Chapter Six: Requiem of Dreams

(Sixteen days prior to Spyro's death)

Cynder had chosen to sleep one more night inside her and Spyro's cave before spending the remaining time with Flame and Ember, just to be sure nobody would try to raid their cave. A dream had surfaced in her mind as she slept through the night. Something which had not surfaced in Cynder had finally decided to show itself again.

"Hashniquichishinoque," A distorted voice rings inside Cynder's head while she lies in a state of comatose. "Quevoquitomonichue!"

"Who's there?" Cynder shouts as she searches the dark corridors of her dream, unsure what to think as her eyes fail to detect any movement in her surroundings.

"Cynder…you've grown weak…" The voice speaks clear to Cynder as she frantically jolts her eyes into every possible direction of the room.

"Identify yourself, now!" Cynder demanded as she breathed heavily in adrenaline.

"Can't you tell, I'm you… or rather just a shadow of your old self…," The voice seemed to fade with the wind as Cynder's face became as straight as an arrow. "Malefor underestimated you… you seem to know who you are destined to be and to be with…"

"He was a monster, a blood crazed maniac who sought to destroy the world and besides, he wouldn't have the power to keep me under control for long anyway." Cynder says as her eyes struggled desperately to focus in the darkness.

"He was also a dragon worthy of some phrase," the voice seemed to be right next to Cynder as she decided to remain still and hear what the voice had to say. "He's cheated death multiple times, seems only fair that his own son would be the one worthy to truly kill him. His ideas may have been chaotic, but they had purpose."

"Even if he did show the world true anarchy, what type of world would that be to history?" Cynder said as the voice began to form sentences more clearly and audible.

"History will look upon it as an era of change… an era where the civilians of the world were finally shown what true power and dominance really is!" The voice boomed as Cynder bared her teeth.

"History will frown upon what the outcome is, no matter how much we try to ignore what we have done." Cynder said as she thought of her former self for a minute.

"A history driven future would mean the end of recollection of ourselves," The voice seemed to switch sides of Cynder. "A future I wish to take part in and later lead."

Cynder scoffed as she said, "You wish to lead a land of death and blood? I pity beings like you. All you do is mope and complain about life and how it would be better if everything that was GOOD had died!"

The voice boomed in anger, "And then what Cynder!? All you ever use to care about was bringing pain and misery! Remember the blood you've spilt to get where you once stood? That was all you! Your goal was to kill Spyro and twice you failed! You are the Queen of Darkness!"

"You mean I was," Cynder shouted as she unknowingly let loose a powerful sonic blast which ripped through the darkened environment around her. "I hated that life, I knew I had no control over it, I wanted to be free in my heart! Spyro was the answer; my beloved Spyro was the one who he freed me forever! He freed me and I'm not going back!"

"Believe what you want, death and violence will always stand superior." The voice stated as the voice began to distort once more.

"That's insane, death and violence only brings murderers and criminals, such as Draikor!" Cynder yelled back as the voice soon disappeared and Cynder's dream had come to a close.

Before the dream vanished from her mind, the last thing Cynder heard was the voice saying, "You have no idea what is ahead of you and Spyro, just you wait. Things will be clear once your time has come…"

Cynder awakes from her dream; she ponders what had happened as she notices it is now moving closer to dusk.

"I fell asleep midday… Flame and Ember should still be up." Cynder though to herself as she grabbed her diary, secured the cave once more with the boulder, and checked over the cave once more before flying off towards her friend's cave.

"I need to stop Hunter… I'm feeling exhausted." Spyro said as the two landed in a fast, beautiful forest which was illuminated by fireflies and glowing mushrooms.

"What a nice change of scenery," Hunter said as he dismounted from Spyro's back. "For a dragon of your height you are strong indeed to carry me this far."

"I had to help haul water through Warfang during Malefor's siege three years ago to burning buildings with Moles trapped inside," Spyro said as he stretched his wings. "I had to haul most of the unconscious Moles out of the building while fighting the flames; I've grown accustomed to heavy lifting."

"It has shown its advantages," Hunter said as he looked around the forest in curiosity. "We should be getting close, I remember this forest being marked clearly on the map last time we checked our bearings. Mind the mushrooms; they are poisonous to the touch. Eat any of the berries you like except the black and red striped ones, they create seizure convulsions in the body."

"I don't feel like eating much, just need some sleep…" Spyro said as he quickly curled into a ball and fell into a deep, long needed sleep.

"Wait, you mean to say that Spyro is possessed by some sort of demon," Flame said as he conversed about the situation. "You mean like the type that take over your body and force you to do things you would never do?"

Cynder nodded as she said with the best hopeful voice she could muster, "I need a place to stay, Spyro told me to come to your cave and stay with you until he returned, would you mind if I stayed for the duration until he returned?"

"Not at all, you're like family, come in and make yourself at home." Ember said as Flame and Ember welcomed Cynder into their flower covered cave.

"There is a room in the back, the bed is nice and soft and there is a desk which you can put your book in to, and there's a nice reclining chair near the desk if you'd wish to move it to your liking." Flame said with a smile as Cynder smiled back.

"You two are to kind to me and Spyro, thank you, I just brought along my diary to keep me occupied," Cynder said, observing the black, rugged cover of the wrinkled and faded pages of the diary full of memories. "You guys wouldn't happen to have an ink bottle and feather pen by chance would you?"

"A full bottle and three pens lay inside the desk drawer in there, why don't you get settled and help me wash dishes while Flame grabs dinner." Ember said as Cynder situated her room for a minute and joined Ember at the marble sink.

"Sheep chops tonight I take it?" Flame asked as the sun was just starting to sink behind the western hills.

"Yes, we already have corn and potatoes and some green beans… and white rice, be careful out there honey." Ember called as Flame took flight to the nearest meadow where sheep would be grazing.

"He's quite the sweet heart isn't he?" Cynder said as she scrubbed the dinner plates clean with her wet sponge.

"Oh man, he's the most lovable dragon out there; I don't know what I would do without him." Ember said with a smile as she dried the dishes after Cynder had scrubbed them clean.

"Spyro and I were so happy when you two got hitched a month after Spyro and I's wedding, good times." Cynder said as the two began to work together scrubbing the bowls and silverware next.

"Where did you two go for your honeymoon?" Ember asked as she dropped her sponge in the sink by mistake.

"We went to a beach called Dragon Shores," Cynder said as she swam her hands through the warm water until she found Ember's sponge and handed it back to her. "Dragons seemed to be at every street corner, thanking Spyro for his heroics and me for aiding him… we went along this boat ride through this tunnel called 'Tunnel of Love'… he kissed me on the head and held me tight when the scary part of the tunnel came to us. We walked on the beach at some evenings and dinner at the most lovely restaurants imaginable. We made love when the night was perfect just before we left our hotel… I love him more than anything."

"It sounds like you two are destined to be with each other." Ember said with a smile.

"How was your honeymoon?" Cynder asked as she and Ember finished the dishes.

"We went to this place called 'Idol Springs'," Ember began as she told Cynder of her and Flame's romantic trip. "I was so excited to go there. The place is known for the vast sculptures and villages with tons of parties and celebrations. Flame managed to win me that small golden idol sculpture in our bedroom in an arm wrestling match against a dragon named Cometior. He was being somewhat of a flirt to me so Flame decided to show him that I was his girl… The rest of the day was pretty much the same as yours."

"I brought three lambs back, I hope that will do for tonight." Flame said, out of breath as he hauled in the lifeless bodies of the sheep's onto the countertop next to the sink.

"That will be fine honey; we shall eat within the hour once we get this meat ready." Ember said as the three worked to prepare the sheep meat to eat at dinner.