bland tone, causing Spyro to chuckle. "But that felt instant to us. We actually felt the time with this one."

"Yeah..." Spyro said at length. "We have to stop finding caves to get trapped in. It's getting old."

"Agreed."

From this point on, the two young dragons lay there on their backs for several long and relaxing minutes. They knew what their next mission was but they wanted to calm their minds down and focus on what was in front of them, the sky. They made it out of the mountain so they were out of danger if another earthquake struck. For once, they were in no rush.

Thanks again for reading!
Ok, so I am not going to post a date for the next chapter. I really don't have the time at the moment and I struggled
with this one. But I am not going to stop. I still will get back into it again when things slow down this summer. So it's really til next time.