Spyro: Dawn of Light, ch. 20

SPYRO: DAWN OF LIGHT



CHAPTER 20



Flame yawned and stretched on his back, completely sore all over and feeling very drained.  He'd finally managed a Fire Fury, but it had almost knocked him out.  He stared at the clouds above, his mind wandering... "It'd be so cool if there was a dungeon or something made of clouds...clouds you can walk on...I bet they'd be all fluffy and cool but still warm with the sun up there..."  He sighed and stretched his wings against the ground, wishing he could fly instead of just gliding.

"HEY FLAME!!! C'MERE A SEC!!!" Neves shouted.  Flame jumped up, his limbs instantly burning, but he hurried over to where Neves's voice had come from.  Shimmer and Cynder were giggling next to each other with Plazyma and Caelos behind them looking only mildly amused.  Spyro was sitting still, an apprehensive look on his face.  

"Uhhh...what's going on?" Flame asked nervously.

"Siddown by Spyro," Shimmer said, and Flame sat down by Spyro hesitantly.  Cynder and Shimmer started laughing and Plazyma smirked.  

"What's this about?" Spyro demanded.

"Both of you look in the water pool behind you," Cynder laughed.  Curious, Spyro and Flame turned around, and their eyes widened -- they were almost mirror images of each other, but in different colors!  The girls had mentioned this several times but only now did they realize it...

"BOO!!" Neves shouted, and Spyro and Flame both yelled as they were pushed headlong into the water.  They laughed, but suddenly Neves yelled and Spyro and Flame just narrowly avoided him as he fell into the pool.  Caelos smirked where Neves had just been, and they all burst out laughing, the three males shaking themselves off.

"Ha ha, very funny," Spyro smirked.  "You okay Flame?"

"Yeah, I should've seen that coming, knowing Neves."

"That was mean, Neves!" Shimmer said, even though she was smiling.

"GET 'IM!!!" Cynder shouted, and the two dragonesses charged at him.  Neves shouted and ran away, Cynder and Shimmer hot on his tail, and the others fell down laughing, even Plazyma and Caelos.  

"OWW CLAWS SHARP!!!  HEY WATCH IT HEY WHOA, CYNDER WAIT STOP AGH!!!"

"KIDS!!" Rivyera called.  "TIME FOR TRAINING!!"

"COMING MOM!!" Neves shouted back, then yelled as Cynder nabbed his tail and Shimmer tackled him.  Spyro and the others headed into the temple with Rivyera, stretching their wings and rolling their heads to flex their necks.  Today was their first major teamwork brawl; there was a large arena in the temple basement which operated much the same as the dojo; the guardians merely had to think about something like targets and the object would appear.  Now that they knew about Caelos's curse, another factor was added to the mix; they had to keep Plazyma and Caelos from coming in contact, and because of his power limitation he couldn't use as much of his wind power as he'd like to so he'd have to be primarily a melee combatant.  Caelos was at a disadvantage there...wind dragons were elementally stronger than other kinds because for survival they had adapted to be distance fighters, sniping with air blasts, and as a result they didn't have great bodily strength.  Caelos could fare well in a group; his solitude had strengthened him considerably but he still lacked the stamina needed.  Plazyma was a loner but she knew the benefit of teamwork...and she was sly.  Her lightning-travel ability had given her a quick and sharp mind, mostly from avoiding obstacles as she moved, and with that she was able to quickly take advantage of opportunities to strike and get out fast.  Flame had to work on everything about combat, but he wasn't one to give up easily even after a beating; his main weakness he had to work on today was his habit of eyeing the girls.  Too many times he'd been knocked upside the head or slammed to the ground because he paused to watch Shimmer or Cynder or Plazyma.  Spyro...aside from Neves, Spyro was the envy of the group with his fighting prowess.  Being an orphan and an outcast had taught him a lot about fighting both physically and elementally.  Cynder knew how to fight too, but her strength was slinking in the background and then delivering a powerful or lethal strike when the chance popped up; she'd use the others to weaken the enemy, then dart in and finish them off.  Both she and Spyro could work together with the others, but Spyro tended to dominate the fight and ignore the others.  They had trained for a while in the dojo for this, working on their weaknesses and strengths in small skirmishes, but with this fight, they were going to be pitted against a real simulation of a small battle, with commanders and various levels of enemies.  When they were finally all gathered, Terrador walked in, the floor under him rising up as he walked and creating a long, curving slope that curled around the arena to a "throne" about twenty feet above them.  

"Are you ready?" he asked.  They all nodded, spreading out a bit and readying themselves.  "GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!!" the earth guardian roared, and all at once a flood of dummies began pouring into the arena from the walls.  For fifteen long grueling minutes the young dragons battled their stuffed enemies, shouting directions and warnings left and right.  Things began falling into disarray as Spyro again started going on his own in the fights, throwing off a few crucial teamwork moves.  

"SPYRO!! WAKE UP AND LISTEN!!" Neves shouted angrily, then yelled as a dummy clubbed his back.  "YOU'RE DOING IT AGAIN DAMMIT!!"

"I am?" Spyro asked, and narrowly avoided a blow as a dummy came at him from his blind spot.  He saw a huge General figure rushing at Caelos, Plazyma and Shimmer.  "GUYS, CLOTHESLINE!!" he shouted, and breathed ice on the floor.  The General slipped and slid at full speed right at the three dragons.  All three jumped into the air and Plazyma and Caelos grabbed Shimmer as she stretched between them.  They jumped up and forward at the last minute and Shimmer grunted as the General's neck slammed against her tail, "choking" the enemy.  

"SPYRO!!" Flame shouted.  "BEHIND YOU!"

"Wha?!"  Spyro was sent flying as the final General whacked him with the flat of its axe.  Cynder jumped up and caught him, both of them rolling as Spyro's inertia sent Cynder falling backwards.  A lone Soldier was behind them, and together they lashed out at the last second, Spyro's claws sinking into its "throat" as Cynder's tail sank right through its torso.  They untangled themselves from each other quickly and watched Flame set the General on fire.  Plazyma blasted it with lightning, Neves froze it solid, Shimmer blasted it with high-pressure water blasts, Caelos sliced its arms off with air blasts, and Spyro and Cynder darted in and finished it off with earth and...shadow?!  Everyone stared at her as the towering dummy fell into dark-flamed pieces and disappeared in a shower of gem shards that quickly healed them all.

"Very good, young ones," Terrador said, flying down to them.  "However, you are not completely done for the day."

"We're not?"

"Who's our...target..."  Neves's eyes widened.  "Oh crap."

"Your final test is me," Terrador growled, crouching.  The others froze in surprise, and yelled as they were rapidly pulled to the ground, unable to move.  "Your test now is to resist the power I have on you.  Tephra will no doubt be mastering gravity control soon."

"NNNGH!" Spyro grunted loudly, trying to force himself up, but the hold of Terrador's gravity power was too much.  

Terrador chuckled.  "You all have worked hard to fight against opposing forces, now you must learn to work with them; channel the earth energy binding you to the floor into your muscles, charge yourselves with it."

"But we're not earth dragons..." Plazyma choked.  "Can't breathe!"

"Don't push yourselves against it or it pulls back even harder; relax."  One by one they relaxed their bodies, if only to catch their breath.  "Feel it pulling you to the floor, feel yourself flat on the tiles...your position makes you in tune with the direction of the energy; the tiles are flat, as you are now.  Earth energy flows through contours as well as within masses; focus on it, feel it move over you."  Flame went from panic to wonder as he did indeed feel something moving through him.  "Take that motion through you, make it move in a different direction.  Make it reverse its course, through you."

There was no response for a while, until Neves began to slowly rise, his legs shaking from the effort.  Next it was Spyro, Caelos, Cynder, Plazyma, Shimmer, and finally Flame, though his tail was still glued to the floor no matter how hard he tried to pry it free from the gravity pull.  "That...was...rough..." he panted.

"Indeed, it usually is the first time," Terrador chuckled.  They all yelled as they were plastered to the floor again.  "But a second time around conditions you far more than once and then a break."

"Terrador-mmph..." Plazyma growled viciously as her legs gave out and she snapped to the floor.  Spyro growled and the earth energy snapped around him, sending visible shockwaves like ripples from where he stood.  Terrador gazed at him in amazement as the purple dragon stood there panting, defying the gravity power pulling at him.  

"Ooooowwwww I can't get up..." Flame whined, tears running down his face from the pain of a vicious cramp in his leg.  Terrador sighed and let them go, getting a simultaneous sigh of relief and exhaustion as they lay there on the floor.

"Be prepared for another round.  Go rest."  He watched as they forced themselves up and walked out slowly, their muscles feeling like fire.  "They're definitely not normal..." he said to himself, "they were able to pass that test faster than even I could."

Spyro sat and watched his friends relax in the warm springwater deep in the temple basement, the water and their wet scales reflecting the multicolored lighting from the fungi on the walls.  For some reason he'd felt stronger as he was fighting Terrador's gravity power...the others were worn out, but he felt his strength returning instead of vanishing.  What was going on?  The question left his mind as he watched Cynder stretch and yawn.  Nearby Shimmer hissed through her teeth as she flexed her foreleg and her shoulder spazzed, and Neves waded over and started gently kneading her arm.  Plazyma and Caelos, as usual, were by themselves at opposite ends of the pool, seemingly oblivious of the others.  Flame was half-asleep and half-submerged in the warm water, his hind leg pulled up a bit near his body to reduce the pain from the cramp.  "That was a brutal exercise..." he eventually groaned.  "And we gotta do it again...man, this guardianship stuff sucks."

"Well, power comes with a price," Neves sighed.  "At least you guys can leave when you want; I'm basically forced to be a guardian."

"That's stupid," Cynder said, looking up at him.

"I know!  It's an ancient rule, though, from ages ago."

"Whaddaya mean?" Caelos asked, showing a bit of interest and concern.

Neves sighed, grinning slightly as Shimmer wrapped her tail around his foreleg.  "Long ago, poor dragon families would send their unhatched eggs to the Temple here, and the guardians would watch over them.  They would raise the children, and a select few of surpassing elemental prowess would be kept at the Temple to be trained as guardians.  From there they would be sent out to the various realms.  This was back in the really dark times, back when Malefor reigned supreme in his early ages.  It's been a custom that dragons born in the Temple, or powerful ones raised here, would be destined for guardianship...I fit both categories, since Nightshade is my dad and Rivyera is my mom.  Dad fought for my freedom from this rule when I told him I didn't like being a guardian, but rules are rules and guardians are not meant to break them...there's really nothing I can do but deal with it.  Cyril doesn't have a successor, but then again neither do the others either, so if others aren't found I'm gonna end up being the only guardian.  And it gets boring FAST here, believe me."

"That really sucks," Plazyma mused but with a flat tone in her voice that irked Neves; it almost sounded like she was sarcastic.

Shimmer sighed and nuzzled Neves.  "Well, I kinda like it here, it's definitely a lot more peaceful here compared to the Settlement."  He looked at her oddly and she grinned.  "Since I don't really have any family anymore, if it's okay with Ignitus and the others I'd like to stay here."

"They'd probably encourage you, and all of you, to consider staying here," Neves said, but his smile faded.  "Ignitus wants us all to be guardians, since we're the strongest in our elements and most of us are homeless."

"My parents are probably wondering where I am," Flame grumbled.  "Not like they care, they usually don't...but I still kinda want to go back and see the Settlement again if I'm gonna be stuck here with this hellish training."

"It's not that bad, Flame," Cynder siad with a yawn.  "I mean, yeah it's tough, but we're probably gonna get hit with worse out there, especially against Ripto and Tephra.  Which reminds me...Gnasty Gnorc is usually a plague here, but ever since Ripto showed up, nothing's been heard from him."  She craned her head back and looked at Spyro upside-down.  "Spyro, have you heard or seen anything about Gnasty lately?"  He didn't respond other than a slight flick of his tail as he stared at the cavern ceiling  "Yo, Spyro!"  A snowball flew over her and hit Spyro upside the face with a resounding paff, snapping the purple dragon out of his trance in a hurry.

"Wha-wha?!"  He looked around sharply.  "What the hell..."

"Ground-zero, we've made contact with violet-scales, requesting permission to--"

"Haha, funny," Spyro growled, making the others laugh.  He wiped the snowball off his face and whipped the slush at Neves.  "What's going on?"

"Discussing enemies...Gnasty's been suspiciously vacant recently," Cynder said, snuggling back into the warm water as her muscles started to pull at her again.

"Oh yeah, that..."

"Whaddaya mean 'oh yeah, that'?" Plazyma asked shortly.

"There's a lot going on recently..."

"Stop worrying, not much we can do anyway now that the bad guys have gone into hiding," she replied.  

"So you're accepting yourself as part of the group?" Shimmer teased.

"Pfff...I could care less, I'm just in this because suddenly I'm some rare dragon everyone's expecting to save the world or something.  I intend to help Caelos with his problem since I'm the source of it, but meh, the rest of you aren't exactly what I'd call 'friend material'."  With that she got out of the water, shook herself off, and headed up to the dojo.  The others were a bit taken aback by her attitude.

"That...was a little uncalled for," Cynder said slowly.

"Geez, someone that pretty having such an attitude..." Flame muttered to himself.

Neves shrugged and massaged Shimmer's cramping foreleg again.  "She doesn't want to admit to herself that she considers us 'friends'."

"How can you tell?" Caelos asked.

"Well for starters, she's actively helping us and participating instead of lounging around and ignoring tasks given to her.  She's also had plenty of opportunities to ignore us, but she still hangs around and puts in her two cents.  If she really didn't care, she wouldn't be associating with us.  There's also her body language; she's becoming a lot less wary and more open around us.  When she first got here she seemed really tight, as if she was a spring ready to lash at a slight disturbance, but she's becoming more relaxed here as time goes by.  She also seems kinda happy around us, although she hides it rather well."

"How can you tell that?" Cynder asked, confused.

"Know how our tails kinda move on their own based on our feelings?  Her tail's been more active around us; I don't think she's aware of it though."

"You know too much," Shimmer groaned, getting a laugh from the others.  "But what did she mean about your problem, Caelos?"

He just shook his head and stayed quiet.  "Later."



Later in the day, after another brutal round of gravity training, the seven tired dragons stumbled into the dojo, where soft beds had been set up for them.  Ignitus and the other guardians were waiting for them, however.  Nightshade chuckled slightly.  "Worn out much?"

"Ha ha," Neves grunted.

Rivyera glanced at the large bowls set by the beds, and they quickly filled with cool water.  "Drink up, you've had a rough day."

"But not without progress," Terrador mused.  "I was impressed with everyone's effort and progress today.  It took me over two weeks to fight against gravity, yet all of you mastered it in half a day."  Flame gagged and the others looked up at Terrador in surprise.

"We have no doubt now that you seven are the foretold dragons.  Although..."

"Something wrong?"

Ignitus sighed.  "I'm worried.  There' should really be eight of you; we are still lacking earth.  The Pool of Visions will not show me who we are looking for, and I cannot control it enough even now in my old age to reveal who we're missing.  My hunch is that it's Tephra, but I've been sorely wrong before so I don't dare toy with such a dangerous idea."

"How were you wrong?" Plazyma asked.  

"I thought Ember was one of you, several years ago.  I thought she was one of the prophesized dragons."  They all burst out laughing, except for Flame, who just sighed and stared at the water in his bowl.  Dinner was brought out shortly after and eaten in silence.  As they went to bed, Flame groaned and stared at the stained-glass ceiling.

"You okay Flame?" Spyro asked.

"Just tired," Flame grumbled, rolling over onto his side.  Outside, Cynder and Shimmer sat on the balcony gazing at the stars and sharing stories.

"So your parents were both from Rivyera's island...how'd you get over here?"

"My mother brought me to Warfang out in the west by that huge volcano at the end of the Elamrof range...I don't remember her much, she died of disease when I was 5...I do remember her stories though.  I wanna go to my homeland, it sounds so nice there; Rivyera says she'll take me there with Neves and Nightshade when they have to report back to their homerealms."

"You like Neves, don't you?" Cynder teased.

"So what if I do?  He's a nerd, yes, but he's really nice and fun to be around."

"Not when we met him..."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, our first meeting was him stealing my necklace clean off my neck and making me and Spyro chase him all the way here."

Shimmer clapped her paw over her mouth as she laughed.  "What the-?!"

"Yeah, the elders were gonna summon us here but Neves took it on himself to bring us here early.  Jerk..."

"Where'd you get that necklace?"

Cynder looked down at the emerald gem and sighed.  "It was...well, it was a gift from Spyro; it's the second present I've ever been given."

"Aww, he's a sweetheart."

Cynder laughed.  "I dunno about that; it was more of a trade, a vendor at the Settlement gave him this as thanks for us defeating Tephra and helping clean up the village after our battle."

"I think it's cute how he looks after you."

"Oh please, I can take care of myself."

"But why'd Neves steal it?"

"To get us to follow him...but he also thought it was some dangerous artifact.  Ignitus says it's an expert replica, a fake, but...I dunno, sometimes I feel a strange ebb of energy from it."

"Can I see it?"  Shimmer walked up to Cynder and stared intently at the jewel.  She seemed to be feeling for something.  "Weeeeellllll...I can kinda feel something coming from it, but it might be you."

Cynder sighed and ran her paw over the jewel.  A sudden memory came to her mind and she smirked.  "Oh yeah...remember what we were gonna to to Flame?  Back on Elamrof?"

Shimmer's eyes dimmed as she thought back, and then widened as she laughed.  "Oh yeah!  We should do that tomorrow!"

"I know where to find the stuff," Cynder whispered, and they both giggled as they hashed out a plan.  Back in the dojo Caelos was thinking back to Elamrof and his life alone...why were the Nonsleepers out again?  Had Ripto awakened them?  He remembered his negotiations with the foul ghosts and shivered, brief flashes of his torture being relived in his hide.  Those horrible spells...

"There's gotta be something..." he said to himself.  "There's always a counter to curses..."  He turned his head and watched as the two dragonesses came in from the balcony and got comfortable on their beds.  "Cynder's really powerful, but I don't think she'll ever fully know it...she might even rival Spyro.  But...why?"



The next morning they were up bright and early, already called out for the day's training.  Spyro, however, was exempted from the rounds of exercise, and Cynder last saw him and Ignitus at the Pool of Visions before she headed outside for Volteer's elemental training guidance.  He could only coach Plazyma's electric attacks, but he could at least help them all learn elemental endurance.  "No no, Flame, don't push yourself to extremes," he barked rather angrily, surprising Flame.  "Pace yourself!  You must be conscious of your limitations and your proximity to them!"

"What'd he say?" Flame asked Neves.

"He said you need to know your limits and be aware of how close you are to them.  Stop breathing so hard."

Up at the Pool, Spyro's eyes were clenched shut as he tried to clear his mind, but he just couldn't do it; his mind was so active with everything going on that he couldn't stop thinking.  "Gah...Ignitus, is there some trick to this?"

"Look into the Pool and tell me what you can see as of yet."

Spyro sighed and looked into the pool, staring past the surface as something fuzzy and wavy slowly came into view.  "It's really blurry...I can't tell what it is."

"At least you can see something, that's very uncommon for one your age.  Try to see what it is."

"I am, but it's not getting any clearer."

"You'll need to learn how to clear your thoughts, Spyro.  A mind clouded with thoughts and concerns cannot see past that cloud; it can inhibit everything from your relationships to your combat."

"But how?  Just thinking about not thinking only makes it worse!"

"You're too tense, Spyro.  Think of something calming."

Spyro sighed and stared at the floor.  "I don't know of anything calming..."

"Make something up.  What kinds of thoughts or ideas make you calm?"

Spyro searched his mind...no, fighting apes and gnorcs wasn't calming, nor was strategy on how to defeat them...his home maybe?  No, not calming enough, too many memories...the field?  Maybe... No, too many ideas of hunting sheep.  Spyro groaned and thought harder... the Mushroom Forest?  Too colorful... Sleeping?  No, he'd get tired.  Playing with Cynder?  Hmmm...no, too active, but...  "I can't really think of anything..." Spyro said, but he just lied to himself; he didn't want to admit that thinking of Cynder was rather calming.

"Just try."  Ignitus was growing a bit impatient; he felt something drastic creeping nearer but couldn't tell what it was, and was hoping that Spyro might see it.  Spyro stared into the pool again, thinking of stargazing with Cynder.  The image in the water slowly grew clearer and clearer.  Ignitus saw Spyro's eyes narrow and focus on something.  "What are you seeing?"

"I see...the night sky...it's all around me..."

"You're in space?"

"I guess, whatever that is, there's darkness and stars everywhere...hang on..."  Spyro's eyes widened and his muscles tensed to jump back, but he was riveted by what he saw.  "There's a black shadow blotting out the stars...it's going towards a big round glowing colorful ball...what is that?"

"Is it blue with green and brown areas?"

"Yes, and white strands and patches all over."

"You're seeing our planet from space.  What's the Shadow doing?"

"I can't tell, all I see is an area where the stars can't shine...it's like a void.  It's slowly circling our...what's it called, planet?"

"Can you see anything else?  Can you move in closer to the planet?"

Spyro tried and gasped as his sight suddenly shot towards the planet at blinding speed, swirling around the Dragon Temple and then shooting off across the ocean, dodging between huge waves caught in a malicious storm as a powerful evil churned the air.  The shoreline was littered with bodies and weaponry as apes, rhynocs and gnorcs fought against dragons and other species and also amongst themselves.  But Spyro's vision didn't stop there; it swooped through the battlefield and proceeded to Elamrof Mountain, were huge bolts of elemental energies were shooting off into the sky as something happened deep below its surface.  He spun around several times and flew through Tephra's tunnel deep into the mountain's core, finding a vast underground valley with a gigantic mountain in the middle pouring green toxic liquid and noxious purple gases.  He saw thousands upon thousands of shadows, ghosts and many strange, vile creatures marching from this mountain along paths in the valley walls to the world's surface, carrying fire and various dark-magic spells ready to unleash on the world above.  A huge, draconic figure made of fire and shadow rose up from the mouth-like opening at the summit of the underground mountain, and Spyro's vision suddenly warped, as if zooming in on the figure's eye yet also zooming out to show Elamrof Mountain under a peaceful sky.  The shadowy dragon seemed to tower over Elamrof as an invisible specter, and everything again warped as the world changed to darkness...it was as if Spyro was switching from the real world to this monster's intended plans!  As Spyro's sight flew across the land he saw Gnasty Gnorc at the castle ruins he'd met Cynder at, casting powerful summoning spells that turned foes to crystal and made his gnorcs stronger.  Things warped again to show Gnasty consulting with Ripto and a strange armored mage Rhynoc, and then time-lapsed to show Gnasty and his gnorcs searching a canyon for something...Spyro's mind was reeling with everything he was seeing, and he was growing very confused, but then... everything turned black, and fires began leaping up everywhere.  He saw...he saw the Temple shattered and completely ruined, his friends lying dead among the wreckage.  The shadowy dragon enveloped them one by one in darkness, swallowing them up into a void.  Someone yelled and shot a beam of light at the dragon, and Spyro looked to see Cynder, badly injured, barely alive and crying her eyes out as she fought to stay alive.  The Shadow simply crawled over to her and she disappeared from sight as a dark cloud surrounded her.  Spyro couldn't breathe... the shadow turned to him and grinned evilly, creeping towards him with its fangs bared... Spyro yelled and jumped away from the pool, falling onto the floor in a daze as he suddenly felt incredibly dizzy.  "Wha..where..."

Ignitus was staring into the pool, but looked up as Spyro tried but failed to stand back up.  "Spyro...what you've just seen is a glimpse into the enemy's mind.  That's very uncommon for any dragon able to see in this pool."

"How..."

"How can I see what you saw?  I forced the pool to show me what it was showing you."

Spyro lay there on the floor panting from the fright.  "Gnasty...he's..."

"It seems he's out searching for something around Elamrof...or will be soon, it's hard to tell.  Spyro, I know you're exhausted, but I need you to try again.  This time, focus on Gnasty and see if the pool will reveal him."

Spyro stood up and glared at the old fire dragon.  "Why are you using me?" he grunted, his legs a bit shaky.

Ignitus glared back.  "I am not using you, Spyro, I'm helping you develop this ability.  Yes, I'm also trying to find out about these threats, but seeing how I cannot see anything recently, you're the only one that can.  The more we know, the more we can do about problems."

Spyro hesitantly edged back up to the pool and peered in.  Again, something came into view, but as Spyro watched he grew more calm; a vision of the Settlement was being shown.  Several dragonlings were playing chase under the watch of their mothers...Spyro laughed to himself and sighed, wishing he could be that young and join them...Hunter strolled by on his way to the library; he was carrying a bunch of scrolls and a few strange-looking pieces of armor.  Not too far behind him were some other guards with bows and arrows out; they seemed to be escorting Hunter.  "Oh right, Gnasty..." Spyro mused to himself.  He thought of trying to find the giant gnorc, and his view spiraled into the sky and raced over the land towards a distant ruinous area, not too far from Warfang.  The green monster and his minions were lazing about in an underground lair, with a map spread out over the table and scrawled with X's and circles and arrows and illegible writing.  Spyro forced his vision to show him the map...it appeared to be of the Outer Realms, where they had just taken out his minions.  There were X's all over, some crossed out...Gnasty got up and went over to the map, picking up a few gems from the table.  Waving his hammer over them he tossed them onto the floor and each gem turned into a gnorc.  Spyro felt himself give out and quickly saw only the glowing water of the Pool of Visions, a headache starting to take hold in his head.  "He had a map..."

"I saw too.  I couldn't read the notes, however, so I can't tell if those X marks were his personal musings or if they're something more devious."  Spyro rubbed his head with a groan.  "Go get some rest, Spyro.  You deserve it.  All of you are making astounding progress in your trainings."  Spyro just nodded and walked out, then threw himself onto his bed and listened to the others outside.  To his confusion everything suddenly went dark outside.  Ignitus hurried outside.

"HOLY CRAP RUUUUUUN!!!!!" came Neves's shout.  Spyro yelled as he felt an incredibly sharp tug, and a split second later there was a terrific snapping noise followed immediately by an equally sharp push in the opposite direction.  Dark clouds floated into the temple and seemed to melt into the air in a flurry of tentacle-like extensions.  There was a lot of surprised and panicked yelling outside, and a few seconds later Cyril came in carrying an unconscious Cynder.

"What happened?!" Spyro demanded, a bit scared.

"A Dark Fury," came Nightshade's voice as he came into the room to tend to the black dragoness.  "A Fury of such magnitude...I'm surprised she's not dead after that."  Rivyera came in as well and lay her paw on Cynder.

"She's just asleep.  She had me worried..."

Shimmer and Neves rushed inside.  "Is Cynder okay?" Shimmer asked.

"She's only asleep, but she can't wake up until she recovers some energy.  That sharp pull was dark energy being pulled into our physical realm...I think Cynder has just proven where the dark element comes from exactly."

Cynder groaned and slowly opened her eyes.  "Wha happen?"