Spyro: Dawn of Light, 3-29

SPYRO: DAWN OF LIGHT
Part 3




CHAPTER 29




Cynder slowly crept along the edge of the passage, one paw before the other, wings tucked close to her body to try to consolidate herself to the shadows.  "No wonder they chose this place for their base..." she whispered to herself.  "It's like a nightmare..."

The corridor was an open-side groove running along the underside of a land chunk, with a few branches leading through the stone to some central rooms.  At regular intervals along the outer edge of the path, wide, short tongues of rock stuck out, on which were perched very strange and alarming creatures that looked a bit Gnorc-ish but were covered in blue hair and had large yellow eyes and wide mouths like frogs.  They bore bright yellow lanterns that they would periodically swallow, their bodies bulging out grotesquely yet comically with an orange glow.  During these "balloon" phases she would creep by in the dimmed light.  She had already taken one hit when the first had spotted her in the full light of its lantern and spat a tracking fireball at her.  Any more and she'd have to use one of her three remaining revives.  In the distance she could see a tall, dark temple of sorts; it looked as though back in its day it had been a grand gathering place, but now was falling apart in this dark world.  Whatever magic force had guided this world since its separation, it had to be bad.  She glanced back along the curving passage, spotting Flame and the others in the distance copying her stealth tactic.  

The portal gate had simply read "Dark Halls".  She was feeling ahead for the others, who couldn't blend into the darkness nearly as well.  Flame's bright red seemed to dim significantly in the darkness, but Caelos' silver and Plazyma's bright yellow stuck out in any light.  How they hadn't been caught already amazed her, but then again these sentry creatures didn't seem terribly bright.  Flame had tried to attack one, but they appeared to be invulnerable.  All they could do right now was creep along.  Up ahead were several more small islands with sentries, floating in a sort of path between them and the temple.  It was actually fairly easy to get up and across without being seen.  Fairly soon they were all standing at the shattered doorway, staring into its gaping black maw, a cold, clammy breeze steadily flowing from within.  A collective shiver raced through the young dragons.

"Alright...Cynder?"

"Yeah...I got it..."  With a nervous gulp she quickly slithered in.  Once inside it seemed as though she had passed through a veil into a hall of blue and purple lights illuminating great stone walls and a vaulted ceiling.  The swirling sigils in the rock seemed very familiar.  Keeping close to the thick mats of moss, vines and lichens lining the joint of wall and floor, Cynder crept further in, keeping her eyes and ears on high alert for anything.  Up ahead she heard a strange, wheedling kind of music with rapid, playful notes, but their echoes through the halls were distorted into some sort of sinister whispering.  Behind her she heard the faint scraping of claws on the floor and the distinct hissing of Plazyma chastising Flame.  

Coming upon a round room off to the side, Cynder peered in, getting a weird sense of deja-vu.  Flaring her wing a bit to signal to the others, she tiptoed in, low to the ground like a snake.  There was a large cage of crystal panels set between elaborate, wickedly twisted metal bars.  One panel was down like a walkway.  Curiosity gripped her, but she fought it off, pacing around the cage instead.  It was rooted into the floor and didn't look terrible stable for mobility.  Could this have been a cage for the dragonflies? she thought to herself.  A flash of dark power rolled through the halls, silent but much like the roll of thunder from a distance.  Cynder stiffened, eyes wide with terror.  A voice...a fell voice...Shivers ran down her back and she felt limp, not wanting to move and be found out.  

"Cynder!"

The black dragoness yelped and spun around, Caelos immediately clapping his paw over her mouth and holding her tight with his other foreleg.  A rush of relief washed over her panic.  Flame peeked out of the room, then motioned to her with his wing.  Still a bit shaky she joined him at the doorway to see Plazyma already checking out the next room ahead.  

"You sure you're okay for this?" he whispered.

Instead of answering she slunk past him down the corridor.  That strange music was getting slowly louder.  There was something about this twilit building that struck her as familiar, but the odd shadows and lights everywhere were rather confusing.Other rooms she passed had crystal cages, some in various states of disrepair.  Then there was an intersection, the hallway continuing ahead but splitting off to either side.  These side passages were utterly dark, but the slight clammy air from them spoke of large rooms beyond.  Curious, she wandered in, still sticking to the wall-floor corner.  Another set of rooms on either side, but there was nothing within, just overgrown spiky trees and vines slowly tearing the tiles apart.  An enormous cobweb loomed over her, caked with dust, then the hall suddenly met a circular doorway with a shattered wooden door. Beyond this, the room swung wide into a roughly circular shape with a sill around the circumference about halfway up from the floor.  Very faint twilight glimmered on floating dust through a broken stained-glass ceiling.  In the center of the room was a pile of rubble around a circular pedestal.  Unlike the other rooms, this one gave an aura of watchfulness that gave her the creeps.  Not wishing to possibly get caught, she backtracked swiftly and continued her journey deeper into the building, finding the others behind her catching up slowly.  

Without warning the music ahead kicked up several notches, accompanied by harsh chanting.  Another roll of dark power swept over them.  Flaring her wings to the others to stay back, Cynder broke into a crawling run, finding a far wider circular chamber lit with dozens of blue, green and purple torches.  A crumbled dragon statue lay on the floor around its pedestal, the serenely calm face tossed aside and marred with gashes and missing chunks from angry tools.  The pedestal had been crudely repurposed into a foundation for a wooden platform, on which stood a number of bipedal figures in black cloaks much like Bianca's.  In the center of this platform was a swirling, glowing mass of fine threads.  All around the platform was a mass of glowing...things, she couldn't quite see what they were individually because of the combined brightness, but various colors were wildly swirling about within the ring, more black-cloaked persons standing around at regular intervals with their hands held out.  At the far end of this room there was an entire gathering of black cloaks, all chanting, some playing odd instruments.  With a sharp increase in the harsh music, the glow seemed to trail from the ring around the platform and into the swirling mass.  With the glow decreasing, buzzing wings became visible.

With a horrific chill Cynder realized what was going on.  They were siphoning the dragonflies' power into whoever was materializing!  And the form was taking shape faster and faster...and was quite small.  

Scuffling from behind her made her shrink even more into the shadows, wishing that she still had the power to simply melt into them like back home.  A crowd of black-cloaks marched past her, carrying Plazyma, Caelos and Flame, bound in thin but strong ropes around their feet and muzzles.  A stillness raced through the room, then rose into a sickening tumult of dark excitement.  The three dragons were tossed roughly onto the platform, forming a triangle around whoever was materializing.  A much more powerful blast of darkness thundered through the building.  

We're in an old Dragon Temple they've repurposed into their own hideout...they're draining the dragonflies into whoever this is...and now... Cynder shuddered in terror, feeling a dark presence gathering in the room and a fell voice practically laughing in triumph.  She gulped, paralyzed with indecision as she watched that same glow gather around her friends and start to rise up into the fine threads.  She had to do something!

Three of the circling mages around the ring of dragonflies suddenly cried out in terrified pain as a blast of shadow breath assaulted them.  Two of them fell over, breaking the concentration.  Cynder darted around, roughly jabbing another just under the ribs with her tailblade, doubling back around the fallen ones to attack another on the other side.  The dragonflies burst free of their invisible confinement, flying every which way.

The crowd on the platform and on the back of the chamber sprang into action, weapons materializing out of thin air.  Cynder had already laid out her motions though and had hopped up onto the platform, throwing herself into an aerial somersault with her tail flung out.  The sharp blade sliced through the cords on Caelos while keeping her attackers distanced.  Landing into a spin she freed Plazyma, the two scrabbling into action and tripping up the mages around them.  

"KILL THEM!!" came a sharp cry that rang out over the chaos, a tall mage completely covered in black cloth grabbing Flame in a chokehold and holding a blade up for a strike.  A bright dragonfly darted in and landed on Flame, its light going out as the blade rammed against him and slid off.  The red dragon kicked back hard and winded his captor, blade and dragon and dragonfly dropping to the ground.  "Don't let up on the music!  Kill the dragons!  Our lord must revive!"

The mass of magical threads was shifting and contorting on itself as if trying to speed up its weaving, legs and arms already faintly outlined and gaining clarity.  Cynder tried to attack it, but a powerful force lay around it, deflecting her.  A few mages grabbed her, but then yelped in pain as they were shocked violently, their arms and legs cramping.  Caelos was holding off most of them with buffeting blows of wind, but all he could do was deter them, not push them back.  The black-cloaks were slowly surrounding the young dragons up on the pedestal, the dragonflies being hemmed in by some strange glimmer in the air that seemed to sway and billow as if it were a living thing trying to wrap around them in a hurricane gale.  Without warning, the mages up on the platform jumped off and a bright flash of fire leapt up around the stone pedestal.  Cynder groaned when she realized they were now trapped with the materializing evil creature.  

"They don't belong here," came a voice, calm and low and sinister over the yelling and the crackling of the fire and the whooshing noise of the magic in the air.  A bipedal form in black cloak and armor, face covered with a black mask bearing a single red eyelet, strode from the corridor into the room and pointed a dark sword at the young dragons.  

Plazyma scowled and snarled, her back arched.  Caelos, too, was looking ready to kill.  "That's the bastard that attacked me!" she hissed.  "Overpowered my lightning and nearly broke my neck!"

Cynder blinked in confusion.  "That's the guy I saw who warped and gave Spyro that weird bruise!"

"They don't belong here, and for that, they will be power for your lord," he continued.

"You, and I, belong here less than they do," came an opposing voice.  "You will cease your meddling in this world's affairs."  Everyone looked around for the source of the voice, but no one was visible.  The dark-armored speaker looked around, reaching behind his back to draw a second sword, with cruel fangs for quillons and a scallop-edged blade of black metal glittering with blue electricity.

Flame tapped the others.  "Guys I have an idea but we gotta work together, and Cynder I need you right now to try something!"

The black one strode up to the fire and waved it aside with a flick of his sword, the flame energy turning into a stream of electric forks around him.  Leaping easily up onto the platform, he approached the kids, following as they backed away, circling around the mass of threads starting to form muscles now around the glimmering iridescent skeleton.  Cynder glanced at the growing form and nearly broke out in tears, but the others were riveted on this new threat.  

"Hahaha!" came a voice, thin and almost two-dimensional, but very distinct.  "A dragon may have been my downfall but these brats who vexed me will be the perfect fuel!"  

Flame suddenly stopped backing up, looking as if he was listening to something.  With a nervous gulp he stood his ground as their new enemy came up to him.  His face, pale in the bluish light, came up to the guy's chest.  "I-I...I n-name you Evil, and with this name I cast you out of our world!"  Stopping in confusion, head tilted as if trying to understand, the figure broke out with a sinister laugh.

"Ignore his prattling and slay him!  I need his power to finish!" the diminutive form of a dinosaur cried out eagerly.  With a flourish the two-legged foe brought both swords up in a scissor motion aimed right at Flame's neck.  

Several things happened all at once.
The dragonflies clouded around the young dragons, clinging to their backs or hovering around them in a thick cluster.
Cynder averted tear-glazed eyes and roared as she lunged forward, melting into shadow and tearing a dark hole in the magic flames.
A flurry of ice and snow flashed in with a blast of light, a simple staff of white metal catching the scissoring swords right before Flame's neck, a being swathed in white and silver clothes standing next to the fire dragon.  

With a great sweep, the dragons fled through the gap in the fire and the white-clothed person swung his staff up, catching the black one right in the gut where his armor was weakest.  He was flung backwards, flipping through the air and landing on the sill around the room.  A vicious, fast-paced battle ensued between them as the young dragons and the dragonflies fled, the mages in an uproar around them.  "STOP THE WHELPS!!" the threads cried out.

The air shuddered around them as they ran through the hallway.  Spells and bolts rang out constantly, dragonflies losing their light as the kids were hit by a myriad of attacks.  Cynder melted into shadow, then sprang up under a few of the attackers, scattering them with a blast of dark power.  Flame spun around and loosed a giant fireball, buying them a bit of time as they rounded a corner.  Caelos was gathering the fainting dragonflies on a pillow of wind power.

"How are we doing this?!" Plazyma cried out, wincing as a bolt of dark magic bit her hip and another dragonfly on her back winked out and fainted.

"I'll explain later just run!" Flame cried.

"Guys you get the flies back to the Temple!" Cynder barked, wheeling around so hard her dragonflies were scattered.  They piled onto Flame as he passed by, a lone red dragonfly clinging to Cynder just behind her horns.  

"What are you doing?!" he yelled back.  She flicked her tail in defiance at him and turned around, melting past Flame and Plazyma.  She ducked into a side-room, waiting as the mass of mages ran past in pursuit of the other three.  Fireballs and thunder roared down the corridor.  They'd get to safety, but something about this was bugging her.  She shivered as she tried but failed to melt again.

"Thought so..." she whispered, holding a paw up to her tagalong.  The little bug crawled onto her toes.  "You guys are natural magic reservoirs aren't you?  But you alone are not enough to give me my power back."  The little red bug gave a few flickers.  "But you can help me.  There were a few spiders here.  There've gotta be bugs for you to eat."  The little one hopped up and down a few times.  "Alright, I take that as a yes.  Eat up, I need you to shield me."

Things quieted down, but no one returned.  With the power of the other dragonflies, the kids had their elemental power and their flight back, but the mages were likely to spam them and try to take them down by force.  Now that it was quiet she could still hear the sounds of combat ringing out.  Heading out into the halls, the black dragoness again stuck to the corner, keeping her new companion tucked under her wing to mask its glow.  With a loud noise eerily similar to that warp that had injured Spyro, the noises of swords against the metal staff ended.  Damn... she grunted.  Wanted to talk to him if I could...  The dragonfly suddenly wormed out from under her wing and darted swiftly into a sideroom.  "What're you doing?!" she hissed, following closely.  In the gloom she saw a few moths entangled in a web.  With a sharp zigzag, the dragonfly snatched them up, growing brighter and brighter with each one until it was a healthy, vivid red glow like sunlight through a ruby.  It darted back to Cynder and spun around her, the young dragoness suddenly feeling stronger.  "Wow!" she whispered, giggling when the bug bumped her nose.  "Alright.  Let's do this."  It crawled back under her wing and they made their way through the shadows.  At that intersection where she'd gone to one side to find that large round room before, the dragonfly peeked out and flickered rapidly, catching her attention and flitting out a ways down the opposite hallway before rejoining her.  Taking this as a hint, she went down the other hall.  It was the same setup, two rooms on opposite sides of the hallway, possibly sleeping or food quarters, and then a circular doorway, this one entirely devoid of the original door.  Off to the left though was something she's not expected to see.  A lone portal gateway stood there, the watercolor landscape in its field oddly reminiscent of the Artisans homeworld.  It was looking out over the vast cultivated landscape.  Was this connected to a hidden portal like the one atop Mount Sarlob?  Was this how they'd captured and smuggled the dragonflies?  "Thanks for showing me this," she whispered, then swiftly backed out and made her way to the grand chamber again.  Now that she knew of the portal, it made her plan much easier.  

Two mages had remained behind to guard the platform, one bearing ice, the other fire.  They were conversing lowly with the materializing form.  

"I only saw three, milord.  Somehow, the fourth is able to elude our farsight abilities.  She even slipped through our monitoring spells here.  The others tripped them but she somehow got in here despite us."

"Useless fools!" the threads hissed in that weirdly flat voice, though it was less flat than before.  Squinting through the dim torchlight Cynder caught a strange crystalline sparkle from the more formed areas.  "I needed that dragonfly power.  You should have set up a barricade the instant the others went down and broke the ring."

"Should have, yes, but we kept a backup as you requested.  They will be here within an hour, so pray do not rush your composition."

"Lord Ripto, what will be the first move once you are whole?"

The diminutive form seemed to ripple as if laughing, though the sound was like claws on glass.  "First you fools are receiving a proper lesson in dark magic, you have failed miserably."

"Yes, Lord Ripto..." they both groaned.

"Then we attack the Inner Realms.  The Master will see to it that they are prepared for us.  All you dimwits need to focus on is slinging spells everywhere and causing chaos.  Where are those reserve dragonflies?"

"Artisans homeworld.  We kept them locked away in the beach cave."

"Without those I cannot form a perfect diamond body.  You!  See to it that those dragonflies get here safely! Now!"

Cynder bolted.  Not caring if they heard her, she fled to the portal, nearly slipping on the smooth tiles as she whipped around the corner.  "STOP HER!!  BRING CYNDER BACK HERE!!" Ripto's came out behind her as she flew into the portal.  For once, the leisurely flight through the ether couldn't have felt any more painfully slow.  "How many crystals did you see on his belt?" she asked.  The dragonfly perched on her nose and she had to watch cross-eyed as it flickered.  "Ten?  How many lit?"  Five.  "Yeah, okay, good.  You have three hits and I have two.  If I can avoid at least two shots, you can take it and I have a crystal from Ignitus to help you recover.  Get covered," she finished as they neared their destination.  Bolting away from her landing point, she raced across the valley, sheep panicking left and right as she raced as fast as she could to the beach tower.  

Silenced feet swept across the plains and the tiled halls in pursuit, barely more than a translucent shadow on the wind.  Coming up to the beach tower, her pursuer stopped and solidified against the wall, edging along slowly.  His hands glowed with magic, ready to spring.  Creeping closer to the doorway leading to the balcony, he tensed.  It was way too quiet.

Next thing he knew was the floor rushing up at him and a blur of black and red scales pinning him down.

"That was way easier than I thought," she said with a smirk, then curled her toes against him, pressing her sharp claws into his sides.  "Alright punk, where are the dragonflies and what else are you idiots up to?" she snarled.

"Go die!" he yelled, lifting his arm and firing a magic bolt.  It bounced off the wall and struck her, but she didn't budge.  He tried again, but she ducked under it.

"Three charges left.  You lose."  She opened her mouth and breathed slowly, a greenish-yellow gas falling over him.  "You might not want to cross me, that's poison.  In a few minutes you won't have feeling in your limbs.  I have no qualms dosing you lethally with a neurotoxin too if you don't cooperate.  You might want to save your magic charges to heal yourself later."

"I'm still not talking.  Nothing you do can compare to what Ripto will do anyway."

"Oh I beg to differ."  He yelped when her claws pierced him and a powerful fiery burn immediately spread through his side.  "Start talking and I might consider an antidote."

"NO!"

She pricked his other side and he cried out as the pain doubled.  "Dragonflies.  Where are they?  And what are you planning after this?!  TALK, MORON!!"

A loud yell escaped both of them as he blanketed himself in electricty, the dragoness falling off.  He shakily stood up, trying to fight the numbness.  Cynder shook herself off and lunged forward at him, blasting him in the face with a Fear scream.  He practically crumpled under her.  Snarling in his face, more poisonous gas falling from her maw mere inches from his horned nose, she again jabbed him with a claw.  

"Bad move, dumbass.  I know how magic works.  You have two spells left, and you're gonna need all the power you can put into them to cleanse my poisons.  Waste one more and you've signed your own death.  Now talk before I rip your nose off, I'm not in the mood for your pathetic games.  I am Cynder, avatar of shadow and terror of the skies and you will obey me."

"Alrightalrightalright the dragonflies are in the caverns!" he gasped, teeth gritted tight.  

"I already know that one.  Securities?  Traps?  Don't play stupid."  Trailing a claw up his chest she stopped right over his heart.  "My claw isn't long enough to pierce your heart from here but one shot of venom will still induce cardiac arrest.  Get the picture?  Details.  NOW."




Panting and limping, Spyro shook himself off and snarled, lunging at another Corrupted Ape.  It was hard to gauge where they were; the elemental disruptions around them were throwing off his aerial sense.  Sidian raced in and tackled the thing to the ground, then bit its throat and tore away, the corrupted flesh vanishing in a puff of ash as the creature disappeared and released the gems in its gut.  "There's just no end to them!" Spyro groaned, feeling another nearby rift vibrate and drop off more Apes.  With a shove of his wings he flew up, then roared and loosed a hail of light beams wherever he felt the elemental distortions.  Voices bellowed in anguish, but the rifts again shuddered with a new payload, as if they were simply collecting and regenerating these creatures.  

"Gotta collect the gems before they disappear!" Sidian yelped, then snarled and tore another Ape's throat with his claws.  He nabbed the gems before the body vanished.  

Neves and Shimmer jogged up.  "Finally got the garden cleared!" Neves yelled over the chaos.  "Spyro, help Shimmer!  There's a Dark Gem somewhere on this island!"

Shimmer ran ahead, Spyro flying to keep up.  "Where is it?" he asked.

"I don't know but there's some sort of disturbance to the south, I can feel it but can't pinpoint it."  Jumping up along the glowing mushrooms she lunged into the air and spread her wings, holding her paws out as if trying to feel for the Gem.  "It's a very greedy pulling feeling like it's trying to suck everything in."

"Should we take it to the Guardians?"

"That might compromise the Temple.  Just shatter it.  From the sound of it they've already dealt with these things way more than they'd ever want to."

"But you have a Spirit Particle, why do you need me?  Neves broke them with just one."

"Can't you feel that?" she asked, wincing.  "It feels hungry."

Ignoring her dodge of the question, Spyro tried to feel what she was feeling.  Sure enough there was a very strong pulling effect coming from the ground ahead.  It felt dark and greedy, almost like that thing he'd tried to chase out of Sidian's mind.  Drawing closer, Shimmer suddenly shivered and groaned, hanging back.  "What's wrong?  You okay?" he asked.

"Neves said the Spirit Particles made him immune but the closer we get, the weaker I feel...I'm sorry, Spyro, I can't get any closer."

Strange, he thought to himself.  If she was being drained, why didn't he feel anything?  "Go back to Neves then, I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks," she gasped, immediately winging away.  Still with his eyes closed, he had no idea where he actually was on the island, but he couldn't have gone too far from the Temple already, there wasn't much island to traverse.  Still, he wanted a clear knowledge of where he was in case something happened.  Straining his senses, he gasped as a particularly sharp tug from the Dark Gem seemed to shift his senses into an entirely different "plane".  He could see, or rather, feel, the elemental energies around him flowing through the mushrooms, through the air itself, and off in the distance he could feel-envision the elemental blasts of combat still raging around the Temple.  The whole world seemed to shudder, power racing towards the scene, then with a thunderous blast a pillar of fire power smote the ground.  No doubt Ignitus had just let off another Fire Fury.  But Spyro watched in amazement as the world around him seemed to spiral within the shapes, as if the mushrooms, the ground, the grass, the swamps, the air itself, the paled sunlight, everything were big glass constructions filled with different colors of glowing smoke, and every time someone did something big at the Temple, the smoke would flow and swirl towards them and then back into itself.  It wasn't just those elements in particular, every element was affected at some rate with every use.  Not too far away Shimmer let off a loud roar and blasted several Apes with high-pressure water; looking at the ocean near at hand, he saw the "smoke" swirl and forth towards her swiftly and then flow back into the glassy shape of the sea's surface.  Looking closely he could even watch the water evaporating, the water elemental energy mingling with that of the air and light above it and around it.  The mushrooms and plants could be seen breathing, different colors of air were cycling through them.  Even his own breath was a strange color of air power and he could see it rushing into his mouth and then gushing back out in a different shade.  The plants took that darker shade and breathed it back out clean and pure.  Light from the sun seemed to swirl into the plants' "smoke" and mingle with it to create new colors of green within.  He was so lost in wonder at this new sight of elemental interactions that he nearly forgot about the Dark Gem, until his sight roved to the south and spotted an unnatural void.  Waves of blackness were swirling towards it like a whirlpool, the smoky essences of the elements being dragged within violently.  Drawing closer, he noticed a bright glow increasing around his body, the same color as his Spirit Particle that Neves had given him.  Now that he could see the elemental effects, this hungry void before him enraged him deep inside.  Coming in for a landing, he winced as he felt it pulling at him, the void trying to wrap around him like an octopus with hundreds of slimy cold tentacles.  This close, he could just barely see the Gem itself through the vacuous void, and what he saw nearly sickened him.  While the dance of the "smoke" within the forms around him was pleasing and soothing to the eyes, this Gem was entirely chaos, full of erratic lightning, healing cracks all across its surface, billowing scabrous smoke forms that pulsated and jerked like some tortured living creature in the throes of agony.  The Spirit Particle glow around him was so bright he couldn't see his own form anymore, and it seemed to form a stark wall between him and the void.  Padding closer, he found he had to fight against the pressure coming from the Gem's resistance to the Particle.  With a loud roar of anger he slashed at the Gem, his Spirit-charged claws tearing clean through it in a shower of millions of tiny shards.  The Dark Gem howled as the chaotic energy within was released.  Spinning around he smote it with a solid blow from his tail, the Gem utterly shattering and imploding on itself with a harsh scream.  Spyro opened his eyes finally and blinked against the bright light, squinting.  There was a small, black-glass crater where the Gem had stood, amidst a larger crater that looked as if the ground had been slowly collapsing, or the Gem's weight had been pushing it down.  The plants were pale, brown or black and very brittle, and even the stones looked sick and weak.  The air itself was thin and smelled weird.  With a growl he spat on the glassy crater and closed his eyes again, trying to tune back into that elemental sight.  It wouldn't really take, however.  Not wanting to waste time, he decided to try later, switching to his aerial sense instead and navigating his way to the Temple amidst the changing shapes of the ocean breeze.

Back at the Temple, the destruction of the Dark Gem had an instant effect.  The rifts shuddered and disappeared, the Apes suddenly losing focus.  With an outraged cry they seemed to collectively realize what had happened, but the brief lapse of realization was all the dragons needed to take them out.  Sidian panted and flopped on the balcony, a cascade of gems falling from his sides.  Dune and Sandra were likewise winded, coming up and adding their collection to the pile.  There was a substantial shiny mountain of gems by the time everyone deposited their loot, including Spyro as he finally made his way to them.  "We should contain these safely somewhere," Ignitus grunted, gazing at the gems sparkling in the dull sunlight.  

"We don't know if they've been cursed to form into Gnorcs or something else disgusting," Terrador replied with a grimace.  "For all we know this could be an elaborate plan of infiltration again, using the corrupted Apes as a taxi."

"Th-then k-k-keep the Gems in our storage?" Sidian offered meekly, pawing at the straps of Terrador's armor on his body.  "I-I-I mean...they can't be...be affected there."

"True."  Ignitus glanced at Neves and the other kids gathered with them.  "I'm not sure why, but I feel you kids should split up this treasure amongst yourselves for safekeeping, at least for now until we can ensure safety.  This one," he reached out and took one of the purple gems, "I will keep for study, and we will contain it here at the Temple in the lower corridors away from everyone.  Volteer, I ask that you monitor it."

"Gladly," the electric one nodded, catching it as the fire elder lobbed it to him.  

"Next order of business is the aftermath, we need to contact the mainland and see if this incident has occurred-"

"What's that?" Spyro and Shimmer both asked at once, turning to the Temple.  Sparx suddenly shot towards them from the garden and starting spiraling around them excitedly.  "Whoa whoa what's up Sparx?!" Neves yelped when the bug buzzed his face.  Sparx flashed rapidly and then raced up to the Temple doors, the heavy stone rolling aside.  Spyro raced after him.

"HEY WHOA!" he yelled as a colorful glowing flood raced out and filled the air around them.  Plazyma, Caelos and Flame strode out, covered in dragonflies still clinging to their backs after that hectic chase, the silver wind dragon still carrying the fainted ones with a foreleg.

"You found them?!" Shimmer exclaimed as she darted up.  "Where were they??"

"We'll talk later when these guys have calmed down and gotten back up," Flame grunted as he tried to shake himself off.  

"Where's Cynder?" Spyro's voice asked from beneath a thick pile of excited dragonflies swarming him.  "How many dragonflies are there??"

"Thousands, I'm sure," Volteer replied, eyes wide.  "Hundreds of thousands if I'm not mistaken, at least one for every dragon in the Outer Realms and then some spare for Inner Realmers who visit.  But to see them all in one place!"

It took some time to finally corral and calm the insects, the Guardians deciding to house them in the library chamber for now until they could figure out what to do with them.  Several hours had passed and still no sign of Cynder.  Spyro was anxiously pacing around the Dojo's portal while Flame gave a recount, with some interruptions from Plazyma.  

"Well, I'm glad things worked out, but...are you sure it was wise to leave Cynder to her own ideas?" Ignitus asked cautiously.  Flame nodded.  

"She's changed a bit...and I think it's for the better.  I was going to stop her but...while we were running with the dragonflies, I felt it best to let her at least try."

Terrador nodded, along with Nightshade.  "If they couldn't detect her, she's probably the best choice then if she had suspicions of her own.  Sounds to me like she picked up on something."  The earth dragon flexed his wings.  "I'm very impressed with your work.  I just hope we can procure enough fodder for the dragonflies."

"I have an idea for that, but I'd rather wait for Cynder," Flame started, but then stopped when he heard a soft growl from the blinded purple dragon.  "What's wrong this time?"

"She should've been back by now..."

Plazyma rolled her eyes.  "Look here, dimwit, it took us forever to creep through that dungeon out there.  If she's tracking something, she'd damn well better take her time.  Who knows what traps and snares they put up to catch us, especially after that stunt."

"I guess..." he grumbled, not really placated.  "But shouldn't I go look for her at least?"

Shimmer yawned and stood up, stretching.  "Hey Spyro, could you help me carry these dishes away?"  Neves gave her a questioning look, to which she merely winked.  Using his earth power Spyro levitated the dishes for her as she picked them up, then walked sullenly behind her.  When they were in the tunnels she paused to turn to him.  "What's really wrong, Spyro?"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"You've been really anxious today."

"There's so much darkness around, I don't want Cynder falling into it again."

Shimmer took the plates from him, much to his confusion.  "I know you're worried about her, Spyro.  But...maybe this is her chance to shine on her own, y'know, after all that darkness crap that happened to her.  You can't always be there to protect her.  If she branched off from the group for something, it must have been really important.  Trust her."  With that she tossed the plates into a sphere of water and rolled them down the hall with her to the cooking chamber.  

Yeah...she's right, I did ask Cynder to go after all... he thought with a heavy sigh.  Heading back up the hallway, he opened his eyes and gazed into the Pool of Visions, just letting his mind wander in the dim light of the chamber.  But, the longer he let his eyes go unfocused, the more something came into being in the water's depths.  Rivers of green spirits flowing from the crater of the Well of Souls, overtaking the land in barely half a day, while in the sky a demonic dragon's face laughed with triumph.  The world warped and shifted violently to a black and white sphere, but at the same time it exploded; it was as if two different visions were being overlaid and vying for dominance.  The destroyed world was reformed into a darker, vile planet, but the black and white one remained stagnant with millions of wandering ghosts.  The evil planet collapsed on itself and exploded once more, but with a weaker blast, while the black and white planet seemed to glow and then fizzle out of existence.  Spyro thought he also saw several two-legged creatures blasting each other with elemental attacks in a deadly swordfight, but they were mere colored silhouettes on the edge of his vision.  Dragons, too, were locked in combat with each other, as were other races of his world, and creatures not of his world or dimension.  

"Are your eyes healing?"

Spyro snapped up and stared at the blurry form of Ignitus next to him.  "Oh...yeah, they are..."

"I saw what you were seeing, Spyro."

"Is that what the evil powers want of our world?"

"Yes...one wants utter destruction, another wants absolute dominion...I have seen other versions where the entire world is corrupted and poisoned much like Cynder was, into pure evil beings, just for the sake of corrupting creation.  But don't give up hope, young one.  Glimpses into the enemy's desire are a test of your resolve."

"But what was that black planet?"

"I'm not sure...but after your description of that strange world you discovered...no, nevermind."  Tenting a wing over the purple dragon, the fire elder offered a small smile.  "Do not concern yourself with those worries.  Not yet anyway.  The task at hand is the Dark Gems.  More rifts are opening, but they have not yet split.  If you and the others can destroy those crystals, it should rob the enemy of a significant advantage.  They've tried to take over the Oceanic Isles and several other locations by force, and now the Temple, but we stand strong.  Their next step is to try to overwhelm us, but if we can destroy those Gems, or at least as many as possible before they open the rifts...their advantage of numbers will be removed."

"I guess..."

"Let's go wait for Cynder."

No sooner had he rolled open the door to the Dojo than the portal sparked to life, leading from the Artisans homeworld.  Everyone stared in amazement as another glowing cloud of dragonflies filtered in swiftly through the gate, covering the domed ceiling and trickling down the walls and buzzing just about everywhere, filling the room with a loud humming of wings.  Finally the influx of insects ended and Cynder bolted through.  Shaking herself off she sighed with relief.  Spyro almost copied the action.  

"Finally back...and I need a bed.  Tomorrow's gonna be a bad day."