Hi, new chapter here, this time a bit longer than usual. As always I hope you will enjoy it. Let me know via PM or in the reviews.

-Azotac

The rescue party travelled all day long, until the sun began its slow descent behind the western horizon. At dusk they decided to find a good spot to set up a camp for the night. The mountain range had got significantly closer after the first day of their journey, but still needed few hours of flight to be reached. The group slowly began its descent towards the woods that lined the border with the Burned Lands. They glided silently over the vegetation, their eyes focused on the terrain below, eager to find a clearing or a repaired spot to rest for the night.

"Master Terrador!"Called a wind soldier after some time. All heads jerked towards his direction, as he pointed his gaze towards a clearing in the distance. The earth guardian nodded and dived quickly towards the spot, with the others following him suit. Upon getting closer to the point indicated, the group noticed the presence of strange stone structures jagging out of the earth. The squad circled over the place for few minutes inspecting closely the clearing, trying to notice if there was any sign of enemy presence, which the luckily didn't detect. Eventually they landed slowly on the soft grass one by one. Cynder landed with her friends and Sparx, while Hunter flung himself down from Cyril's back as soon as the guardian touched the ground. She giggled to herself at the scene, before beginning to study the environment that surrounded her. The clearing was completely enveloped by a thick and lush vegetation that seemed to be almost impenetrable. She turned her gaze to the centre of the clearing. The last golden rays of the sundown illuminated dimly the whole place, infringing on the stone pillars and so casting long shadows that stretched towards the dark woods. Cynder moved closer to the structures, parting momentarily from her group of friends. She arrived at the base of the first one, which elevated in height for few meters. She inspected it closely, before posing her paw on the moss that covered the first meter of the column. She scraped away some of the first layer, revealing the clear marble underneath.

"Something's wrong young dragoness?"Asked suddenly a voice. Cynder jolted out of her trance and turned to face who called her, founding Cyril watching her apprehensively. She returned her gaze to the stone in front of her and finally sighed.

"I don't know…This things… They seem familiar. It's like I've seen them somewhere else."She said, turning to inspect the other columns.

"You're not the only one…"Answered Cyril, moving closer to where she was. He posed his paw over the marble of another structure. The black dragoness watched him curiously, as the guardian closed his eyes and exhaled heavily. Soon after a feeble bluish light was emitted from the column in front of them. She watched astound the elder as few draconic runes began to flash briefly on the stone beneath his foot. Eventually Cyril removed the paw and the light instantly dissipated, his face tinging with a sad frown. Cynder watched him with a mixture astonishment and curiosity and before she could ask anything, the Guardian turned to face her.

"I'm afraid that these ruins come from the old temple."Stated Cyril. The dragoness pondered in disbelief the words she just heard. She knew that the Temple of the swamp got destroyed during the final battle with Malefor, but she never expected to find ruins so far from the great volcano where it hovered on. Her mind was flooded with memories of those days of pure strife and agony, as well at that night of three years before when she decided to leave the relative safety of the Temple to find her own way into that broken world. She had never thought that decision was what led her to where she was now. In search to the dragon she loved with all herself. She felt her sorrow growing bigger with every moment that passed, when a strong paw posed on her shoulder.

"C'mon young dragoness, this is not the moment to dwell in the past. Let's help the others."Said Cyril, with a firm yet gentle and calm tone. Cynder recollected herself before nodding and falling in steps with the ice guardian. The duo reached the rest of the squad that, in the meanwhile, had already begun to set up the camp for the night. A couple of soldiers had departed with Hunter to hunt down something to eat for dinner and another one was rummaging around the trees in search of some good firewood, while her friends were piling together some big leaves near the stone columns in order to make some rudimental but soft beds for all the team. Cynder watched the ice guardian moving towards Terrador and the earth captain, which were carefully studying a scroll fixed on the terrain with some rocks.

"Cynder?"Called suddenly a voice. The black dragoness turned around only to find Auros watching her with a quizzical look. She gazed back at him, studying her white friend. Even after the month they spent together, she couldn't still figure out completely that dragon. He always seemed to be so calm, so gentle. She never saw him angry, in any type of situation. Most of all, he never shown any kind of animosity towards her, after all she had personally done to him. At the contrary, he wanted to be her friend from the first moment they met. She never thought that she could find someone that could forgive for her past actions so quickly, her beloved Spyro aside.

"It's all ok? You seem a bit…disoriented…"He continued, moving closer to her. She flashed out from her trance, watching again the white dragon, which now bore a kind smile on his muzzle.

"Yeah, I'm just… A bit tired. That's all."She answered.

"Well, can I ask you if you can give us a paw in setting up the last things? Sparx said you're doing nothing and he's doing all the work."Said the youngster, with a playful smile.

"Oh, we'll see how much he will do without his wings attached to his body."Answered the dragoness with a mischievous grin on her muzzle, before moving towards the others. Auros giggled to himself and followed her suit. When night came down, the camp was ready and the fire was lit in the middle of the stone pillars. The hunting team managed to hunt down a big boar, which proved to be enough to feed all the presents. A couple of soldiers offered to do the night watch while the others rested near the fire. The youngsters were laid one near each other, comforted by the soft warmth of the fire. Gaia was sleeping soundly, with Nix on her side. Cynder was curled on herself, with Sparx posed on her left wing. The only one who was having some difficulties to sleep was Auros, which laid on his back with his snout pointed towards the sky above him. His white body was dimly illuminated by the moons that were nothing more but two distant sickles in that obscure dome that covered his gaze. He always loved losing himself in the stars, because even in the darkest moments of his life, he always found a sort of comfort in those distant lights. He knew that his parents and his brother were somewhere in that sky, watching over him and illuminating his path through the life. A silent tear descended trough his cheek, as he briefly closed his eyes trying to wipe away the sorrow. He was so focused on the stars and on his thoughts that he didn't notice that Nix had awoken. She observed that Auros was awake too and she raised her head. She wanted to talk to him, but she wasn't really sure if he wanted to. In the end the dragoness collected her courage and called his name.

"Auros?"She whispered. The white dragon turned his gaze at her, meeting her beautiful silver eyes. Upon noticing the glistening reflections of the tears on his cheeks, she smiled fondly at him.

"It's all ok?"She asked gently.

"Yeah… Just a bit of sadness in addition to the constant worry for Spyro. Nothing too serious…"He answered, trying to force a weak smile.

The dragoness hesitated for a moment. She looked around to make sure that nobody would notice her movements. Finally she began crawling towards him and rested her head on his chest, leaning her body to his right side.

"Better like this?"She asked. Auros flushed red for the mild embarrassment, but in the end he enveloped the dragoness with his white wing, holding her smaller but strong body near to him. Nix snuggled carefully under his wing, trying to find a comfortable position. She leaned her forearm across his chest an to his left flank, when she felt a sort of depression in his scales, where the grublin had injured him the day before. She cringed a bit at he remembering of that moment, but she quickly shoved it away. The dragoness raised her head to his neck, to talk to him.

"I…Realised that I didn't thank you for saving me yesterday. So thank you."She whispered with a guilty tone.

"I would have done it one thousand times for you."He answered smiling. The dragoness at the hearing of those words smiled fondly at him, before licking swiftly his cheek and finally leaning her head back onto his chest.

"By the way…"She whispered again after few minutes.

"I'm sure we're going to find him."She reassured him. He posed his right forepaw on her neck, caressing it gently, before answering her.

"I sure hope so…"

Soon after both dragons fell asleep, comforted by the warmth of each other embrace, under the beautiful starry sky.

"…."

"…ros…"

"..Auros…"

"Auros! Wake up!"Screamed a voice. The white dragon opened abruptly his eyes and jolted up on his paws, only to find a terrified azure dragoness in front of him. He was about to ask what was happening when a booming voice broke the apparent silence.
"Young ones, gather here immediately!"Ordered Terrador. Without discussion the youngsters reached the centre of the camp where all the others were grouped, forming a circle. Both Nix and Auros joined the formation and adopted a defensive position. The white dragon was clearly confused since he didn't understand the motive of such a sudden rush. Terrador noticed the disorientation in his eyes.

"A guard spotted an enemy in the wood, there could be many others around us in this exact moment."Said grimly the earth guardian. The white dragon nodded in acknowledgment, before preparing himself mentally to another battle. There was an eerie silence for few minutes, as the dragons stood fixed on their position, trying to grasp any kind of movement in the vegetation before them. All of sudden, a rustle came from the bushes in front of Auros, all the others turned to watch, as a pair of green, malevolent eyes began to appear in the darkness.

"Dareon, Auros. I need you to light up a bit this place."Ordered Terrador. Immediately the fire soldier use his fire breath to set on fire a portion of grass few meters in front of him, Auros did the same soon after. As soon as the fire began to burn, an eerie hiss came from the forest and other pairs of spectral eyes began to appear. A chill ran down Cynder's spine as she instantly recognised those hisses and those cursed eyes. She turned her gaze to the Guardians, which bore her same worried frown.

"What in the name of the Ancient Spirits are those things?"Asked Gaia to Cynder, whispering.

"Shadows."She answered snarling."They once where the apes that fought for Malefor, before being cursed for the eternity."She continued.

Auros remained dumbstruck at the hearing of those words. He couldn't ever imagine that the same monsters that attacked his village so many years before, were still walking on this earth, even in that corrupted and obscure form. Images of that night filled again his mind, before a delicate paw posed on his shoulder. He turned to see Nix watching him with a firm determination in her face. In an instant, he felt all his preoccupations fade away, as he gazed her beautiful silver eyes. The fear suddenly was replaced with a strong will of protecting his friends from those horrible creatures, which meanwhile had kept emerging from the shadows of the night.

"Sheesh, why do these things always come back to kill us?"Said Sparx.

"Stay close, don't let them split us!"Boomed Terrador. The group of dragons compacted itself around the now spent fire pit, ready to engage the enemies. A series of growls began to elevate from the squadron while the shadows kept getting closer and closer.

Cynder had her eyes fixed on the creatures before her, all her muscles were tensed, ready to attack and kill. Eventually a shadow raised its bony limb, ready to strike the black dragoness, but she reacted in an instant, spitting a globule of green venom that melted away the enemy in front of her. A low, agonised hiss was emitted by the shadow, while the substance corroded its form. The other dragons caught the bait and began to unleash a series of elemental attacks towards the enemies before them. Auros let loose a torrent of fire that lightened up all the fighting zone, making some shadows run away with the fire eating their bones. The fight kept on going for several minutes, but the more enemies they killed, the more came out from the forest, in what seemed to be a never-ending wave. The group of dragons managed at least to hold the formation, without letting any shadow get too much near them. After more and more minutes and countless enemy killed, the dragons were beginning to tire, as their magical energy also began to get low.

"Everyone, brace yourselves!"Shouted suddenly Terrador, before smashing his forepaws to the ground. A massive shockwave formed in the instant of the contact with the soil, as pillars of stone began to erupt from the terrain and create a sort of circular barrier around the dragons. The squadron remained dumbstruck for few seconds, before the booming voice of the earth guardian returned to echo in the battle.

"C'mon grab your things, we must flee!"Ordered Terrador. Immediately all those presents gathered their respective belongings and took flight soon after, protected by the barrier. All the squad hovered distantly from the ground while the shadows climbed the stone wall.

"Terrador, we're all accounted for. Let's go!"Shouted Cyril, turning north-eastward in direction of the mountains. The group followed him suit, leaving behind the now distant noise of those monstrosities. Hunter was mounted on the back of the earth captain, while Sparx was flying silently at Cynder's side.

The two Guardians were flying near each other, when after several minutes of silence Terrador turned to face Cyril, who bore a deep frown on his features, just like him.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"Asked suddenly the earth guardian.

"How in the name of the Ancestors are those…Things still alive?"Answered Cyril, with a gloomy voice. There was again silence between the two elders, as they both tried to find a proper answer to that daunting question.

"That shouldn't be possible, those creatures were extremely bound to Malefor's power. Now that he's gone, they should have disappeared too."Replied the earth guardian.

"Unless…"Whispered Cyril, bowing sadly his head. Terrador watched him with great concern, before turning his gaze onward once again. In his mind he tried to find any kind of explanation to the presence of those monsters. Maybe they survived by absorbing the residual magic left in the Temple ruins, or maybe the soil was still so impregnated with Malefor's power that they managed to endure for the last month or so. Whatever was the explanation, this fact still raised a great problem for the safety of the dragons.

The group flew for almost an hour, before glimpsing in the darkness a stony promontory which silhouetted on the nigh sky, dimly illuminated by the moons. The tired squad inspected the zone carefully and finally landed on the rocky surface and quickly settled up to rest for the few hours that remained before dawn. Cynder curled up on herself, near her friends which were already sleeping soundly. Gaia was, as usual, laid on her side, with her paws hanging in the air, while Auros and Nix were sleeping together, with him covering her with his wings. She smiled fondly at them, but with the happiness that she felt for those two she couldn't help but remember how she missed her Spyro. How she missed seeing his smile every morning and his warmth during the nights spent together. She grasped once again the neckband he gifted her, as tears suddenly began to flow from her eyes. Sparx, which was on her wing, suddenly woke up from the sobbing of the black dragoness. He rose in the air, with a slightly irritated face, but when he saw in which state was the youngster before him, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for her. He gently got closer to her, posing his little hand on her muzzle.

"I miss him…"She finally sighed, after calming down a bit.

"I miss him too. But hear this, I'm sure we're gonna find him. No matter what goes against us."He said, with a calm but determinate tone. She didn't raise her head, but he could feel that she had definitely calmed down.

"Thanks Sparx. I never thought I could say that…"She answered almost giggling.

"Hey, her's a first time for everything, right?"He replied.

"Anyway we should get to rest, I sense that tomorrow's gonna be a loooong day."He added.

"Yeah, good night."She finally said, resting her head on her forearms.

"You too." And they both drifted into sleep.

Morning came as soon as they closed their eyes. A cold wind, mitigated only by the warm sun rays, was rushing trough the air, making rustle the leaves of the trees and creating a strong but calming noise. Cynder yawned briefly before standing up on her paws and beginning to stretch her tensed muscles. Around her the other team members were already dismantling the camp in order to not leave any other traces of their presence. She saw Terrador and Cyril studying the same scroll as the night before, near them there was Baldur giving order to his soldiers. She turned northward, trying to glimpse the mountains, which were covered with a thick layer of clouds. She stood in that position for several minutes, until Terrador's booming voice broke the lingering silence.

"Team, gather your things and get your armours on. We're departing soon."He said. All those present nodded in agreement and began to speed up the their tasks. Cynder moved to where she was resting before and opened up the leather bag containing her armour. She began to pull out the various pieces and to strap them on. After finishing to dress up, she flexed her forearm a bit, trying to test the mobility of the set. The iron was extraordinarily light, which was a feature that was fundamental to the black dragoness, as her combat style was primarily based on agility and dexterity. She eventually closed the bag and strapped it on her flank. She then moved near her friends to help them securing their own armours and after they were all set, they directed together towards the Guardians. The elders scrutinised the youngsters carefully, before addressing the whole team.

"Very well, it seems that we're all ready."Began Terrador.

"We'll need to travel a bit faster in order to reach the mountains in a reasonable time. Last night attack had driven us a bit away from our route."Continued the guardian.

"Anyway"Said Cyril."In the best case scenario we will approach the slopes of the range for the mid afternoon. Once there we will decide what to do." He concluded. The whole team nodded, before taking the sky all together.

During their flight, Cynder noticed a gradual change of the environment beneath her paws. The lush and green vegetation that before adorned the beautiful landscape, now had left place to a rocky and spoil tundra, infested with dead trees and ash. On her left, she could see the burnt border left by the Belt of Fire the month before and beyond that her eyes glimpsed the Burned Lands. The only sight of that place made her guts clench in disgust and fear. In addition an eerie sensation was beginning to manifest in Cynder. Like if something malevolent and evil was observing her. She then gazed at her companions, which also seemed to have the same feeling as her.

Something was not right with that place.

After another hour of flight the mountains finally came into full view. The group spotted a small stony plateau in the distance, which seemed to be clear of any threat. In half an hour they arrived at the place, just a hundred meters or so before the slopes of the mountains .They all land near each other, before the Guardians addressed the team.

"It seems that we have reached our final destination. From there our maps stop." Said Terrador, pointing his gaze towards the mountains.

"The scouts reported that there should be an entrance right under that promontory. Remember the main goal of the mission: retrieve Spyro and leave this place as fast as we could. We don't want to put any of you in more danger than necessary."Concluded the Guardian. Sparx was about to intervene, but Cynder promptly slapped him with one wing.

"Ouch! What was that for?"He asked indignant.

"Nothing, just to keep you on tight."She replied.

"Aehm…If you're all ready, we can proceed."Said Terrador. The whole team nodded than took flight once again directing towards the mountain. They scanned the slopes for several minutes, looking for the entrance mentioned by the scouts. Finally Captain Baldur called for the attention of the Guardians and directed towards what he found. The entrance for the cave seemed to be partially crumbled so it was barely large enough to permit to the young dragons to pass.

"Damn!"Exclaimed Terrador.

"The scouts didn't mention this."He then said, regaining his composure.

"Well, we could go together with Hunter and bring back Spyro."Said Cynder watching her friends, which all promptly nodded.

"Absolutely no! We won't let you go alone in complete enemy territory and-"Tried to argue Cyril, but the black dragoness interrupted him.

"If I remember well, you let Spyro face me, the Terror of the Sky, when he was just twelve. I think that was just a bit more dangerous than what we're going to do here."She replied, with a tinge of sassiness in her tone. The two guardians remained dumbstruck by her answer, but deep down they knew that she was right. It would have taken them who knows how many hours in order to find another entrance, if it existed at all and unfortunately time was against them. Finally Terrador sighed in defeat.

"Very well. You may go by yourselves, but, please, be extremely careful young ones. We can't afford to lose you too."He said.

"Don't worry, we won't fail."Said confidently Cynder.

"We will wait for you here at the entrance. May the Ancestors look after you."Said solemnly the earth guardian bowing his head. The young dragons nodded before entering one by one in the slender opening in the rock, with Hunter following them suit.

"May they look after us all…"

The small group began to travel along the narrow dark passage, only dimly illuminated by Sparx's golden light. Hunter pulled out a unlit torch from a bag on his back and asked to Auros to fire it up. The white dragon puffed a small flame that set on fire the cloth on the top part with exploded in a bright orange flame that greatly illuminated the passage. The stone seemed to be of volcanic origin, since it barely reflected the light. After few minutes of walk, the tunnel began to get wider and taller, permitting to Hunter to stand without the need to crouch. The group kept on going for quite sometime until it reached a fork.

"Oh great, which way now?"Said Sparx irritated.

"Calm my friend, let me see…"Said Hunter moving forward to the grumpy dragonfly. The cheetah observed carefully the two roads, inspecting the rock at the two sides and on the floor. He then leaned the torch to the left one and the flame remained still. He then leaned the fire on the right side and the flame began to move, like if carried by the air. Hunter nodded and then turned to face the youngsters behind him.

"Well, the left one seemed to be more used, since it has several signs and marks on the rock and on the floor, but it is a dead end. The right one has an exit point, since there's air circulation, but it far less used than the left one."He finally stated. The three youngster watched amazed the cheetah.

"And you understood all of this just by looking at the walls? Whoa…"Complimented Gaia.

"Anyway, which way do you think it's the best?"Asked Cynder.

"Hmm… If I had to hold someone captive I would take him somewhere he couldn't escape easily. So the left one, in my opinion, has the best possibilities."Answered Hunter.

"Very well, let's go then."Said the black dragoness, pushing on Sparx to the chosen path. The team walked again for some time until Cynder halted abruptly.

"Why did we stop-"Gaia was interrupted by Cynder, which flung her paw on his mouth.

"Hush."She hissed. They all went suddenly quite, with Hunter turning off the torch. In the distance a indistinct muttering could be heard echoing. Cynder gestured the cheetah, which nodded and followed her promptly, extracting his bow. They approached silently at the source of the noise, only to find two grublin guards coming in their direction. They crouched behind a stone and Cynder dived in the shadows. Once behind their targets she jumped out and pierced with her tail blade the first grublin's back, the other had no time to react that Hunter hit it in the eye with one of his arrows. The two bodies fell limply to the ground emitting a low bump and releasing some spirits gems which Cynder used to replenish a bit of her magical energy.

"You can come."She said to the rest of the group, which emerged from the shadows of the tunnel.

"We must be more careful, there could be more of these ones further on."Whispered Hunter.

"I'm actually impressed that we didn't find any other of them until now. It's kinda weird…"Pointed out Auros.

"Yeah… I have this feeling too."Said Nix.

"Guys, we've got no time to waste. We need to move as fast as possible and rescue Spyro."Hissed Cynder, turning to continue in the exploration. The others shrugged and followed her.

The group kept on walking for what it seemed to be hours for them, since the tunnels all seemed pretty much the same. They rarely found any enemy presence and if they crossed with some grublin guards, they just killed them with ease. Cynder was particularly off putted by that situation. She expected hoards of enemies waiting for them, but instead they seem to be almost alone in those dark caves in addition there was this constant bad feeling that she couldn't shake off her.

They proceeded for another period of time until Sparx broke the silence.

"Ehm… I think we have already been here."Said the dragonfly.

"What do you mean? That's not possible."Replied Cynder, dumbstruck.

"Watch for yourself."He said getting closer to the ground and pointing his finger. The dragoness got closer with her muzzle to the grit that partially covered the terrain. A series of paw prints were clearly visible, as well as some sign of tails dragged to the ground.

"Damn!"Cursed Cynder, slamming angrily her paw to the floor. In her, in addition to all the worry for Spyro, a sense of anger was beginning to rise more and more, knowing that they wasted who knows how much time just walking in circle in those damned caves. She could feel her purple dragon so close, but yet so distant as she couldn't figure out where he was. A swirl of emotions were storming in her: fear, anger, concern and sadness. All of these feelings were coursing trough her body, as she stumbled to maintain her composure in front if her teammates.

All of a sudden she felt a paw posing on her shoulder, as she turned around to face who touched her. She found Auros standing behind her, with great concern etched on his face.

"Cynder, it's all ok?"He asked, clearly worried.

At those words, something in her snapped. With a snarl she jumped over him, catching the youngster completely off guard and locking her paws around his throat, trying to choke him.

"NO! It's not all ok, you useless lizard!" Roared Cynder.

"Spyro may be wounded or worse, we're lost in these damned cave and YOU ask ME if it's all ok?" She continued, squeezing as hard as she could the throat of the now agonising white dragon and raising her tail blade over him. She was about to speak again when Nix rammed her, making her release the youngster and knocking the wind out of her. Auros gasped, trying to catch as much air as he could. The black dragoness tumbled into the grit with her armour deadening the fall. She quickly managed to stand up, but as soon as she gazed once again her friends, all of her anger was completely wiped out by an unbearable sense of shame. In their eyes, even in Hunter's ones, there was fear. Fear of her.

"What have I done…"She thought in remorse, recoiling. In a beat of an heart, she tapped in her powers, diving in the shadows and disappearing from their gaze in a swirl of black energy.

"Guys we need to follow her, we can't let her get lost in here!"Stated the white dragon, coughing. It took a moment to the others to react but they eventually nodded and began to run in the direction in where she vanished.

The dragoness reemerged soon after in the darkness of the tunnel and curled on herself, silently weeping.

"What is wrong with me? He was just worried for me and for that I tried to choke him in return?"She thought angrily. She stood in that position for several minutes drowning in her misery, until she heard the noise of various steps coming in her direction an with that, familiar voices, calling for her. She didn't dare to stand up and face them, as at that moment all she wanted was just to be invisible at their eyes. She then felt again a paw gently posing on her forearm armour plate. Cynder finally collected her courage and raised her head. Her eyes met the white dragon's ones, which bore concern and sympathy, instead of anger as she expected. She also cringed upon noticing the bruises that she left on his neck just few minutes before. He offered her his paw, to help her stand up. She didn't dare to watch again in the eyes.

"I'm sorry…I…I din't meant to hurt you…It's just-"She interrupted when he posed again his paw on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you didn't meant to."He said, his voice a bit raspy.

"And I didn't meant to bother you before. But, the next time, talk with us. We're all your friends and we are here to help you if you need."He said smiling. She recollected herself before nodding to the white dragon.

"Thank you…"She said.

"Good. Now let's go find Spyro."Said Auros finally. The whole team nodded and begun to walk again along those dark tunnels in search of the young purple dragon.

They proceeded for quite some time until Sparx noticed something odd in the distance.

"Guys, it's just me or there's light coming from there?"He said quizzically. Hunter squinted his azure eyes, before answering back to the dragonfly.

"You're not wrong my friend, but it doesn't seem sunlight."Stated the cheetah. The others watched him quizzically, before proceeding into the tunnel towards that distant light. They arrived at the end of the passage, Cynder stood at the front with Sparx and Hunter and as soon they saw what was before their eyes, their mouths fell open.

In front of them there was an huge underground cave, which spanned tens and tens of meters both in height and width. At the bottom of the cave they could see what seemed to be a small underground lava lake, which was in the middle of a series of grublin nests embedded in the stony walls of the cave. Also a great number of grublins could be seen moving around the molten rock, going in and out from the holes in the walls. The black dragoness noticed that they were on a some sort of balcony which interposed between two rudimental staircases made of compacted earth and rocks. The steps seemed to lead to another series of tunnels in the upper part of the cave.

"Guys what's that?"Asked suddenly Nix, pointing her left wing to the ceiling, fear clearly audible in her words. As soon as Cynder posed her eyes on the roof, a surge of terror ran down her spine, making her lightly shiver.

It was a dark crystal, the biggest that she had ever seen in her life. That abomination spread its creepy light all over the cave contrasting the orange one emitted by the lava, as swirls of obscure energy flowed in and out of its shape. She was about to answer when Hunter grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged back with the others in the darkness of the tunnel. Soon after a small grublin passed in front of the opening. It halted momentarily, gazing around and sniffing the air. It scratched itself with the handle of the weird dagger it was holding, before finally proceeding along the staircase. When they were sure it had moved away, the team left again the tunnel.

"Phew that was a close one."Objected Sparx, watching Cynder. She snorted at the dragonfly and got closer to Hunter, who was inspecting the ground where the grublin had just passed on. He picked up something with his talons and turned to face the dragoness at his side, in his eyes a mixture of disbelief and preoccupation. He handled what he found to Cynder, when she focused on the fragment he was holding, she felt her heart crumble. It was a purple scale, encrusted in a dark maroon substance that seemed to be dried blood. She felt all of her worry suddenly explode in her, but before she could do anything, the cheetah grasped her firmly with his strong paws.

"We must follow that one, I think we are really close to him."Said Hunter. The black dragoness recollected herself, as her friend's word reignited hope in her. She nodded, than all the team silently began to climb he staircase, following the creature that, meanwhile, had almost reached the upper tunnels. They made a great effort in order to follow that grublin along the tunnels and at the same time avoiding of being spotted by this one, but in the end they managed to stay always on its track and eventually they reached the small cave where the grublin had stopped. They entered the place, with Hunter silently drawing out his bow. The cave was dimly lit by a dark crystal fixed on the ceiling. Cynder was about to destroy it when her attention was drawn by a too familiar purple figure hanged on the opposite wall. Her eyes went wide as saucers as she suddenly gasped.

"Spyro!"

Thank you for reading, I hope to see you next time!