Chapter 14

Voice of Reasoning

Since they left the cabin, Cosmo grew a bit edgy as he and his formidable group slowly paced through the forest. A slight winter breeze brushed through the tree tops but was barely noticed. There wasn't a lot of wildlife to be seen as they traveled. No one was surprised though as they neared Velxtra Forest. While Cosmo's curiosity burned to test and see if the forest really lost its enchanted structure, he decided to stick with everyone else for now. There would be time for that later.

Isis, Archie, and Everest walked alongside each other keeping a sharp eye out for anything suspicious. Orion on the other hand somehow fell asleep in a small polymorphed state on Cosmo's back. The yellow dragon's viewpoint on Orion had changed over the past few days. At first he had genuine wonder toward the fox, but another feeling took its place.

Not a lot was said during the search. Everyone seemed to be focused on finding a shrine or anything out of the ordinary. They barely had any leads on any resting places of a relic fragment other than they were situated around the perimeter of Velxtra Forest. It was going to take a little bit of luck to find what they were looking for.

Isis decided to make use of her wings and fly above them to keep an aerial eye out. While the trees did obscure her view a bit, she figured it was better than being on the ground with the others.

Much time passed as Cosmo explained in detail of how he and Isis arrived in the dragon realms. Spyro and Cynder both agreed by the end of his tale that it was indeed a bit strange for that portal to have even existed. He was asked about Orion and his reason for guarding the portal, but all Cosmo could do was shrug in response and say that even the fox didn't have an answer to that question.

A few more minutes passed and Isis was quick to land in the leafy forest beside Cosmo. He looked over toward her in anticipation as she struggled to catch her breath. "Something wrong?" he asked simply.

Isis took a small moment for herself as she slowly paced herself with the group. "Found something."

"Something?"

The fur dragon nodded. "Over toward our northwest there's a half buried structure with pillars surrounding it. It looked pretty important, but I didn't see anything else. There was a doorway though that seemed to lead somewhere."

"How far is it?" Spyro asked immediately.

"Not too far, I didn't stray to far away from all of you. Maybe a five minute walk."

That was the best news he gotten all day. Cosmo looked back toward the three other dragons and human to see the same look of gratification.

"It's better than nothing," Archie began as he looked distantly into the forest. "We should check it out."

"Agreed," Spyro added.

Instantly the group began traveling toward the site, following Isis along the way. For what Isis described, it definitely sounded significant for a place a fragment could be. Spyro only hoped it was. They already let half the fragments fall into the wrong hands.

Cosmo was quickly able to spot what Isis described. Through the trunks of the forests trees, he spotted a small opening. Spyro took off into a run, closely followed by Cynder. Everyone else followed suit. The sudden jog made Orion wake up quickly to brace himself on Cosmo's back.

"What's going on?" The fox jumped off the back of the dragon and polymorphed back into his original size as he ran alongside Cosmo.

"We found something," Cosmo answered simply.

When the group broke through the treeline, their eyes darted around the craggy area. Black stone jutted out the ground here and there, but in the middle was an elevated circular building of some kind. Six black columns stood around the structure, but most of them were broken and cracked with age. Even the building itself looked no different. Several chunks and cracks were formed on its walls. A simple victim to time itself. Weeds had no trouble growing through its cracks.

Making his way around the building, Cosmo spotted the doorway Isis mentioned. It was a circular opening in the wall that looked as if it were intentionally made that way. It didn't look unnatural at all. Which only meant it led somewhere. Climbing up the small incline to the structures base Cosmo peeked into the doorway only to see that it descended down into the earth. He had no doubts it would have been dark, but it seemed as if there were some glowing stone etched into the walls to give off light along the way.

"That's definitely something," Orion said, peeking around the door's corner. "I guess we're going down there?"

"Of course we are," Spyro answered.

A simple slope descended downwards. One by one the dragons, fox, and human made their way into the dark stretch of black thin hallways, barely wide enough for two dragons side by side. Aside from the occasion glowing stone to help illuminate their way, there wasn't much else to see other than the occasional cobweb hanging loosely on the walls.

Cosmo and Isis had no trouble seeing however. The two of them could see the end of the slope with ease down around fifty yards. No words had to be said. Everyone was too anxious to what they would find at the bottom. They all had the same obvious thought in mind though.

When they finally reached the bottom, the slope ended and the hallway opened up into a very large room. Cavern walls replaced the black stone the entrance had to offer and much more glowing stone was present, but not glowing. Spyro took the opportunity to light what he could with his flames, letting the stone around them soak up its light. The stone was fairly sensitive to the fire and soaked up any light it could, giving off a bright glow. Bats took notice of the new company and cried out towards them as a small number of them began flying around, but didn't bother the group that just arrived.

The cavern was quite large but wasn't completely lit up as the stone in the back was barely visible. That didn't matter however. In the center of the cavern was a structure much like the previous one that was in the underground lake. Several rocky pillars stood around the area to support the ceiling. In the middle was a raised platform made out of the same black stone from before. Atop the center was a small circular shrine. Cosmo could clearly see an object that seemed to be floating above it and giving off its own small source of glowing blue light.

"I can see it!" Spyro exclaimed excitedly.

Hurrying over as fast as he could, the purple dragon climbed the few steps onto the platform and approached the center shrine, closely followed by the rest. All eyes rested upon the levitating stone fragment in front of them. It was clear what this object was.

"It seems our search was successful," Everest began, closely examining the fragment.

Cynder nodded in satisfaction. "It seems that way, but the other fragment we found in the lake gave off much more light that this one."

Archie stroked his chin in thought for a moment. He had a guess of the reason. "I suppose it was because this fragment's power has diminished much more than the other one. But at least we found a relic for ourselves. If the UCA or Verus wants them all, they're going to have to come to us."

Cosmo however had his attention elsewhere. With his night vision, he was able to freely look around the cavern and ignore the darkness in the corners. What caught his eye however was a small crack in the back of the cavern near the ground. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but it almost looked wispy somehow as if vapors were escaping it. Something about it made Cosmo shiver as he stared at it.

"Grab the shard," Cosmo suddenly ordered in an assertive tone.

The way he said it caught everyone off guard. Spyro looked toward him questionably. "Alright but what's with the look?"

Curious, Isis looked in the direction that Cosmo was facing. Then she instantly spotted it. The crack in the wall. Something was coming out of it.

"Grab it!" Isis ordered.

Spyro didn't hesitate. Whatever was going on was something too serious to explain in the short amount of time. Swiping the shard, the purple dragon stepped back away from the pedestal and looked upwards toward the ceiling at the stone that wasn't glowing. Breathing out the hottest of fire, Spyro illuminated the cavern enough for the stone to absorb the light, making it easier to see what was going on. What he saw was nothing but bad news.

Darkness. Pure darkness poured through the crevice. The shadowy fog hovered in place below, re-forming itself from the entrance it made.

Everyone was awestruck at what this thing was. Orion however was quite the opposite. "Get out of here!" Orion yelled out in terror.

Cosmo looked toward him only to see a look on his face that he thought he would never see from the fox. A look of pure fear. He thought he would never see such a look on the fox's face. "I agree. We don't want to be around whenever that thing comes back together. The fragment is ours I suggest we retreat." Whatever it was also greatly reminded him of the shape of darkness that attempted to take Everest's life. If it was the same creature, Cosmo had no idea how to fight it.

Quickly the group went back up the way they came without hesitation. Hiding the relic in his folded wing, Spyro stayed in the back of the line just in case he had to repel whatever that thing was. As the group ascended the underground structure's slope, a painful screech echoed from the cavern behind them. Which only urged everyone to move faster.

Light poured in from above as Everest led the group upwards. She never thought she would welcome the sight of just sunlight, but the screeching from behind proved sufficient enough. Only a glimpse was seen of what the creature was, but when she saw it her mind immediately thought of the pond she fallen through. It was quite possible it was the same creature from that day.

Finally, she emerged from the shrine, panting as she did so, followed by everyone else. What she found however, she never expected. As each dragon and human emerged from the structure behind them, they were immediately stopped in their tracks by the many weapons that were pointed at them.

It seemed the UCA had tracked them down. Around seven or so human had weapons pointed toward them as they stood around the entrance atop the black craggy platform they all stood on. From pistols to rifles, to automatic machine guns, it was enough to make Archie groan in annoyance. Spyro and Cynder immediately knew who these people were and what they were pointing at them. In the middle of them all stood a familiar man Archie knew too well.

"I should have known it was you Archie," the man known as Wade began. He personally didn't point a weapon, but Archie knew he was carrying one. He always carried one.

"There's no time for this Wade!" Archie exclaimed. "We have to get out of here!"

The dragons were beginning to grow restless. Not only was the UCA in their way, but there was an ancient entity coming up behind them to do who knew what to them. Cosmo however was almost panicking. Orion was missing.

"What for?" Wade began, not phased by the warning. He casually put a hand in his black pants pocket and continued. "You have something I want. You're not leaving here until you drop it."

But before Archie could retaliate, the familiar roar echoed from the descending hall behind them. The UCA grew surprised and some of them attempted to looked past the dragons and Archie to spot what the source of the terrifying noise.

"I see," Wade said simply, seemingly completely calm about the situation. "Then I suppose you should be quick about your decision. Drop the fragment and live. Try to run and my men will shoot you down. Take too long to make your decision then we'll get a close-up of whatever that thing was."

"You're crazy!" Everest shouted toward him in anger.

"No my dear Everest," Wade stated simply toward her with a toothy grin. "I'm just doing my job."

Archie gritted his teeth. Reaching into his pocket, he quickly pulled out his own pistol and pointed it toward Wade. Immediately, the UCA open fired toward Archie, but not before an earth shield formed in front of him, blocking all the bullets that were fired upon him.

"Cease fire!" Wade ordered.

The sounds of the guns ceased. Archie's earth shield fell, revealing a very angry person gripping a pistol so tight his knuckles had turned white.

"Did I get under someone's skin?" Wade said in amusement. "My so protective of that dragon."

Another roar came from the structure hall, this time it was much closer. The men behind Wade grew restless and murmurs began, but Wade simply dismissed their worried chatter.

"Why are you so blind?" Archie asked, anger seething through his voice. Still pointing his pistol toward him. "There's a demon from hell coming for us and you're just standing there! We need to run before —."

Before he could finish the same creature he tried to warn him about flew out the doorway and hovered above the disgruntled crowd. It's very presence was so off-putting it made Spyro nervous just to look at it.

"Open fire!" Wade commanded. The UCA didn't have to be told twice. Triggers were pulled and guns were set off, but not toward the dragons. Their aim was toward the shadow of darkness above them. "No! Shoot the dragons! They have the fragment!"

It wouldn't last. The shadow turned its gaze towards the humans shooting it, then swooped toward them. Archie stowed his pistol and began backing away along with the rest of the dragons.

"Run!" A voice shouted from behind them.

Turning around, Cosmo spotted the familiar fox that somehow evaded the UCA's encounter. There would be time from questions later however. His gaze quickly turned back to the UCA only to see the creature manipulating the shadows of everything around it, literally bringing them to life. Shadowy arms shot out of any spots of darkness and grabbed any human being it could with it's claw like hands, holding them down as the shadow creature itself began to transform into a bipedal being itself. The shadow glowed for a moment, but it's shape quickly changed into the form of a tall large human that almost seemed to be on fire with a black blaze. Holding its arm out, a nearby UCA member screamed in agony as the shadowy hands holding him down began to cut into his skin with its claw like fingers.

Wade himself struggled against the shadows clutches as he looked over toward it in horror, watching it tear one of his own men apart in front of him.

"We have to get out of here!" Orion shouted in terror, pushing against Cosmo's leg in his small state. "That thing will kill us!"

"But we have to help them!" Cosmo surprisingly exclaimed.

The fox nearly had tears in his eyes. "No! You can't! Please we have to go!"

With one UCA member dead, the shadow moved on to another human to toy with. Wade struggled to retrieve the weapon in his holster, but to no avail.

Spyro couldn't believe what he was seeing in front of him. Whatever this thing was, it was brutal. "While I wouldn't want the relic to fall in his hands, we should help them."

"You can't!" Orion repeated, collapsing to the stone below.

"Why can't we?"

The fox's energy seemed to be gone. If Cosmo didn't know any better, he was in shock and on the verge of passing out. Before he did, Orion uttered one last sentence that made Cosmo's heart skip a beat.

"It will steal your soul."

Orion passed out. Another outburst of pain was erupted from another human as the shadow cut into the mans chest through his tough clothing. He bled, but the same hand that cut into him reached into the mans wound, disappearing into his body. Hoisting Orion onto his back, Cosmo's mind raced.

"We haven't even tried to attack it," Spyro began. "I'm afraid too but we have to try."

"No!" Cosmo exclaimed. Another scream of agony was heard as the dragons turned toward him. "I've never seen him so terrified. Orion knew something about this thing we didn't."

"He's right," Wade began, causing heads to turn toward him. "We were goners when we stepped into this world. We didn't know when or how, but we knew where." Wade winced in pain as a shadow hand's claw raked his side.

Archie didn't know what to think. The man that was responsible for the many deaths of dragons stood before him, about to die, and he willingly accepted it. Was he to feel remorse or satisfaction?

Pointing his pistol toward Wade, Archie slowly squeezed the trigger. "I'm sorry old friend."

"Do not be sorry," Wade simply said as the shadow moved on to the human next to him, completely ignoring the interaction Wade was getting. "But be wary. Even when I am gone, the war will still continue. The UCA will pursue the fragments. You won't be safe."

"I'm aware of that," Archie replied passively. Then in an instant, his gun discharged, launching a bullet straight into Wade's head.

Immediately the group ran for it. With Orion on Cosmo's back, they made a break for the treeline as the shadow slowly turned its attention toward them. Turning back toward the last living human it held captive, it ordered its controlled shadow to kill the man so it could finish its gruesome work.

As the group broke through the treeline, a final scream of pain was heard from the shrine. It only urged them to move faster or who knew what would happen to them. Cosmo's heart was pumping as he gasped for air, but refused to stop for a rest.

What was that thing? Was it the same creature from the pond? It certainly seemed way more aggressive than it did then. Cosmo had the obvious questions, but would have to wait for answers. It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that the group nearly collapse to the forest floor in exhaustion. He could only hope they were safe from that things grasp.

No one said anything for a few minutes as they were too tired. A few minutes rest was silently agreed upon, only assuming they were off the hook for the time being.

Finally, Cynder was the first one to say something. "What was that thing?"

"A shadow demon," Archie answered, leaned back against the tree. "Not an official name, but something I will be calling it. Are you okay Everest?" Pulling his pistol out, he let the clip loose and let it fall into his hands. After a close examination, he pushed it back into his weapon. "Five," he silently said.

"I'll live," the white dragoness said plainly, sitting down beside Cosmo who still had a passed out fox on his back.

"It was ruthless," Isis added, laying down on her belly in the leaves. "It killed those people."

"I think it did more than that," Spyro said, leaned up against a tree as he sat beside Cynder for comfort. "I saw it reach into their bodies."

"I saw that too," Cynder replied grimly. "There was something so disturbing about that thing."

"You have no idea," Cosmo said, laying down to keep Orion safely on his back. "I never seen Orion so scared before. I've never seen him scared at all before."

"Yes," Archie said as he stroked his chin. "He certainly seemed to know something about that demon. We should definitely get back to the cabin and wait for him to come to. Something felt off about that entire encounter."

Everest immediately caught on to what he meant. "The shadow demon could have easily taken all of us. Why did it ignore us?"

"Perhaps because we had the fragment?" Spyro guessed as he reached into his wing to pull the said instrument out. Now that they all had a chance to take a closer look, the stone honestly didn't look too special. Aside from its glow and a few indistinguishable markings, one could easily just overlook it thinking of it as simple trash. "Ignitus did tell us that the fragments contained the void. What if that demon was it?"

Everyone grew silent. What he said had to have been the absolute truth.

"If it is then we know that the fragments still have some power to help repel it," Cosmo answered. "I don't know about you but I didn't come back to this realm only to get done in by some cliché shadow demon. Once we get to the cabin maybe Orion will be able to tell us more about this thing."

Standing to his aching legs, Cosmo looked towards the direction of the cabin and began walking. Silently, everyone else followed.

Meanwhile

Yin wiped her mouth as she finished the last bite of her meaty meal. The outdoor restaurant in Warfang's main market square caught her eye as she was passing by and she couldn't help but stop by to have a quick but late lunch at some place called Lateef's. It's name somehow stuck out to her among the other few restaurants in the area. The square wasn't very populated for the moment, but still held enough dragons to eye her oddly as she ate. She had grown used to those looks though. The dragoness only been in Warfang for a few days, but already received enough of those for it to be a normal thing.

While firefighting felt amazing, something else was missing. As if her life were a jigsaw puzzle, the picture was missing a few pieces. There were no pieces to put in the missing spots. There were no clues to they're whereabouts. All she could do is attempt to decipher to picture without filling in the spots.

Pushing her wooden chair back, Yin stood to her feet. She already paid the waitress, but left a small tip on the table. As she was about to leave, the same gray scaled waitress stopped her before she could leave the area.

"Excuse me miss, you left some gems on your table."

Yin seemed a bit confused for a moment. She looked back at the table to see two blue gems just sitting there. "Of course, that's your tip."

"Tip?"

It seemed that this dragon never even heard of a tip before. That was odd.

"A little extra gems for you," Yin answered. How could she not know what a simple tip was.

"Oh," the waitress simply went. "I've never seen a tip before. Thank you!" she enthusiastically said.

Returning to her work, the waitress picked the gems up and returned to servicing customers. Yin smiled to herself of the waitress's reaction to her kindness. Then she realized something obvious. She didn't know what a tip was either.

"Feel like I'm going crazy," Yin muttered to herself.

Turning away from the restaurant Yin walked into the main square to have a look around and pass the time. Since she was on a short break from her job, Yin didn't have much to do. Other than Pongo she didn't really have any friends to spend her extra time with. While Pongo was great and all, he was friends with almost everyone. Between his work and his other friends, that dragon didn't have much time for her. All he would do anyways was beg her to sing. Her voice was something he greatly admired.

After having a short walk around, she tossed a gem into the market's central fountain. While the white dragoness didn't believe the concept of making wishes, it was fun to follow the trope and wish for something every now and again.

Feeling accomplished after a silent moment to herself, Yin turned unexpectedly to see another dragon standing next to her. A pure white dragoness with white fur on her spine and curious yellow eyes looking toward her. The visitor studied Yin for a moment, from her blue furry frilly tail to her dark white shaded spots on her scales here and there.

"Hello?" Yin began uneasily. Something about this dragon was familiar. "Don't want to seem a bit rude but you're staring at me?"

The dragoness snapped her attention. "My apologies. It's just . . . well you resemble someone I once called a friend."

"Once?"

The dragoness paced over toward the fountain beside Yin and peered into the shallow water. "She disappeared."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be," the dragoness assured with a familiar accent. "I'm sure she's in a better place living a happier life than she would have if she stayed here."

"Sounds like you're a good friend if that's what you truly think."

The dragoness said nothing in response. Yin looked toward her anxiously for a moment, but looked back at the fountain once more. "Everything okay?"

"Of course," the dragoness instantly replied. "Do you mind if I ask your name?"

She didn't see any harm in that question. "It's Yin."

Both dragons stared into the water, but only looked at their reflections. The dragoness grinned a bit, but it quickly went away. "Yin huh?"

Yin nodded in confirmation. "That's correct. How about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Your name?"

The dragoness's smile returned as she looked over toward Yin. "Didn't Isis tell you?"

"No . . . you know how she is. We barely had time for goodbyes much less introductions."

Then Yin went quiet. She looked over toward the dragoness with silent wonder of what just happened. She recalled a distant memory.

"I'll see you later Yin."

Yin's mind was too far away to even notice the mysterious dragoness leaving her side. Before she could react, her visitor was gone, leaving Yin alone with her thoughts. Or were they really hers?

Meanwhile

Safely arriving back at the cabin, the group for dragons and one human and fox rested in relief. Cosmo set Orion down in his corner for the time being until he woke up, but for the moment there were other things to discuss. Shutting the door behind him, Archie as if he had been holding his breath. Upholstering his pistol, he put the safety on and set it down on the nearby table beside his couch.

"Now what?" Cynder began, making herself at home as she sat down on a couch.

Spyro didn't think twice to sit down beside her. He could tell even she was a bit shaken up by what they all witnessed. Pulling the relic fragment back out of his wing to examine it once more, he said to her, "We know the relic fragment can help repel the demon. We need to find the last two before Verus does."

"What about the UCA?" Isis mentioned, leaning up against Cosmo comfortably on the opposite couch. The yellow dragon didn't resist her affection.

Archie leaned on the back of the couch Cosmo and Isis sat on in front of him. "I doubt they'll be an issue for the moment. With the death of Wade I'm sure they're operations will slow down."

"But they won't stop," Everest added.

"Right," Archie sighed. "They'll continue their search regardless of the fate of Wade. It's not like he wasn't the only leader of the UCA."

"There are others?" Isis asked, cocking her head back toward him.

"Of course. Wade wasn't the main villain in that organization. In fact he was the nicest villain you would ever meet. Which is why we're still standing. If it was any other person that was standing in front of that shrine waiting for us we would be full of holes by now."

"Comforting to know," Cynder replied sarcastically. "So now what? We just looked for the other two fragments like normal?"

"We kind of have to," Spyro answered sternly. "I suppose we'll need to keep the other fragment to protect us from that thing should we cross paths with it."

Suddenly Orion awoke in a coughing fit. Everest was immediately by the fox's side, patting his back lightly to help him get it all out. Cosmo stood to his feet in worry. It took a moment, but Orion's fit subsided.

"You okay?" Everest silently asked, petting his back softly.

Orion nodded slightly. "I'll be fine. What happened?"

"You passed out."

The fox acted a bit surprised. "I . . . I couldn't have."

"You did," Cosmo said. "You passed out from shock."

Orion slowly stood to his feet. Showing Everest he was okay. "I remember now. The relic, the shadow, those people. They are all dead I'm sure of it. They should have ran. No one can stand a chance against the shadow. I felt it. The immense power, the tendrils of shadow grabbing me, I felt it all."

"What happened back at the shrine?" Cosmo began. "When we came out of the cavern, you weren't there. Where did you go?"

The fox sighed as he put a paw on her head. His ear flopped back as he retold his story. "I stayed behind to delay the void from reaching you, but I didn't know those fools were at the top waiting for us."

"Whoa," Isis went. "Slow down the void? Orion you're just a shape-shifting fox who can set things on fire. You could have been killed. That was reckless."

Orion shook his head as he lied down on the ground, both paws on his head and his ears still flopped back like before. "Not exactly Isis," he began, distress in his voice. "There's something I haven't been entirely honest about and I'm afraid after you know, you'll never see me as a friend again."

Cosmo looked toward him in disbelief. What was he saying?

"It can't be that bad," Spyro assured. "Whatever it is we'll see through it."

Orion almost laughed toward him. "Humor. Something I need I guess." Still laying on the ground, he laid his head down, almost as if to brace himself. "I told you I was a shape-shifting mythological creature know as a Chinese fox Cosmo. That isn't exactly the case. I lied about that."

"You lied?" Cosmo began in a hurt tone. "Why?"

"To protect myself. The gate you went through . . . it isn't a dimensional portal. Not exactly."

"What was it?"

Orion took a deep breath. "It was a portal through time."

"Time?"

Cosmo was a bit flustered. Wondered glances were exchanged through the cabin. What did Orion mean by that?

The fox seemed to chuckle a bit. "Yes. It didn't transport you through dimensions, but it transported you back in time."

"Wait back in time?" Isis began in confusion. "I don't understand."

Orion answered, "Think about it Isis. You're not on some other planet floating in some other plane of existence. You were on Earth, but in a different timeline. Think of the similarities. The trees, the sun, plants, everything."

Spyro however was deadpanned by what he was hearing. "So what you're saying is that dragons will go extinct. There's nothing we can do about it."

Orion could almost sense his anger. "I'm sorry, but that's how life is. Many species go extinct every day. That's how life is. I can assure you it won't happen for a very long time."

"How do you know all of this?" Archie began. "It seems a bit far fetched that this is just Earth."

"Someone like you should know," Orion began. "There's so much evidence on earth of previous cities. Some are hidden underwater, underground, even in volcanoes. While some of these aren't dragon cities, the evidence is still there."

"What about the planets in the sky?"

"Time is a cruel mistress," Orion answered. "A lot can happen in a million years."

"So this is just some prehistoric time?"

"Not exactly. There's obvious intelligent life but again, a million years is a long time. That's just an estimation on my part. Could have been a lot longer."

Cosmo however heard enough of that story. "Let's back it up Orion. When you said you lied to protect yourself . . . what did you mean by that exactly?"

Orion grew quiet along with everyone else. The wind howled outside as the fox slowly stood to his feet in anticipation for what he was about to say. What he was going to say however would change the way the ones here would look at him.

"I'm not what you think I am. The reason I knew about the shadow. I felt its power even from a distance. I am familiar with that power. For you see Cosmo . . . the void is a creature. A creature of three parts. What you saw back at the shrine was the voids inner rage. The void is a godlike being capable of complete destruction. The shadow you saw was proof of that. Another part of the void is its mind. Long ago when the spirit guardians sealed the void in the forest, its mind was absent of sanity. The guardians knew this, but didn't know any solutions. So they sealed it away. The last part . . . ."

"Orion," Cosmo began uneasily, not liking where he was going with this.

Orion took a deep breath, then answered. "The last part . . . is me."

Cosmo didn't know what to feel. He felt mixed emotions as he looked around the room. Everyone all seemed to have the same look of bewilderment on their faces. "What do you mean by that?"

"Back at the shrine I stopped to slow the void down because I'm it's last part. I am the void's voice of reasoning. Without me it won't stop until it has enough souls to reconstitute itself back into the world. But without its sanity and voice or reason it will remain mindless and continue to steal souls of all beings on this world. On this dragon realm of the planet."

"So it's the dragon realm now?" Archie said, seemingly a bit offended somehow by what he was told earlier.

"You can choose what you want to believe about that Archie," Orion explained. "Maybe the voice of reasoning is incorrect about it. As of now, this is the realm of dragons. We have other things to discuss. I'd assume someone has questions for me."

"You're the void?" Everest immediately asked, unable to contain herself any longer. She seemed a bit more surprised than angry like Archie was.

Orion nodded. "In a way yes. I chose the role of a Chinese fox to befriend Cosmo."

"Speaking of which," Cosmo began. "Those dreams that I had."

"Were my doings," Orion answered. "My powers are limited, but my voice of reasoning is exceptionally strong. I merely asked the gods of your time to send those dreams to you. Eventually you came to me."

Cosmo nodded in understanding. He asked something else that had been on his minds for a while. "Are the others here?"

Orion nodded. "They are. Where I am not sure. I believe someone mentioned Yin being in Warfang? Clover is somewhere in the realm along with Myrianda and Blaze. I can only hope you would re-unite soon however."

"We'll need to find Yin," Isis openly suggested. "I know we're trying to keep ourselves hidden Cosmo but we don't have many options to choose from."

"I know," Cosmo replied with a sigh. His head began to ache with all of the information he was being given at once. "What's the plan should we all re-unite? How can we stop the voids rage?"

"The relic fragments," Orion answered. "We find them all, put them back together, then use it to control the void. If we can combine the split parts, it should return to normal."

"But you're a part of the void Orion."

Orion's ear flopped back. "I know."

"What about the void's sanity," Spyro asked.

The fox shrugged. "I don't know. The void was split a long ago due to an incident I honestly can't remember. Like me, I'm sure it can take any shape it wills itself to be. We just have to keep an eye out for anything that looks out of the ordinary."

This was a lot to take in. Cosmo leaned back on the couch and sighed in exasperation toward this dilemma. "So does that explain all those times were disappeared from the cabin?"

"I was exploring yes, that part was true,"Orion assured. "But I was looking for the voids sanity. Since I'm a part of the void, I can sense its presence."

"Much like you sensed the void's rage."

"Exactly. I am the voice of reasoning."

While this wasn't exactly the way Cosmo thought the day would have went, at least no one got hurt in the end. Although the thoughts of Wade's death lingered in his mind. Cosmo looked toward Archie to see a blank stare in his eyes. The yellow dragon couldn't imagine what it would have been like to point a weapon at a friend and intentionally pull the trigger just to save him a more horrible death.

The man in question paced himself into the other room and closed the door behind him. Cosmo looked toward Archie's room in wonder if he was going to be alright. The dragon could tell that Everest looked a bit uneasy toward the situation, but she knew Archie better than anyone. Hopefully she would know how to cheer him up. With the way things were turning, everyone could use a bit of cheering up.

Sighing, Cosmo turned toward the window silently and looked out from his spot on the couch. It seemed the sun was beginning to set, but there was still some time in the day left. To do what, he didn't know. He didn't feel like much of doing anything for the moment. Maybe a nice dinner for once would get their minds into a pleasant state. That would be nice.