Spyro was jolted awake by the sound of a loud bell tolling. It sounded distant, yet close at the same time, echoing throughout the entirety of Warfang and beyond. It rang in a dissonant tritone melody, greatly unsettling him. After four tolls, the bell went silent.

Spyro clutched his head with a shaky paw, letting out a pained growl as his head throbbed. The noise was loud and sudden, forcing him out of his slumber, and it didn't help that he was experiencing the effects of a hangover too. He groaned, sitting himself up, but the sudden movement made his stomach heave. He looked around frantically, noticing the bucket beside him and rushing to bend over it, gagging three times.

The heaving of his stomach stopped after that, and he thought he was finished. Spyro lifted his head up, about to roll back onto the couch into a more comfortable position, before his stomach rebelled one last time and Spyro was brought back to leaning over the bucket. He retched two more times, his stomach gurgling, before finally he vomited, the foul liquid burning his throat.

Spyro took a few shaky breaths once the vomit had finished rushing up his throat, gritting his teeth together, before he gave another heavy retch, more vomit following.

"I'm never getting drunk again," he muttered to himself as he tried to recover, continuing to take deep breaths.

Cursing himself, he hovered over the bucket for a couple more minutes, not trusting his stomach to settle. As he hung over the bucket, his senses started to return to him, and the putrid smell coming from the bucket made him want to puke a third time, but he controlled it.

Eventually, his body settled, and so he leaned back into the couch, taking a few slow breaths. Spyro looked around, taking in the familiar environment of Cynder's home as the events of earlier that evening swarmed back in his head. It had been a good start to the evening, but as soon as Cynder pulled out the wine, everything had gone downhill.

Spyro groaned in frustration, bringing a paw to his head. "I'm such an idiot," he whispered with a shake of his head. "Why did I agree to play that stupid drinking game?"

A soft thump from upstairs caught his attention. Cynder's room was in that direction. Spyro stared towards the staircase with a questioning expression, wondering what the sound was. A couple seconds another thump sounded, followed by a faint growl that sounded like Cynder.

"Cynder? Are you okay?" Spyro called groggily, waiting for a response.

There was none.

"Cynder?"

Another growl sounded.

Now Spyro was concerned. Was this one of Cynder's episodes of her 'not being herself'? Why in the middle of the night? More questions floated about in his mind, and he was almost too scared to go and see what the problem was, but at the same time the protective side of him flared up, needing to know if Cynder was okay. Needing to know if she was safe.

Slowly, the purple dragon stood from the couch, making his way towards the staircase on the other end of the living room. His heart hammered against his chest and beads of sweat dripped down his face. His stomach twisted into a knot and he felt he was going to be sick again. Onward he marched, however, stepping cautiously up the stairs.

Cynder's low growl sounded down the hall again, but this time Spyro could make out words through the growls.

"Get out. Stop."

What the hell is she on about? Spyro thought.

Another thump sounded, this time sounding more like a slam. Spyro jumped at the sound. He gulped nervously as he reached Cynder's bedroom door, opening it with a shaky paw.

"NO!" Cynder growled lowly, clawing at the ground and glaring at Spyro.

His heart stopped as he laid eyes on her. A thin bloody cut ran down the right side of her face, and her lips were pulled back in a snarl to reveal bright pink gums. Instead of beautiful emerald eyes, he was met with wild amber ones instead, the pupils thin and slitted, slicing a thin line through the amber irises. Saliva dribbled down her chin as her throat vibrated with a low growl. Cynder sucked the saliva in, before spitting it out to the side.

"Get out," Cynder snarled through gritted teeth, her voice hoarse and raspy. "Stop."

"Cynder! What the hell?!" Spyro exclaimed, fear constricting him. "Snap out of—"

Spyro couldn't finish his sentence as Cynder lunged at him with a hiss, slamming him into the wall behind him. The purple dragon pushed back against Cynder, but she overpowered him and slammed him back into the wall, following it with a heavy uppercut to the jaw. All Spyro could do was groan in pain before Cynder punched him again.

The purple dragon was already groggy after waking up from a hangover. He couldn't deal with getting beat up right now. He felt like his head was going to explode.

Cynder reared to hit him in the face again, but Spyro finally managed to get out of Cynder's grip, pushing her backwards and dropping to the ground, crawling along the floor. He felt a heavy weight press down on him, stopping him from crawling, before he turned his head as much as he could and released a beam of electricity at the black dragoness. She staggered off him and collapsed to the ground, tremors wracking her body.

Spyro continued to crawl down the hall, his head throbbing painfully. He got to the stairs and just flopped down them, taking several more hits to the head as he fell head over tail down the staircase. He coughed, spitting blood on the ground, before he struggled to his paws.

A loud roar sounded from behind him, and he looked up to see Cynder leaping at him, skipping every single step as she soared over the stairs, crashing into Spyro. Spyro kicked Cynder off him, scrambling back to his paws and stepping backwards cautiously. "Cynder, what the hell has gotten into you?!" he cried.

Cynder stood up, snarling at Spyro, not taking her amber eyes off him. Her eyes suddenly began to twitch and she curled in on herself, lowering her head as she let out a pained growl. "Get out," she hissed. "Stop!"

The black dragoness' pupils widened slightly, a slight green tinge tainting her amber eyes, before it immediately disappeared and the pupils thinned out once more. She roared savagely at him. It was as if she'd turned into a monster, a mindless feral beast. It also appeared as if she was fighting it, if the change in the eyes, the head pain and the words she uttered were anything to go by.

With a low growl, Cynder advanced on Spyro, pushing him even further backwards. Her glare was hard and terrified him. "Cynder, I don't want to fight you," he pleaded, but his words fell on deaf ears.

She lashed out to claw him, and he jumped backwards to dodge the swipe. He took a cautious look behind him, noticing he was about to trip over his bucket of vomit sitting next to the couch. Spyro took the chance to leap off to the side and rush out of the lounge room before Cynder could force him back even further.

Cynder was quick to rush after Spyro, giving chase quickly. The purple dragon sprinted towards the front door, but Cynder let out a large gust of wind at Spyro, throwing him off his feet and slamming hard into the wall. Spyro groaned as his vision blurred, and he collapsed to the ground. He tried to stand, but Cynder picked him up by the nape in her jaws, and with a mighty heave and a loud growl, she tossed him around into the adjacent wall.

Spyro wasn't fast enough to stand up as Cynder began beating his face in. He wanted this to stop. He wanted to hope it was just a nightmare and that he would wake up, but as Cynder's blows got harder and harder, he realised he was very much awake. He had to do something or he'd be unconscious soon, if not dead. Cynder seemed intent to hurt and kill him.

The purple dragon whipped his tail underneath her paws, knocking her to the ground, before he attempted to stand. Cynder started struggling to her paws too, so Spyro brought her down again by two swipes of his claws across her face. He finally stood up straight and was horrified by the blood running down Cynder's face, the blood that he had drawn.

Cynder was quick to attempt standing again, so Spyro clawed at her again and ran off towards the front door. The sounds of heavy scrambling sounded from behind him, before thundering footsteps followed. Two globs of poison shot past him, missing his neck by a few centimetres, splattering on the wall in front of him, adjacent to the door.

With a frightened cry, Spyro grabbed the door, opening it and running out of the house, slamming the door behind him. A heavy thud sounded and the door shook as Cynder slammed into it. The purple dragon quickly pressed his body up against the door, holding it shut. He could feel the door pressing against him as Cynder tried to push it open. A frustrated snarl sounded from behind the door.

Then everything went silent. Spyro's breath was heavy, and he was trying to hold back the burning tears that were brimming in his eyes. The horrid taste of blood filled his mouth. His legs stung and ached profusely. His senses came back to him after the shock.

Spyro felt his paws shaking so heavily he thought they were going to fall out from underneath him, but he scrabbled for a stronger grip on the ground, leaning even further into the door, wanting to keep it shut and separate himself from Cynder.

He held in his scream as a loud crashing sound came to his attention, and he looked up to see Cynder bursting out of the roof of her house. It seemed as if she'd forgotten about pursuing him however, as she flew up into the sky and further in the distance, leaving Warfang. Her amber eyes had a distinct glow that he could see as she rose from the roof.

Crumpling into a heap on the ground, he finally began to let his sobs loose. He was safe, but what about Cynder? What the hell had happened to her? He was terrified about the possibilities. Something was very wrong, and the horrible thoughts that came to his mind scared him even more.

This was what Cynder had been talking about. Her not feeling like herself, being angry and snappy, forceful… Spyro even remembered the way she ate earlier that evening. It was much more savage and animalistic.

She was turning into a monster before his very eyes. And he didn't realise.

Spyro hoped that this was just her turning into an animal. The thought that she was corrupted rose in his mind and it burned his heart and soul to even think about that thought. Dread rose inside him as he prayed that it wasn't true.

The purple dragon picked himself up, spitting blood on the ground, before hobbling painfully to the Warfang Temple as quickly as he could, immediately going to consult the guardians. The trek was long and painful, and he was struggling to see where he was going as both the moons were absent from the sky, so he had to rely on his earth element to give him his bearings, scanning the environment around him.

He eventually made his way to the Warfang Temple, rushing in and picking up the pace once the torchlight inside brightened his vision. "Terrador!" he cried, not even bothering to wait until he got to their sleeping quarters. "Cyril! Volteer!"

"What in the blazes is this racket?!" Cyril shouted from inside his respective room.

"Wake up, please!" Spyro shouted back.

All three guardians made their way out of their rooms, their groggy faces filling with shock as they saw the frantic purple dragon in front of them, blood spilling from his lips and nostrils, tears staining his cheeks. "Spyro, what happened?" Volteer asked, concern dripping from his voice as an uncharacteristic frown pulled at his lips.

Spyro spent a couple of seconds stuttering, his eyes flickering between all three guardians, before he ran towards the nearest guardian, which was Cyril, clinging onto him for dear life and sobbing into his chest. Cyril spluttered at the sudden contact and consoling he was forced into, before looking up at Terrador and Volteer, who all shared very concerned expressions. Terrador cursed; whatever had happened was not good if it had upset Spyro this much.

"Come on Spyro, you need to tell us what happened," Terrador said softly, sitting down beside Cyril and Spyro. "We can't help you if we don't know."

"Is this… is this about Cynder?" Volteer questioned.

Spyro nodded, sniffling and wiping his eyes, before he pulled himself away from Cyril. "So I went to Cynder's house for dinner for the date," Spyro explained, his voice quivering as he tried to keep his tears under control. "I… I noticed a few things wrong, but then I… I completely forgot about what I was doing because Cynder… forced me into a drinking competition."

"Forced you? That's extremely unlike her," Volteer said.

"That's the point!" Spyro scowled. "I eventually got drunk out of my ancestor-damned mind and crashed at Cynder's house. I woke up about ten, twenty minutes ago I think, had a bit of a vomit, and when I calmed down I heard some strange bumping and growling coming from Cynder's room. I went up to check on her, and she… she was a monster. She attacked me. She did this to me. I made it out of the house, only just, but she burst out of the roof and flew away."

A sickly silence swallowed the four dragons, and it just brought Spyro into more tears. He choked on the tears as he tried to hold them back, but they burst free rather quickly. "She's gone. I don't know where. I don't know why," the purple dragon wept. "She just… turned on me, attacked me. She was just… gone. It appeared for a second that she was trying to fight something inside her, but it was only for a second."

"Appeared she was fighting something?" Volteer inquired. "How? What happened? What did you see?"

"Her eyes were… changing colour. When she attacked me, her eyes were amber and pupils slitted, but they seemed to widen and go green when she paused and fought against herself. She was muttering 'get out, stop' quite frequently throughout the whole thing."

"Amber? And was that the only thing she said?"

"Yes. She literally only snarled, roared and hissed at me. She was almost like a feral animal. I noticed that even during dinner; she growled while she ate, rather primitively, might I add."

Volteer paled. He swore under his breath, which was unusual for a dragon with such an extensive vocabulary. The electric guardian shook his head before breaking into a sprint towards his study, shouting out another curse.

The other three dragons bolted after Volteer, fear rising in their hearts, especially Spyro's. "What?! What is it, Volteer?!" Spyro screamed, his voice breaking.

He didn't reply, as he fumbled through a bunch of books on his desk, before pulling out one and skimming over the words, flipping through a few pages. All the while, Volteer continued cursing under his breath, and his forehead soon became caked in sweat. His chest heaved with every breath.

"Volteer, you better tell us what the hell is going on, right now!" Terrador shouted, wrapping a wing around Spyro as the purple dragon hyperventilated.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad," Volteer breathed.

"WHAT?! WHAT IS BAD?!" Spyro shrieked. "WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY CYNDER?!"

The guardian put a claw on the book and traced it along as he skim-read, before he started reading out loud once he found the place he was looking for.

"'Vhel-Ak'rhair, also known as the Dark Tyrant, is the embodiment of all darkness. He controls dark magic, and therefore controls all of those who have been touched by it. Thousands of years ago, he was banished to the underworld and trapped there, never to be seen again, however he still performs his work through those he has corrupted with dark magic; these corrupted creatures are called ak'rhorans.'"

"Cynder mentioned that word last night!" Spyro exclaimed. "She said she'd had a nightmare, but only that word stuck out to her; she couldn't remember anything else about it."

Volteer just kept reading. "'Ak'rhorans can have multiple appearances, but once they become fully possessed by Vhel-Ak'rhair, their eyes become amber, and their demeanour becomes much more vicious, often starting off resembling that of a feral animal. Their goal is to free Vhel-Ak'rhair himself. The ak'rhorans may rope others along with them, often turning them into ak'rhorans too, or they may travel the road alone.

"'But when the Bell of Hal'rath tolls four times, that is the time where all of the ak'rhorans come together to fulfil their goal, dead or alive. Any redeemed ak'rhorans will turn back to darkness, and those killed will rise from the dead.'"

"Bell of Hal'rath? Was that what that racket was earlier?" Terrador exclaimed, his voice uncharacteristically wobbly.

"Yes… Yes I think so…" Volteer murmured.

"Cynder started to react and turn immediately after that," Spyro added.

Volteer stared at Spyro, terror in his eyes. The electric guardian shook his head gravely. "Spyro, I… I'm sorry to say this, but… Cynder… she's an ak'rhoran now," he breathed. "She is… She's working to revive the very embodiment of darkness."

Spyro didn't have any tears left to cry at this point. His heart did all the crying for him. Agony flared up in his chest as his heart raced.

"What… what do we do?" Spyro croaked.

"I… I don't know if we can do anything," Terrador replied. "This seems… a lot worse than the whole Malefor incident. We barely made it out alive with Malefor."

"But there has to be something! To save her, to save us from whatever this… Vhel-Ak'rhair is!" Spyro shouted.

"Spyro, we almost died by Malefor's wrath! You almost died!" Terrador growled. "You can try all you want to stop this but I don't think you will have any chance of surviving if you try and stand up to him!"

"I hate to make the situation worse, but this also means that Malefor might be coming back…" Cyril said softly.

"SHUT UP!" Terrador screamed. "NO, I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT DEVIL IS COMING BACK!"

"DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT VOLTEER JUST READ?!" Cyril roared. "ALL THE AK'RHORANS ARE COMING BACK! THAT INCLUDES MALEFOR, THAT INCLUDES SO MUCH MORE! THAT BELL RUNG FOUR TIMES, AND NOW CYNDER HAS BEEN CORRUPTED AND RUN OFF; YOU CANNOT DISMISS THIS AS MYTH OR JUST A 'SPOOKY STORY', TERRADOR!"

"STOP FIGHTING!" Volteer demanded, and the screaming died down.

Terrador and Cyril looked embarrassed, even though their gazes still bled with anger and fear. They turned from Volteer to Spyro, who sat there shaking in fear, trying to look as small as possible. The purple dragon had never seen his mentors at their throats like that, and on top of that, a new evil was rising, Malefor was likely coming back, and Cynder was included in this new evil. His girlfriend had been taken from him.

The earth guardian sighed. "Spyro, I—"

"I don't want to hear it," Spyro's small voice squeaked.

Terrador recoiled at how broken Spyro's voice was, and he just nodded, eyes read and watery. "Okay," he whispered.

"Now before we get all doom and gloom, I believe there is some hope," Volteer announced. "Right over the page appears to be some sort of prophecy. Maybe that can give us some answers."

"Ancestors hope it does," Cyril muttered.

Volteer looked back down at the book, and began to read the prophecy aloud.

"'When the world falls under a shroud of darkness, caused by the ak'rhorans and their master, a great being shall rise. This being shall be known as the Grand Elemental Master, a dragon who has mastered every element in existence to the fullest, and the Grand Elemental Master shall take down the ak'rhorans and their master.'"

"Every element in existence? No dragon can do that!" Terrador scoffed.

Without a word, Volteer and Cyril both looked in Spyro's direction. Terrador realised who they were looking at and followed their gaze to the terrified purple dragon. Spyro wore a very confused look, before realisation dawned on him. "No. No. No, that is not happening," Spyro denied.

"You are the purple dragon! You can learn all the elements!" Cyril exclaimed.

"No I can't! I can learn the four primary elements! I know none of the secondary elements! I don't even know if I can learn them! And you can't teach me because none of you have the secondary elements; only Cynder can and she's gone!" Spyro screamed. "On top of that, you're right, Terrador! I almost died with Malefor; what makes you think I can survive fighting Vhel-Ak'rhair now?!"

"Because there is a prophecy that speaks about you! I mean come on, who else could it be talking about?" Volteer shouted. "Firstly, no one else here can learn multiple elements; secondly, the Bell of Hal'rath just rung, so this prophecy is now in play, whether you like it or not!"

"I'm not ready!" Spyro pleaded. "I'm just barely twenty! I'm in no way able to take on someone like this Vhel-Ak'rhair!"

"You were fifteen when you fought Malefor. You were twelve when you fought Cynder," Terrador reminded.

"THAT IS DIFFERENT! I CANNOT GO UP AGAINST THE EMBODIMENT OF DARKNESS! ESPECIALLY NOT AT TWENTY YEARS OLD!"

"Spyro, you have to try," Volteer said calmly. "Think about what's at stake. The world. Your friends. Your girlfriend. You can say it's not you, but what if it is? What if you're the only one who can stop this, and you shy away and turn your back on everyone? The world will go into ruin then."

The purple dragon lowered his gaze, taking in the words. He began to cry again, the weight of responsibility and fear overwhelming him.

Volteer walked towards the distraught purple dragon and gave him a hug. "I know it seems like a lot of responsibility, but please consider it. We might not be able to provide as much help as we normally would, but know we're here for you," he said soothingly. "Professionally, we may be above you, but just know that we are still your friends; we've done a lot of life together, especially during the previous war. We're here if you want to talk."

"Why does all this have to happen now though?" Spyro sobbed, wiping his eyes with a sniffle. "We just got out of a war. Five years is not a long time for peace. Why now?"

Volteer sighed. "I wish I knew," he murmured, before he broke the hug. "Now please, go and get some rest. We'll figure out what we need to do in the morning."

"Okay… thank you…"

With that, the purple dragon turned and left, walking back to his house, tears streaming down his face. When he got home, he lay on his bed and cried harder than he ever had. The realisation was starting to sink in.

"Ancestors, if the prophecy is not about me, please send that person here soon. Please. And if it is me, please help me do this. Tell me what I need to do. I feel so lost right now," Spyro prayed.

His world went black again as he cried himself to sleep.

HOLY CRAP IT HAS BEEN HOW LONG NOW?!

I am so sorry for not having updated this in... eight or so months... Wow. For those of you keeping up with Demonised, you'll know that I've been hit with heavy loads of work from uni, as well as the fact that I am taking commissions for art, and I've been writing a bunch of music (and releasing some of it). Plus, Demonised has been my main focus as of recently. I've spent almost four years on Demonised, and I'd like to get it finished so I can move onto Book 2 of Purple Legacy. But, I figured I may as well give you another chapter of Grand Elemental Master however, because it has been a very long time since the last chapter. I have by no means abandoned this story; it just isn't my main focus right now.

I have no clue how long it'll be until the next chapter is posted, but hopefully I can at least get one out before the end of the year. The story's just getting started now :P

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TARDIS1039: Yup, now the Spynder's over pahahahaha (I mean what do you expect from me lol). It's a very different situation to Demonised however, as you know, so the love is definitely still there, so expect it to still be there in some form throughout the story lol. Glad to hear the Spynder moments are cute tho; I don't do romance often so I'm glad it works :)

Dragon of Mystery: Yup, Spyro is absolutely a lightweight pahahaha XD And loopy while drunk isn't great either but I agree, it's definitely better than angry-drunk lol. Glad you like the idea of Cynder's poison element giving her resistance to alcohol. I can't remember how or when I came up with the idea but when I did I was like... that actually makes a lot of sense lol.

Also here's some inside on these ak'rhorans; what do you think lol?

CC-7567: Glad you liked the last chapter! Hope you like this one too :)

The Silent Insomniac: Hey again! Been a while (we really need to talk more lol). And as for Spyro using poison, you'll find out about that later :P And here's the big reveal about the 'new darkness' lol; hope it's good enough for you lol

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Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll try and get the next chapter out soon but again, Demonised is my main priority when it comes to fanfiction. I hope you understand. Sorry for the slow updates; just know I have not abandoned this, and don't plan to any time soon.