(In the meantime…)

Edel and Ember along with a group of dragons flew towards the mountains, where clouds covered a good portion of the land, and an energy field covered that area, preventing access to any creature with evil intentions. The group was mostly made up of escort dragons, dragons with their kids or babies and others with their eggs and some old men who could not fight in the war.

Last time, LunaVillage was the safest place in the dragon realm, but in fear of being detected, should any new threat break out, a huge underground tunnel had been created through the nearby grounds leading closer to the village if you had to take a large group. That was where they were specifically headed.

Both dragons were not at all calm: on certain occasions, they felt the mana of someone launching attacks and other times disappearing. A few hours ago, Edel thought he sensed Thorr's mana near the dam; then, she felt another dark mana vanished near him, meaning another Dark One had fallen.

From another perspective, she had felt the mana of another enemy grow horribly in the direction of Dante's freezer. That last thought of his made her a little more uncomfortable because she knew that the young dragons would still be there in their training.

"Aurora... Drago..." she thought, "I hope they're okay"

Despite all the interruptions and occasional stops (sometimes the older ones got tired or other dragons got hungry) they managed to find the secret tunnel that would take them directly to LunaVillage. As the escorts led the march, Ember said to Edel:

"You shouldn't be afraid, I'm sure they're fine"

"Yes, that's right," she said, "Only that dark mana near Dante's freezer..."

Edel tried to feel for it again, but there was no trace of it. Rather, for a moment, she believed she felt two powerful mana of fire and ice.

"You're right, I think they'll be fine" she replied to Ember.

"Hey, I guess I've been thinking... You should go back to the city."

"But, the inhabitants…"

"They will be fine with me and with the escorts. When we arrive, no evil force will be able to cross the barrier. They need you in the city, it will not be an easy battle "

"OK that's fine. But take care of yourself, okay, friend?"

"You don't even have to ask..."

Edel knew that she would be fine, as she had been her best friend during the previous war. And even though they had moved from the place, that hadn't changed. But, once best friends' farewell was over, the guardian of the ice detected a change in the nearby atmosphere: a darkness was approaching.

"I feel someone approaching," she said to her friend, "That mana… it's a Dark One. Hurry in and seal the door. I'll take care of him."

Ember, taking into account that Edel was now a guardian, she had no doubt that she would. Warning the others to hurry up, she turned around and said goodbye to her best friend:

"I know you will win. See you soon"

"Good luck. Take care of them, okay?" she answered her. Then, spreading her wings, she took flight towards one of the mountains, from where she perceived that darkness.

A few minutes passed in which no feeling or dark energy was detected. For a moment, the dragon thought that she had imagined it until she felt it again, and even closer to her.

"I know you are here!" she yelled, "There's no point in hiding, that darkness gives you away"

A rather malicious laugh was heard. Then, behind her, a Dark One appeared. Edel, noticing that, went on her guard.

"It is not normal for a woman to speak like that to a man…" said the Dark One, "My current name is Balaam. Perhaps you can serve me: I seek a powerful guardian, the guardian of ice, specifically"

"Well, you already found it" the dragon demanded, "My name is Edelwise and I am the guardian of ice"

The Dark One began to laugh without any qualms, it seemed that what Edel had told him was funny. For a moment, Edel noticed that in the center of his chest was a mark in the shape of an hourglass. When the laughter ended, the dragon was still looking at him with a serious tone while the grace had disappeared in Balaam and changed to a serious tone.

"Is seriously?!" he yelled, "Are you kidding me? How the hell is a woman going to be something so similar to a guardian dragon? That doesn't make sense!"

"And what do you think?" she replied, "I justly earned the right to be a guardian and there's nothing wrong with that."

"I'm sorry, chipmunk. But in my world, I don't consider human women of any supposed honor, what's more, I don't even care. Stealing your mana will be easier than I thought."

"You're something called… 'macho', aren't you?"

"Maybe...I don't know...why?"

"My partner told me about you: Humans who consider the opposite sex inferior. However, they are only guided by appearances. And I'll show you that."

"That boyfriend of yours must be a softie. Not even a girl can with me…"

Saying so, he disappeared in the blink of an eye. Edel went on high alert not knowing where he would attack. Suddenly, he appeared in front of her. The dragon, seeing this, tried to give him a claw, but something happened: either he moved very fast or she moved very slowly.

"Your time is running out..." the Dark One muttered behind him, "I always believed that women were very slow and this proves it"

By the time she turned around, Balaam grabbed her by the neck and began to drain the mana from her. It was then that Edel saw the hourglass symbol on his chest again to understand his ability: mastery of time.

"Don't consider me finished yet..." Edel muttered using his strength.

The atmosphere turned cold and snowflakes floated around, forming a kind of white ring around both of them. Balaam, noticing this, released Edel and tried to move out of the ring, but to no avail.

"It's the ring of ice," the guardian explained, "It limits movement. I will not let you escape"

But instead, Balaam began to laugh.

"Do you really think this ring is going to stop me?" she sneered, "Women think they're smart too… Temporary detention!"

Giving a simple spin, the ring of ice was frozen in time. However, Edel was not willing to give up:

"Ice Fury!"

A great explosion of ice froze every stone in its path and the air turned extremely chilly. Ice spikes formed on the ground, holding back anything in their path. However, Balaam had disappeared.

"I'm moving against time" Balaam told her, appearing in front of her, "I dodged that attack as soon as I started to feel the change in weather... you're nothing..."

Edel got upset and started exhaling ice bombs that Balaam easily dodged. The power of time facilitated his movement, slowing down everything around him: everything he saw was in slow motion. Fed up with toying with the guardian, he proceeded to counterattack.

"Temporary Blade!"

He, again, slowed down time in Edel. Then, he transformed his tail into a black colored blade and dealt the first blow. Less than two seconds passed before he repeated the attack and landed five more blows. And in less than three, he had attacked the dragon with twenty slashes.

Edel felt the pain as soon as time returned to her surroundings, but before she fell, she got up again.

"Surrender and let me take your manna," Balaam sneered, "I don't know why women think they can do so much, but they are always a burden…"

"I already told you that you shouldn't underestimate us…" Edel replied, "We'll see who really loses. Of course, if you can still move…"

"Ha, words... but if you want me to repeat that attack again, I won't refuse..."

But he couldn't even move: his front leg was frozen. And not only that: her wings were also frozen and various parts of his body as well.

"But how…?" he wondered himself.

"That happened to you for underestimating me," Edel sneered this time, "Compared to Spyro, your time control is slower and has a shorter duration. Also, my ice further freezes and slows your movements. You didn't realize it, but now you fight in my environment"

It was true: Edel had turned the place into a vast field of ice and snow with each failed attack, the perfect place to slip and slow down anyone unaccustomed to ice.

"You will pay me..." he tried to attack, but Edel was faster:

"Freezing Storm!"

A huge gust of wind and ice formed into a huge hurricane and caught the dragon helplessly. After that, he was frozen in a block of ice.

"That's the problem with guys like you" Edel told him, "Believing themselves superior and violating and insulting women to feel better. However, you must not underestimate us because one day you may regret that…"

Saying so, she gave the cube a push and made it fall off the cliff, where it smashed to pieces along with the Dark One who was trapped. However, the damage was done and Edel nearly collapsed in pain. Just then, she felt another presence... it was also darkness, but she knew it perfectly...

"Edel!" said a voice from afar.

"Cynder!" she answered, recognizing her friend.

"Oh my God!" she said as soon as she arrived and looked at her, "Are you alright? I felt a dark presence when I arrived, I was afraid I was late"

"Yes, a Dark One... but now it's just pieces of ice, what are you doing here?"

"I got separated from Spyro after helping out at the Great Dam," she explained, "I sensed the presence of darkness here and decided to come help Ember and you. You're somewhat injured… we'd better take you to LunaVillage for now and then head back to Warfang."

"How are the rest?"

"I don't know..." she told her helping her to get up and fly towards the secret tunnel, "But the dark presences are disappearing..."

"And our children…?"

"No news so far, but if they've made it past the Reflection Cave, they should be on their way to Avalar..."