Terrador gazed out at the city that lay before him. Warfang had suffered much from the war against the Dark Master and now, just as the city had finished recovering, it was once again in jeopardy. Thanks to the moles and their ingenious skills in crafting and engineering, Warfang had nearly been rebuilt to its former glory in the short span of a year. And yet now, just as everyone had settled down, ready for the new era of peace, a new threat had shattered it.

"Master Terrador!" a voice called out, pulling the Earth Guardian away from his thoughts. He turned around to face its source, the guard that had been assigned to the door of the Guardians' council chambers.

"Spyro and Cynder have arrived," the fire dragon informed him.

Terrador sighed inwardly. How he regretted having to thrust this responsibility onto the two young dragons. Hadn't they done enough? Hadn't they earned their rest? Then again, who else could he and the other Guardians turn to?

"Bring them in," he said solemnly, receiving a quick nod of acknowledgment from the guard.

As Terrador walked toward the Pool of Visions at the centre of the chamber, he was joined by Cyril and Volteer. It was quite surprising. The two of them had been so quiet, it was almost as if they weren't there at all.

The three Guardians stood around the pool as Spyro and Cynder entered the chamber, Sparx accompanying them.

"Spyro. Cynder," Terrador greeted the two young dragons. "It is good to see the two of you again."

"Oh, yeah," Sparx muttered. "Always good to see those two. Why does no one ever like seeing me?"

Paying no heed to the dragonfly, Terrador fixed the young dragons with a serious look. "I am sure that you are wondering why we have summoned you here this morning and, unfortunately, it is because we have dire news to relay."

Spyro felt his heart sink into his stomach. He knew that whatever bad news it was, it was serious. Why else would the Guardians summon the purple dragon to inform him personally?

Cynder felt the same way, but also felt a hint of worry. Not about what the news could possibly be, but what it would mean for Spyro. He had never been happier since they had saved the world and brought peace to it. What if this news was going to shatter that peace? What would mean for Spyro? How would he react?

As for Sparx... Well, he wasn't really all that surprised that the news was going to be bad anyway. "Figures," he grumbled. "Just can't catch a break, can we? And just as I was getting used to a life without doom."

"As you already know," Cyril began, paying Sparx no heed, "ever since our victory against Malefor, Warfang has managed to re-establish contact with other dragon settlements across the land."

"However," Terrador continued, once again taking over, "over the past weeks, many of these settlements have suddenly begun to go silent. We sent scouts to investigate and, when they returned, they brought with them the news we relay now."

"What did they find?" Spyro asked.

Terrador paused, closing his eyes in thought as a solemn expression etched its way onto his face. The silence lasted less than a minute, but it seemed like a hour before he opened his eyes again. "An army the size of which none of them had ever seen. Larger than the armies the Dark Master sent to lay siege to our city. No doubt that this army is responsible for the destruction of the villages, and no doubt they are marching toward Warfang as we speak."

Spyro's eyes widened in horror at the information. An army far larger than that of Malefor's? It didn't seem possible! He was begging to himself now, begging that this was all just a bad dream and that any second now he would wake up in his bed with everything the way it should be.

"But what species is this army made up of?" Cynder asked, clearly concerned. It couldn't be apes, as Malefor had cursed them for their greed following his return. The grublins, ogres and orcs were also out of the picture; they had been created by Malefor himself and, with his defeat, they had all been destroyed.

"The army is made up of a race that hasn't been seen in millennia," Volteer answered. "A race that almost laid waste to the Dragon Realms. A race that was, before the Dark Master, the greatest threat to dragonkind. A race that will no doubt stop at nothing to see our kind wiped from the face of the earth. A race that..."

"Yes, yes, yes, Volteer!" Cyril interrupted. "I believe that they get the picture by now!"

"As Volteer was saying," Terrador cut in, "this race has not been a threat to the dragons for over a thousand years. They are called..." He paused again, breathing inward before letting the final word leave his mouth. "...humans."

Spyro was conflicted over hearing that name. For some reason, it filled him with a sense of dread, yet at the same time he did not know why. The word itself didn't really sound threatening, but at the same time, after hearing from Volteer what this species apparently was, these humans did sound like a terrifying force.

"That is why I have summoned the two of you here," Terrador continued, "The human army marches closer to Warfang with each passing minute. It is imperative that we prepare ourselves for imminent invasion. We have already alerted the settlements that the humans have yet to reach, and have little doubt that the villagers are evacuating to safer areas. Spyro, Cynder, we ask you for your aid. Will you stand and fight to protect our city when the time comes?"

The two young dragons stood in place, silent as they processed the information. Sparx just floated there idly, not sure what to make of the situation. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Spyro spoke up.

"I'll do it."

The Guardians seemed slightly taken aback by the purple dragon's answer. They hadn't expected such quick acceptance. Maybe some slight resistance, anger even, at this duty being brought upon him; it was expected for a dragon his age, and especially after all he had already done for them all.

"Are you sure, Spyro?" Terrador asked carefully. "I understand if you do not feel that..."

"I said I'd help," Spyro asserted, a hardened look in his eyes.

Cynder inched closer to him before giving her answer as well. "You can count on me, too."

She turned to face Sparx, the golden dragonfly apparently oblivious to her staring. When she finally caught his eye, he quickly jolted.

"O-oh! Y-yeah!" he stammered, chuckling nervously. "Why wouldn't I be in on this as well? I mean, where would you two be right now without me?"

Terrador sighed in relief. "Thank you, the three of you. We will alert you if anything occurs, but for now, your time at the academy is to continue as normal. Now, I think we've taken enough of your time already. The two of you can run along now, you have two days to yourself to enjoy."

Spyro and Cynder nodded in unison and turned towards the door leading outside the chambers. As they exited, Terrador turned to Cyril and Volteer. All three had the same expression on their faces, one of worry and guilt.

"My friends," Terrador addressed his fellow Guardians. "Have we done the right thing? Thrusting this responsibility onto those two young ones?"

"What choice do we have, Terrador?" Cyril sighed. "Not even we know what the humans are now capable of."

"Spyro and Cynder have more than proven themselves," Volteer added. "When the time comes, they may be our only chance of surviving."

Terrador did not respond. Instead, he turned and headed back towards the balcony to stare out at Warfang's cityscape. Even with his fellow Guardians' encouragement, it did not ease the guilt he felt at giving this responsibility to Spyro and Cynder. They were still young and had their lives ahead of them, and to put them in this sort of danger pained him. It was during these times that he wished Ignitus was still with them. He would have known what to do.

Only time would tell if he had made the right decision.

"Well, that was a nice little talk, wasn't it?" Sparx said immediately after the trio had exited the chamber. "Always good to see what those three have to say, huh?"

The dragonfly's words fell on deaf ears. Cynder watched Spyro with concern as the two dragons walked down the hallway, Sparx following behind. The hardened expression on Spyro's face worried her. It wasn't the sort of look that displayed determination, far from it. She could see it in his eyes, both anger and confusion.

"Spyro?" she called out. The purple dragon in question didn't turn to face her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Cynder," Spyro answered roughly. "Don't worry about it."

"You're going to have to do better than that," Cynder answered back, quickening her pace until she was ahead of Spyro, at which point she circled around to face him. "Tell me," she asserted, looking him dead in the eye, "what's wrong?"

Spyro gave a heavy sigh, lowering his head as he did so. "I thought we were behind all of this, Cynder. I thought that, after all that happened a year ago, it would be over for us. All I wanted to do was live. To live my life the way I wanted to with you. And now all this has happened! These 'humans' show up and now we have to stop them like we stopped Malefor! Why does it have to be us, Cynder? Why does it have to be us?"

"Spyro," Cynder said softly, taken aback by his outburst. "I know how you feel. Everything did seem fine. But you have to remember that the Guardians have faith in us because..."

"Because we both saved the world," Spyro finished. "And they have even more faith in me because I'm the purple dragon. I'm not angry at them, Cynder, but we worked so hard and did so much to bring this peace. Now, it's just been taken away and it feels like it was all for nothing."

"Spyro," Cynder replied comfortingly, "you know what we did wasn't for nothing. If we didn't do it, we wouldn't be standing here right now. I wanted this peace to last as well, but we have to do what needs to be done. Just like before. And when the time comes, we'll stand together, come what may."

Spyro was silent for a moment, but for Cynder it seemed like an eternity. Finally, he gave a small smile. "Thanks, Cynder. I needed that."

"Anytime." Cynder smiled back.

"Come on," Spyro continued. "Let's go and...and..."

The purple dragon suddenly began to stagger. His eyes glazed over and his head began to lower in what seemed like exhaustion. Finally, with a soft groan, Spyro collapsed to the ground in front of Cynder.

"Spyro!" she called out frantically, shaking him in the hopes of getting a response. She received none. "Spyro!" she cried again, continuing her shaking in the hopes of getting anything out of him.

Sparx, on the other hand, just sighed. "Oh boy," he muttered to himself. "Here we go again."

Okay, third chapter is up! Hope you like it. I would also life to announce that I now have a Beta-reader and editor for my story. Who is that you may ask? It's none other that the one and only... da dada da... Riverstyxx! Let me tell you, having her helping me out on this is just a privilege. She's a fantastic writer and one of my inspirations for starting this fic, so special thanks to her for her greatly appreciated contributions. In other news, the next chapter has no definite release, but when the action starts kicking in, I should be able to get more into it. So stay tuned for more!